Mavericks 2015

gOINg BIgQ&A with MATT AMBROSE

24 CONTESTANTS

SuRFINg ON A guNWHY DOES MAVERICKS BREAK?

SCENES FROM THE PASTWHERE TO WATCH

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PuBLISHED BY THE HALF MOON BAY REVIEW

MAVERICKS 2015

BIOS OF THE

MAVERICKS 2015 HALF MOON BAY REVIEW

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HALF MOON BAY REVIEW MAVERICKS 2015

24the24the24CARLOS BuRLE

In the early stages of last year’s European season, Bur-le staged one of the most heroic performances in the history of big-wave surfing. The 46-year-old Brazilian ar-rived at Nazare, a small fish-ing village on the coast of Portugal, home to a near-mythical wave where a num-ber of surfers (notably Gar-rett McNamara) have been towed into waves of incon-ceivable height. videos con-firm that Burle caught a wave legitimately approach-ing 100 feet that day. He not only lived to tell about it, he saved the life of his tow-ing partner, Maya Gabeira, his longtime friend from Bra-zil and one of the top female big-wave riders in the world. Gabeira was knocked uncon-cious during that session and was on the verge of drown-ing when Burle arrived with a rescue sled and drove her to safety. “She was float-ing face down in the biggest shorebreak you’ve ever seen in your life,” he recalled. “I don’t think I’ve ever been so scared. I don’t know how, but we made it to the beach.” A man could enter the his-tory books on the basis of those few hours, but Burle has been among the best for years, winning the 2009-10 Big Wave World Tour, making a name for himself at “Jaws” (Peahi, on Maui), reaching the finals of the storied 2010 Mavericks contest and con-sistently being recognized in the Billabong XXL awards nominations.

HEAT 1 HEAT 1 HEAT 1 HEAT 1 HEAT 1 HEAT 1

RYAN SEELBACH

Big-wave surfing separates itself from other sports in many ways, not the least of which is age. This contest is full of over-40 types still in their prime, and the 45-year-old Seelbach is a shining ex-ample. “He’s just an animal out there,” said Matt Am-brose. “Put him in a contest and he’ll take off on anything, just like the superstars. He’s a local guy (San Francisco), always out there catching the best waves, and I think he’s very underrated. He’s due.” Seelbach managed to advance out of his first heat in the 2005 contest despite having to retrieve his lost board from the distant la-goon. He missed much of the ’06 winter after breaking his foot during a tow-in session, but he has become a contest mainstay, reaching the semi-finals in 2008, 2010 and last year. “I think the only thing holding him back is that he makes it look so easy,” said Steve Dwyer. “He’s got oars for arms, and he’s so tall that he makes the wave look smaller than it really is. But he’s got a bit of the base-jumper in him. He’ll go right off the cliff. One of the maga-zines had a two-page spread of a drop he took in the 2010 contest, that huge day, and to me that’s one of the top 10 drops ever made out there.” Why does Seelbach keep coming back for more? “You can’t match the kind of adrenalin you get from surf-ing out there,” he says. “You find time to go back. You make time. It’s the best surf-ing ever.”

gREg LONg

“I’ve been there and back” is a common phrase in all walks of life, but few can de-liver it with Long’s sincerity. The surfing world holds the deepest respect for a man who survived the early stag-es of death. On December 21, 2012, Long was part of an expedition to Cortes Bank, the horrifying and seldom-ridden spot some 100 miles off the coast of San Diego. Just before dark, he was held underwater for three waves after he took a wipeout, got slammed in the chest by his board and discovered that his safety vest would not in-flate. Frank Quirarte, part of the jet-ski rescue team, said Long was found “face down and unresponsive,” certain to die without help, and after several minutes of recovery aboard a boat, he was air-lifted by helicopter to a San Diego hospital. That’s about as heavy as it gets, but af-ter weeks of reflection, Long realized that his love of big-wave surfing was still intact. He finished third in the 2013 Mavericks contest and 5th last year, adding to a long list of accomplishments. He won the 2008 Mavericks event, memorably sharing his win-nings with the other five surf-ers from the final. In Decem-ber of 2009, he became the first Californian to win the prestigious Eddie Aikau con-test, held in all-time condi-tions at Waimea Bay. He has won Billabong awards for Biggest Wave (Dungeons, South Africa, 2006), Big-gest Paddle-In (Todos San-tos, 2008), Best Overall Per-formance (2007-08 winter) and Ride of the Year (Dun-geons, 2009). “I may be bi-ased, because we travel to-gether,” said Twiggy Baker, “but if you can show me any-one with a higher big-wave count over the past few years, I’ll eat my words.” Not bad for someone who almost didn’t get back.

ANTHONY TASHNICK

He’s a veritable youngster in this contest at 30, but it seems like he’s been around forever. Back in 2005, he snapped Flea virostko’s three-contest winning streak with a title at Mavericks – a real source of pride for Tash-nick, like virostko a prod-uct of Santa Cruz’ notorious west side. When the “Chasing Mavericks” film crew need-ed a stunt double, some-one who would take off on huge waves or take inten-tional wipeouts for the sake of a good shot, they made certain to include “Tazzy.” Well-traveled in his thirst for big waves, he has made the alternate list of the presti-gious Eddie Aikau contest six straight years. He finished third and won the Gnarliest Drop award at the 2010 Mav-ericks contest – quite a dis-tinction, considering the his-toric size – and made the finals last year. “He’s has so much fun out there, just cra-zy, like a puppy,” said Grant Washburn. “He’s just all over the place, always catching a lot of waves. Guys like Greg (Long) and Twiggy are pretty careful out there. Tazzy goes for everything, because he just can’t help himself. And he can do it all day long. Just a power machine.”

JAMIE STERLINg

From the time he was a lit-tle kid, growing up on Oa-hu’s North Shore, Sterling has been a madman, one of those people destined to challenge big surf. He’s a fix-ture on the Eddie Aikau con-test list and one of the few Hawaiians to regularly leave home to test foreign waters and punishing conditions. Bouncing back from a dis-located shoulder that side-lined him for several months, Sterling won the 2010-11 Big Wave World Tour on the strength of three solid per-formances: fourth place at Punta de Lobos, Chile, win-ning the Pico Alto (Peru) contest, then finishing third at Oregon’s Nelscott Reef. In the 2006 Billabong XXL awards, he was honored for Best Overall Performance. He finished an impressive third in the 2008 Mavericks contest, after dominating his first two heats, and he won the Jay Moriarity Award that day for the spirit best exem-plifying the late, great Santa Cruz surfer. Back home in Hawaii, Sterling is the type of surfer who paddles out to distance reefs in maxed-out conditions, out of sight, sur-rounded by chaos, complete-ly in his element.

ALEx MARTINS

The comeback is nearly com-plete. Three days before last year’s contest, Martins took one of the worst Mavericks wipeouts in memory, going down hard before he could pull a bottom turn and suffer-ing multiple injuries, includ-ing a torn ACL in his knee. He came up dazed and dis-oriented, and then another wave drilled him. “Maybe this is how those guys died,” he remembered thinking as he struggled to reach the sur-face. After a long and dili-gent rehabilitation, Martins is back in the water. “He’s been training like crazy with (physi-cal therapist and big-wave surfer) Lance Harriman, and he’s really fit right now,” said Grant Washburn. “He’s been out there as often as any-one. I’m sure the confidence is coming back, and he’ll be ready when the time comes.” Originally from Brazil, Martins moved to Northern Califor-nia and established residence near Ocean Beach so he could surf that punishing San Francisco beachbreak with regularity. But that was just the start. Graduating to the Maverick’s lineup, Martins be-came one of the most dedi-cated, respected surfers in the lineup. He had three sep-arate photographs nominated for the 2009 Billabong Mon-ster Paddle award, all from a November session at Mav-ericks. And he drew a simi-lar nomination in 2010 for a wave at the Mavericks con-test, where he reached the semifinals. Two years ago, drawing a bit closer to his goal, he surfed his way into the final and finished fourth.

THE TITAN SELECTIONA committee of 5 members, known as the C5, deliber-ated before the contest window opened to determine the contestants and alternates. The 5 members consist of Jeff Clark, Darryl “Flea” virostko, Matt Ambrose, Shawn Rhodes and Ion Banner. Two competitor slots were inten-tionally left open to be filled with wild card entries based on recent surfing performance at Mavericks.Jamie Mitchell earned the first wild card spot. The second has yet to be awarded.

There are 24 contestants in 4 heats that will be compet-ing for the top prize. The 3 top finishers in each heat will advance to the semi-finals. The top 3 finishers in the semis will surf in the final heat. The heats were determined at the opening ceremony event in October 2014.

WHILE THERE ARE HuNDREDS WHO BRAVE MAVERICKS EVERY YEAR, THESE TWO DOZEN SuRFERS STAND OuT AS THE BEST OF THE BEST. THIS IS WHY THEY HAVE BEEN CHOSEN AS THE ‘TITANS’ OF MAVERICKS

PROFILES BY BRuCE JENKINSPHOTOS COuRTESY TITANS OF MAVERICKS

gREg LONg JuST BEFORE DARK, HE WAS HELD uNDERWATER FOR THREE WAVES AFTER HE TOOK A WIPEOuT, gOT SLAMMED IN THE CHEST BY HIS BOARD AND DISCOVERED THAT HIS SAFETY VEST WOuLD NOT INFLATE.

CARLOS BuRLE VIDEOS CONFIRM THAT BuRLE CAugHT A WAVE LEgITI-MATELY APPROACHINg 100 FEET THAT DAY.

ALEx MARTINS THREE DAYS BEFORE LAST YEAR’S CONTEST, MARTINS TOOK ONE OF THE WORST MAVERICKS WIPEOuTS IN MEMORY, gOINg DOWN HARD BEFORE HE COuLD PuLL A BOTTOM TuRN AND SuFFER-INg MuLTIPLE INJuRIES, INCLuDINg A TORN ACL IN HIS KNEE.

Contestants and contest supporters gathered in October to wish for a safe and successful season. Dean Coppola / Review



10 feet

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Longboard

Funboard or Egg

Gun

Shortboard

Fish

ANATOMY OF A guNSurfing waves the size of a 5-story building requires specialized equipment in-cluding a board commonly referred to as a “gun”. Most competitors will be on guns that are 9-11 feet in length with a tapered nose and rounded tail to handle the steepness and speed of the wave. The water moves quickly at Mavericks and the longer boards allow the riders to take off earlier. Taking off late on a 40 foot wave can have unfortunate consequences. Once riding, a longer board is more stable to navigate Mavericks sometimes bumpy faces. In addition, Mavericks guns tend to be thicker than traditional long boards giving them extra floation in the water, essential to catching large set waves.

Mavericks w

ave height up to 60 feet during the largest swells. Contest conditions tend to be in the 25-35 foot

range to allow com

petitors to paddle into waves w

ithout the assistance of motorized tow

ins.

NATHAN FLETCHERTry to imagine being a youth-ful member of the Fletcher family. The kingpin, Herbie, was at the forefront of man-ly North Shore surfing in the 1960s and 70s and will for-ever be known for his ex-pertise on longboards and jet-skis. Herbie’s father-in-law was the great Walter Hoffman, whose own fam-ily (Joyce, Marty, Flippy) has a treasured place in surfing lore. Nathan’s older brother, Christian, pioneered aerial surfing in the 80s and will forever be a legend in that category. You couldn’t blame Nathan for carving out his own path, and for much of his youth, he valued free-style motocross, skateboard-ing and snowboarding as highly as the ocean. But he always surfed, growing up in the shadow of Pipeline, and “he was surfing Haleiwa in 15-foot faces when he was eight years old,” Herbie told Surfer Magazine. “He was hanging out with guys like Dane Kealoha and Michael Ho, pretty heavy gang. What Nathan maybe doesn’t real-ize is that he’s surpassed the family name. He’s a frick-in’ hero.” Three years ago at Teahupo’o (Tahiti), Fletcher got himself towed into a tube so hideously towering and wide, it became widely rec-ognized as the heaviest wave ever ridden. And no visiting surfer has a more intense relationship with Mavericks than Fletcher, the man who discovered Sion Milosky’s life-less body floating in the wa-ter in March of 2011. The two Hawaii-based surfers were close friends and traveling partners, and Milosky’s death left Fletcher badly shaken. But he has returned to the scene at 39, with a thirst for taking on Mavericks seldom-ridden left.


gRANT WASHBuRN He goes back to the begin-ning (1999) with this con-test, and back to the early 90s as a Mavericks regular. Back then, while most surfers showed up around 10 a.m. to get the best possible light for photos, Washburn was more likely to surf two or three times a day, out there in the late-afternoon glare with Mark Renneker, John Ray-mond, Bob Battlio and a few other Ocean Beach regulars. That’s why he earns so much respect; no one surfs Mav-ericks more often or is more familiar with the break, and the great visiting surfers in-variably credit him for show-ing them around. “I’m pretty stoked right now,” said Wash-burn, who turns 47 later this month. “I wouldn’t be out there taking someone’s spot if I didn’t feel I had a shot. So many of us are older now, still going for it, so who’s to say? I feel like I can play.” Not since Greg Noll has any big-wave rider been so dou-bly proficient at performance and documentation. He has produced two surf films and has much more in store, Noll having allowed Washburn ac-cess to his extensive archive. Always a standout at Ocean Beach and the Red Bull/South Africa contest, Wash-burn was a Mavericks finalist in 2004, 2006 and 2008. After negotiating the swirl of lawsuits and political chaos at the organizational level for years, he has stepped aside as a contest executive and is now concentrating strictly on the waves.

gRANT (TWIggY) BAKER: In a recent round-table dis-cussion featuring the most prominent big-wave surfers in the world, there was a tone of caution. Someone men-tioned the difficulty of chas-ing swells across the globe, and whether “we’ll go for it if it’s really big.” Baker, in his calm and forthright man-ner, interjected, “We will be there and we will be taking off.” That’s what has elevat-ed this South African into the upper-crust elite, with a mas-terful technique to match his courage. When we last saw Twiggy, he was winning last year’s contest under unusual circumstances, having been dropped by his Billabong sponsor (for cost-cutting rea-sons) six months before. He’s been on a rampage since that victory, winning the Big Wave World Tour – featur-ing contests in Spain, South America, Mexico, South Af-rica and Hawaii — and earn-ing Best Overall Performance honors in the annual Billa-bong XXL awards. A two-time Mavericks champion (he also won in 2006), Baker has never shied away from those hair-raising days when the weather and tidal condi-tions are not ideal and surf-ers face “bottomless pits of doom,” in his words. “When the swell (measured from the back) hits 25 feet, it re-ally separates the men from the boys. Looking into a guy’s eyes out there, you can tell straightaway if he’s got it in him.”

JAMIE MITCHELL Based out of Queensland, Australia, Mitchell became a legend in open-ocean pad-dling, winning the treacher-ous Molokai-to-Oahu race a record 10 times (consecu-tively). That’s essentially a five-hour grind, knee-pad-dling on an 18-foot board, and if you’re wondering what it takes, Mitchell said he pad-dled some 30 miles a day, every day, during months of training. In recent years, the 37-year-old Mitchell has fo-cused his attention on big-wave surfing. He won an XXL Monster Paddle nomination for a wave at Todos Santos, Mexico, in 2012. Last January, he paddled into a giant wave — “60 feet on the face, for sure,” said Shane Dorian — at Belharra reef near the French town of Saint-Jean de Luz. He wiped out, but the mere attempt blew minds around the world. More than any-thing, though, Mitchell earned his wild-card spot for his Mavericks performance on December 20th, 2014, con-sistently hurling himself into the biggest waves of the day. “He took the heaviest wipe-out I’ve ever seen,” said the respected Tom Lowe. “Took a 25-footer straight-up to the face and came out smiling. Once the adrenalin wore off, he realized he’d broken some ribs. Crazy, gnarly guy.”

YET TO BE DETERMINED As of this printing, the sec-ond wild card inductee had not been announced. Go to www.titansofmavericks.com to check on the status.

WILD CARD INDuCTEE #1 WILD CARD INDuCTEE #2

KOHL CHRISTENSEN There is no greater testa-ment to a man’s big-wave credentials than making the main-entry list at both Mav-ericks and Hawaii’s Eddie Ai-kau contest at Waimea Bay. Christensen was an under-ground legend in Hawaii for years, until his outer-reef ex-ploits could no longer be ig-nored and his name became synonymous with composed performances under extreme duress. Christensen was part of a ground-breaking session at Mavericks in December of 2008, a time when surf-ers were towed into waves (instead of paddling) in truly enormous conditions. Chris-tensen and Nathan Fletcher showed up without towing equipment, decided to tack-le the place with their bare hands, “and it was definitely one of the pivotal moments in the paddle-in movement,” said Greg Long. “You rarely see towing anywhere these days, because we know what is possible.” Christensen was a Billabong XXL nominee for Best Performance over the 2010-11 winter, an award won by the late Sion Milosky, and he was nominated again for 2012 in the Monster Tube category for a ride at Cloud-break (Fiji). For years, he was known for approaching big surf without a safety ski, in-flatable vest or any other modern convenience – but those days are over. “After several friends not making it home,” he said, “we have to throw all that macho shit out the door.”

KOHL CHRISTENSEN “AFTER SEVERAL FRIENDS NOT MAKINg IT HOME,” HE SAID, “WE HAVE TO THROW ALL THAT MACHO SHIT OuT THE DOOR.”

BILL MuRRAY / REvIEW


MARK HEALEY The consequence of Heal-ey’s wipeout would have fin-ished most surfers for the day, but Healey, a famously indestructible sort, got back in the game that day. “I feel like I’ve got a lot to learn at Mavericks,” he said. “Even though I’ve been going there for four or five years, it’s a new relationship. You’d bet-ter be ready when the situa-tion arises out there, because you can die.” As he returns for this year’s event, his rep-utation continues to soar. “The thing about Healey, he loves punishment,” said Grant Washburn. “He’s like Fletch-er and Christensen that way – it doesn’t always translate into good contest scores, but these guys are on a a differ-ent level when it comes to intensity and willingness to absolutely go for it. It’s re-ally special he’s here.” Never discount a man who, after years of practice, can hold his breath for 5 ½ minutes in still water – or seeks out Hawaiian diving locations to swim alongside and actual-ly ride Great White sharks. It wasn’t surprising that in a re-cent Surfing Magazine poll of big-wave riders, Healey domi-nated the Fearless category. “A true waterman,” says Greg Long. “He has taken some of the heaviest floggings and ridden some of the most ter-rifying waves in the past few years.” Healey won the Mon-ster Tube award in the 2009 Billabong contest, at a mysto spot identified only as “the Pacific Northwest,” and as Shane Dorian put it, “I hon-estly think Healey is men-tally prepared to paddle into waves that NO one wants.”


DAVE WASSEL

Who doesn’t envy the life-guard’s life? Long days at the beach, making the occasional rescue, catching a few waves on your lunch break, earn-ing everyone’s admiration. Now take it to the extreme, into the realm of the insane-ly dangerous, and you have Dave Wassel. He mans the tower at Pipeline, and when a really heavy wipeout goes down, it’s his job to plunge into a cauldron of liquid vio-lence to make the rescue. As a surfer, he’s known as one of the most fearless chargers on the North Shore. Most Ha-waiian surfers wouldn’t think of leaving paradise for Mav-ericks, but Wassel savors the challenge, saying, “You can’t compare this place to Ha-waii. It’s got cold water, gi-ant sharks, giant waves and giant rocks. It’s like nothing else.” His first-ever wave at Mavericks seven years ago, a bomb from well outside the bowl, nearly gained him the XXL Paddle-In award. He won it for real in 2012 for a dramtically dramatically suc-cessful air-drop at Jaws. He finished a solid fourth in Mav-ericks’ life-threatening con-ditions of 2010, and he was nominated for Billabong’s Ride of the Year in 2013 af-ter a vintage Wassel episode at Cloudbreak (Fiji). The surf was deemed too life-threat-ening to hold the scheduled ASP contest, but a handful of big-wave surfers paddled out for the session of their lives — perhaps the most perfect giant surf ever wit-nessed anywhere. Locked into the analyst’s slot on a live webcast, Wassel excit-edly chatted away for hours until he couldn’t take it any longer. “Gotta get out there,” he said. He caught just one wave – a classic, earning him a Billabong Ride of the Year nomination – and headed back to the channel.

ZACH WORMHOuDT Whenever a veteran Santa Cruz surfer feels he might be getting too old for this sort of thing, he can draw inspiration from the super-stoked Wormhoudt, a fixture at Mavericks since the mid-90s. Although he’s still look-ing for his first win, Worm-houdt ranks with the most consistently solid performers in contest history: eighth in 1999, fifth in 2000, fourth in 2005, second to Peter Mel in 2013, semifinalist last year. Among the most respected of the west-side crew from Santa Cruz, Wormhoudt got some long-overdue recogni-tion in 2004, when he won the Billabong XXL Award for the biggest paddle-in wave of the winter. He became one of the most accomplished tow-surfers in the world, earning a Biggest Wave nomination in the 2009 XXL awards for a ride at Nelscott Reef, but he is most true to his roots and heartily wel-comes the renaissance of paddle-surfing the biggest waves. “I don’t know anyone more on it than Zach,” said Kenny Collins. “When it gets 50-foot, just bombs com-ing through, it’s guaranteed he’ll get one. That’s one of his signatures in all big-wave events. Old guys rule at Mavs, right? Zach’s got all those little secrets you learn over the years.” Matt Ambrose calls Wormhoudt “probably the most consistent of all the guys from Santa Cruz – in the contest or otherwise. He gets big waves every ses-sion. And it’s ridiculous how fit he is.”

COLIN DWYER Shift now to the opposite ex-treme of the Mavericks spec-trum, that rare brand of in-dividual who charts out his big-wave future as a teen-ager – and follows through in spectacular fashion. Gener-ally, that’s a dream crushed by the reality of a worst-case scenario, often before the kid even sees his first 20-foot wave. Dwyer, whose father, Steve, made his own name in Northern California big-wave surfing, grew up realizing he had no limits. A big day at Mavericks looks just fine to him, and he’s been surfing the place since he was 15. Dwyer is the latest in a long line of big-wave surfers from Pacifica, including Dick Keat-ing, Shawn Rhodes, Matt Am-brose, Jim Kibblewhite, Rod Walsha and his dad. Partern-ing up with Travis Payne, an-other great young surfer from the area, he’s been charg-ing Mavericks with regular-ity in recent winters, break-ing through with a standout performance during the her-alded November ’10 swell. He has found a worthy mentor in Ambrose, who works close-ly with Dwyer on knowledge and equipment. “Colin surfs well in any conditions,” said Ambrose. “In terms of talent as an all-around surfer, he’s better than almost everybody out there. He could win the thing.”

CHRIS BERTISH: The average surfer – some-one who isn’t that keen on taking a three-story drop into icy waters with nasty cur-rents and a gigantic rock formation in the foreground – marvels at those who not only take on such a chal-lenge, but do it with gusto. Bertish braves Mavericks with a smile on his face, forever endearing him to the locals, and he will always be known for his contest victory in 2010, the biggest and most death-defying conditions ever faced in a paddle-in event. After enduring a frantic, 36-hour adventure to get to Half Moon Bay from his native South Africa, Bertish arrived to discover that his board didn’t finish the journey. Rid-ing a board borrowed from the legendary Jeff Clark, Ber-tish paddled out into the 50-60-foot faces, immediate-ly got caught inside a giant wave, and was held under-water so long, he felt he was close to drowning. Somehow summoning the energy and will power to continue, Ber-tish fought his way through that first round, the semifi-nals and the finals. “I hope he makes it here this year,” said Grant Washburn. “He’s been into these crazy projects, like 60-mile passages on a stand-up paddleboard in the open ocean. That can take weeks or longer, and it’s a hard thing to turn away from. But that’s just how fit this guy is. If he sets his mind to do something, he goes 100 percent. And that’s his big-wave mentality.”

TYLER FOx Most everyone in the con-test was freaked out dur-ing last year’s contest when the great Mark Healey got caught inside, took a worst-case beating and was clearly rattled when he came to the surface. “If that happened to Healey, what’s next?” won-dered Twiggy Baker. After a spell of reflection, some-one finally took off on a le-gitimate 20-footer (40-foot face) and made it, restoring a bit of order. That was Fox, out of Pleasure Point in San-ta Cruz, and he wound up finishing fourth after winning his semifinal. Fox learned the ropes at Mavericks from Jay Moriarity, Neil Matthies and Grant Washburn, among others – and, amazingly, his first session came on the so-called “100-foot Wednesday” (only a slight exaggeration) in 2001, one of the heaviest days ever ridden. He will al-ways be known for his per-formance at the hauntingly dangerous Ghost Tree (Mon-terey) during the giant swell of December ’07, when one of his rides earned him a Bill-abong nomination for Big-gest Wave. It’s rare to see a goofy-footer (right foot for-ward) surfing Mavericks, for all the challenges it presents to backside surfing, and Fox has joined a very short list – including Shane Desmond, Mike Brumett, Keoni Watson, Tyler Smith and Healey – of those who have distinguished themselves at Mavericks. “No goofyfooter has ever won the event,” said Fox, 33. “My goal was to reach the finals last year, and now it’s to win.”

PURISSIMA VODKA IS AVAILABLEAT THESE FINE RETAILERS:

HMB Wine & Cheese

Cunha’s Country Store

More For Less

Moss Beach Coastside Market

Draeger’s Markets

Hofman’s Fine Wines & Spirits

OK Liquor

Buri Buri Liquors

Half Moon Bay Distillery is thrilled to introduce our stellar local bartenders! Each month, we will feature a Purissima Vodka cocktail created by a talented coastside “mixologist.” This month, we invite you to Cameron’s Pub and Restaurant, where bartender Abe Engel works his magic. Inspired by his friends, Abe invented the now legendary “Nate’s Nipple Milk.” Bad name, great cocktail! Visit Cameron’s Pub to try it, or make it at home:

NATE’S NIPPLE MILK Bad name, great cocktail!:2 oz. of Purissima Vodka

1 oz. coffee liqueur (Abe uses Kahlua)

2 oz. cinnamon cream liqueur (Abe uses Rumchata)

Mix ingredients with lots of ice in a cocktail shaker. Strain

into a martini glass. Sprinkle with cinnamon and enjoy!

www.hmbdistillery.com

•COCKTAIL

of the MONTH

•

COLIN DWYER DWYER IS THE LATEST IN A LONg LINE OF BIg-WAVE SuRF-ERS FROM PACIFICA, INCLuDINg DICK KEATINg, SHAWN RHODES, MATT AMBROSE, JIM KIBBLEWHITE, ROD WALSHA AND HIS DAD.

MARK HEALY NEVER DISCOuNT A MAN WHO, AFTER YEARS OF PRACTICE, CAN HOLD HIS BREATH FOR 5 ½ MIN-uTES IN STILL WATER – OR SEEKS OuT HAWAIIAN DIVINg LOCATIONS TO SWIM ALONgSIDE AND ACTuALLY RIDE gREAT WHITE SHARKS.

READ THE FEATuRE STORY ON COLIN DWYERIN HALF MOON BAY MAGAZINE

BILL MuRRAY / REvIEW


NIC LAMB Asked to assess this up-and-coming Santa Cruz surf-er in April of 2009, Kenny Collins proclaimed, “In five years he’ll be one of the best in the world.” Right on time, the 26-year-old Lamb won the Punta Ga-lea (Spain) event on the Big Wave World Tour recently, outclassing some very big names in wave faces up to 40 feet. Now, says Collins, “He’s launching a whole new power career for him-self. He was kind of a brash kid when he came up, and I was the same way. If you want to get waves in Santa Cruz and hang out with the big boys, you’ve got to be a punk. But he’s not the same guy now. He’s become very mature, very confident. And he is really frickin’ good.” Lamb impressed the big-wave Hawaiian contingent last spring with a strong performance at Jaws in March, and now he’s primed for a run at the Mavericks title — but he holds the ut-most respect for the wave. “I’m never totally relaxed out there, because it’s such a polarizing kind of wave,” he said. “I’m almost more terrified of it now, because the more you know about it, the more you know what the consequences are. But I feel confident. I’m in the best shape of my life. You shouldn’t be entering the contest if you don’t feel you have a chance.”


KENNY COLLINS He was on the ground floor of Mavericks discovery in the early 1990s, and while many of his contemporaries have stepped back from the event – notably Richard Schmidt, Peter Mel, Flea virostko and Matt Ambrose – Collins presses on, eternally drawn to the beauty and challenge of Mavericks. He pioneered the Northern California tow-in movement with Santa Cruz partner Peter Mel in the late 90s, won both Ride of the Year and Monster Tube in the 2006 XXL awards for a wave at Puerto Escondido (Mexi-co), and reached the finals of the epic 2010 Mavericks con-test. His resilience is particu-larly remarkable because few surfers can relate to his har-rowing experiences . He took a wipeout at Jaws in 2004 that was so spirit-crushing – held down forever, then bat-tered by one wave after an-other – he wrote off big-wave surfing for the sake of his family and peace of mind. He got back in the game, only to be shaken to the core once again when, four winters ago, his good friend Sion Milosky died during a free-surf ses-sion at Mavericks. Collins en-dured the horror of viewing Milosky’s body on the beach that afternoon, and several months passed before he felt prepared to attack big surf again. “I’ve got a wife and two kids to take care of. You don’t get back out there un-less you truly love it,” said Collins, who turns 47 in Jan-uary. “I’m in great shape right now. Got a few good sessions under my belt already. I’m on my game, and I’m tight.”

SHAWN DOLLAR

Fear is a part of every big-wave surfer’s mentality. So is the notion of putting a won-derful family life in peril. Dol-lar is that rare individual who has dared to verbalize his di-lemma, while retaining the fortitude to stay at the very top of the sport. In a series of interviews last winter, Dol-lar viewed big-wave surfing from the prism of his wife, who is admittedly terrified whenever her man takes on giant surf. They have a young son, “and it kills me to think I’d ever leave him without a dad,” Shawn confided. A lesser talent might retreat to more conventional pursuits, but Dollar has trust in his mission. “I’m more ready than I’ve ever been,” he said. “I’m feeling strong and healthy, and my safety program and equipment are as good as it gets.” A Santa Cruz local and Mavericks regular, Dol-lar wasn’t among the invited surfers in the 2010 contest – but during the break be-tween the semifinals and fi-nals, he dared to challenge one of the day’s biggest sets and successfully negotiated a drop approaching 60 feet. Fortunately, the ride got pho-tographed, earning him Mon-ster Paddle honors in the Bill-abong awards. Then came a session two winters ago at Cortes Bank, some 100 miles off the coast of San Diego. There isn’t a more intimidat-ing playing field anywhere in surfing, but Dollar success-fully rode a wave measured at 61 feet – declared by Bill-abong as the world record for paddle surfing. At the prestigious 2013 Surfer Poll Awards, Dollar won Heavy Water honors for big-wave riding. And he was nominat-ed in the 2014 Billabong XXL awards for both the Paddle-In and Wipeout categories, each for an epic takeoff at Mavericks. He won’t be going away any time soon.

RYAN AugENSTEIN It’s hard to stay under the radar when you routinely charge Mavericks as hard as anyone, but the 32-year-old Augenstein has managed to do it – and he likes it that way. Every year, people can’t quite place the name – and every year his performance gets stronger. In an inspir-ing display during last year’s contest, held in a heavy west swell, Augenstein finished third behind Twiggy Bak-er and Shane Dorian. “He’s so humble and quiet, a lot of people don’t know him,” said Mavericks veteran Grant Washburn. “But he goes for it. He catches waves and surfs well on the big days, and he does it on smaller boards, which is really im-pressive. He’s got as much ability as anybody out there.” Augenstein’s ability stems from years of lifeguard train-ing, and he now works at the Santa Cruz Billabong shop, co-managed by his coach and mentor, Adam Replo-gle. “He’s like the pied pip-er around town,” Augenstein said, “and I’d follow him any-where.” Augenstein also cred-its the great Peter Mel, his idol as a kid, for guiding him through his early Mavericks sessions. “Now it’s time to focus on what I really want,” he said, “and that is to win. Third’s cool. But I’m going for the v. I’ll never sacrifice the moral code Adam instilled in me, to respect your broth-ers and sisters and most of all the ocean. We all want to see each other’s smiling faces at the end of the day. But when the contest is on, I want to take it.”

SHANE DORIAN With many of the world’s greatest big-wave riders, you can almost read “heavy-weight” on their counte-nance (Laird Hamilton, Ken Bradshaw and Darrick Do-erner come quickly to mind). Dorian seems a gentle, thoughtful soul on land, al-ways quick to point out that he has been blessed by good fortune and will utilize every safety device available to in-crease his chances of sur-vival. Then he takes to the water and just blows every-one away. At the onset of this winter, Dorian was widely known as the best combina-tion of big-wave talent and bravado in the world, and there has been no greater example than his brief expe-rience at Mavericks. When Jeff Clark assembled a panel of experts to determine the best performances of the 2012-13 winter, Dorian domi-nated all of the major cat-egories – based on just a single session. “That’s how advanced he is out there,” said longtime Mavericks reg-ular Steve Dwyer. “He did things that day – I remem-ber one mid-face turn in par-ticular – that hadn’t been seen before.” Dorian’s ac-complishments over the past few years are too numer-ous to mention, but he’s be-come best known for helping pioneer the paddle-in move-ment at Jaws (Maui), a spot long believed to be too chal-lenging for the task, and he’s nominated for Billabong’s Ride of the Year for a wave he caught there in November. He finished a strong second in last year’s Mavericks con-test and pulled off the most radical move of the day, an impossible-looking air drop. Probe a little deeper and you’ll discover that, on less fortuitous days, both spots have held him underwater to the point where he accept-ed death by drowning as his fate. To get inside the mind of a big-wave rider, you’d do well to seek out Dorian.

SHANE DESMOND undoubtedly the most re-spected backside surfer in Mavericks history, having ridden the place with fear-less abandon since the mid-1990s. Some say only a cra-zy man would consistently surf Mavericks with his back to the wave, but Desmond – a low-key bartender for years in his native Santa Cruz — has proven to be an extremely smart, calculating performer. He won the 2005 XXL Pad-dle-In award for an astound-ing ride during the Mavericks contest, and he staged a dy-namic 2010 performance to finish second behind Chris Bertish. Hardly a big-wave specialist, Shane is an ac-complished contest surfer on longboards when the waves drop to more normal lev-els. And he got a bit lucky this year: As the No. 1 alter-nate, he got into the contest when John John Florence, the mind-blowing sensation from Hawaii, withdrew. Flor-ence was stoked about the invitation, but he pulled out under pressure from the ASP, which considers Florence an essential part of the pro tour (currently running at Pipeline, where Florence is king). “That kid’s a total world-title con-tender,” said Kenny Collins. “For him to surf a wave like Mavs, where guys get badly hurt all the time, that could ruin his career. I can under-stand why he’s not here.”

CATCH A WAVEGRAB A PINT

WATCH MAVERICKS AND ENJOYMAVERICKS BEER ON TAP AT CAMERON’S

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If one or more of the 24 contestants can not partici-pate in the event, alternates have been chosen to take their place. In order of prior-ity the alternates are:

ALTERNATES

DEREK DuNFEE RuSTY LONg BEN WILKINSON TRAVIS PAYNE TO BE DETERMINED

SHAWN DOLLAR THERE ISN’T A MORE INTIMIDATINg PLAYINg FIELD ANYWHERE IN SuRFINg, BuT DOLLAR SuCCESSFuLLY RODE A WAVE MEASuRED AT 61 FEET — DECLARED BY BILLABONg AS THE WORLD RECORD FOR PADDLE SuRFINg.

SHANE DESMOND

uNDOuBTEDLY THE MOST RESPECTED BACKSIDE SuRFER IN MAVERICKS HISTORY

Wishing safe rides for everyone who surfs.

And even those that don’t.

COVERING THE COASTSIDE SINCE 1898COVERING THE COASTSIDE SINCE 1898

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BE SAFEOUT THERE


matt AMBROSEQ&A with committee member

WHY BIg-WAVE SuRFINg?I guess I’m not a team player.

(Laughs.) I actually did play base-ball for a couple of years. I was first-string catcher, but I got kicked off the team. I guess I didn’t get kicked off, but I was told I was second- or third-string because I was miss-ing practices — I was surfing. So I think surfing, golfing, those kinds of things … if you want to choose a cheesy word, you are the only one who controls your destiny. You are the only one who controls the out-come. Maybe I’m a control freak or something.

I’m just into big waves because you can push yourself. I’m not re-ally a competitive guy, but I’ve al-ways loved to show your stuff to other guys. I’m not really into beat-ing anyone.

WE DID AN INTERVIEW YEARS AgO AND YOu MENTIONED THAT BIg-WAVE SuRFINg WAS KIND OF THE NExT STEP. IF YOu ARE A RACE CAR DRIVER, YOu EVENTuALLY gO TO THE BIg TRACK.

Well, around here, you really have no choice. You basically go to Lin-da Mar, Rockaway, Pedro Point, Sharp Park, then you look for bigger stuff. Ocean Beach. And then you look for Mavericks — even though it didn’t exist when we were little. We didn’t know. I think it was perfect timing to be there just as it was be-ing explored. There was no expecta-tion. It was just a big wave, let’s go

surf it. If you were coming up now, you get all the horror stories. We didn’t have those things to worry about.

IS THERE A PARTICuLARLY gOOD ExPERI-ENCE OuT THERE, MAYBE YOuR FIRST DAY, OR ONE YOu PARTICuLARLY REMEMBER?

My best day was probably Dec. 11 (1998). They had a movie of that day because it was so good. But believe it or not, my most memorable day was in January of that sea-son, surfing with my friend Rod Walsha. He came into it with us in 1993. A lot of peo-ple know him. He was crazy to take off on giant waves. Me, him and Shawn (Dollar) were out there by ourselves. And it was 20 foot with big-ger sets — but it was long intervals. Once the intervals get longer than 20 seconds, it starts to go mutant, kind of like a Choco thing go-ing on because there is just so much of it. And we were just out there. I was on a roll because I had such a good Dec. 11 session.

This big wave came along and I started paddling and they’re shouting, “Dude, just go!” And I just started paddling and I’m thinking, “Wow, I’m in.” I start go-ing down the face and I think, “Oh my god, I’m going to die. What did I

do!” I totally blew it. It was the stu-pidest, most arrogant thing I had ever done. I get to the bottom, right, and it’s bottom turning … I’ll call it a 25-foot back because that is the biggest wave I’d ever ridden and I’d ridden 20-footers. I made it around the section and kicked out and looked in, and this guy Doug Acton was there taking pictures. I don’t usually worry about pictures, but I said, “Dude, please tell me you just got that.” He said he had just got-ten there and gotten his camera out.” He goes, “But I saw it! You’ll always have that. It was so heavy. That was the biggest wave of the year, blah, blah, blah.”

Luckily, Jay Moriarity was on the cliffs studying, and Peter Mel was there, and a bunch of guys com-ing out to see it. So at least you get recognition for catching a gi-ant wave.

WHAT YEAR WAS THAT?That was 1998.

THE NEW ORgANIZERS HAVE HINTED THAT THEY ENVISION A WIDER, TWO-DAY AFFAIR THAT MIgHT FOCuS AS MuCH ON MuSIC AS ON SuRFINg. WHAT IS YOuR VISION FOR THE CONTEST?

I think that’s great, to be honest

with you. I think it’s great to have a Mavericks festival. I think they know that will never dominate the con-test. I like the new contest organiz-ers because they are kind of jump-ing in, putting their own money in and making things happen. They are at risk, really. I know the contest costs hundreds of thousands of dol-lars to run until you get a sponsor.

And I think (Cartel Management’s

Griffin Guess) is going about it the right way. He’s keeping a core group of guys from Mavericks to kind of choose things, and they are there to make sure it doesn’t get out of control and cheesy. So I think Griffin and Cartel Management are good for Mavericks. We need some-one to take the reins. If someone comes in and dumps money, then people fight for the money. We need someone to take the reins.

HOW DID YOu END uP ON THE “COMMIT-TEE 5” AND WHAT RESPONSIBILITIES DO YOu HAVE?

The weirdest thing is that I don’t know how I ended up on it. In re-ality, with Griffin, he doesn’t really give a whole lot of information till he wants to do something, which is good, because in the past some-one would say something and then everyone would fight over it. So he comes in and says he wants to have a committee. I’m thinking, “An-other committee?” Because we had committees in the last few years, but, in the last few years, as every-one started complaining, members would just kind of flair out a little bit. So they sent me a letter. I called them back and said I would love to do it if I can make a difference.

If I’m just going to be some figure-head dork who is standing there, and someone is going to be behind the scenes making the decisions and then I’m telling everyone what they are, then no. But if they are serious about letting us choose the stuff, then absolutely. Then I find I’m on it with Flea and Jeff and Shawn and Ion. I honestly don’t think I could pick a better crew. There is something weird right there. I grew up with all of those guys. And Flea, being in the Santa Cruz contingent, he was the guy who was most high-profile.

HE’S A THREE-TIME MAVERICKS CHAMP?Three times in a row. The last one

he won, I was sitting inside of him on the only wave that came in on a small day. I turned around to go in — and he went, because he goes. And he won the contest. I might have, could have, had one there.

WITH THE WICKRx EVENT THIS YEAR, IT SEEMS LIKE WOMEN ARE MORE PROMINENT AT MAVERICKS. DO YOu THINK THAT WOMEN WILL ONE DAY COMPETE AT MAVERICKS?

You know, it’s a touchy subject, honestly. But I will say it’s very, very simple. I couldn’t give you a time-line, but I will say that what hap-pened on Saturday pushed the bar up again.

In 2010, the contest was so big the bar went higher, I think for the entire world. At that contest there were 60-foot faces and people were pulling into barrels. So that changed the game. So, yesterday, it was so big and people were consis-tently pulling into the biggest waves. Normally, when you are out there, you don’t have the blow-up vest and you don’t have rescue. There might be one or two guys who want to make a name for them-selves, and they might do some

crazy stuff. But this was every single giant wave, there were people jump-ing in. Some were mak-ing it, some weren’t. But it was consistent for three or four hours.

So going back to your question about the wom-en, there is a larger hill to climb now. Once there are women going off on 25-foot backs, ripping with power like these guys are doing, then I don’t think there is even a question. They would be in in a heartbeat. Not taking any-thing away from women, maybe it’s that some guys just don’t care about dy-ing. Maybe women have a little more brains.

TELL uS MORE ABOuT THE JuDgINg, WHICH IS KIND OF A MYSTERY TO NONSuRFERS. WHAT ARE THE JuDgES LOOKINg FOR AND HOW DO YOu COMPARE DIFFERENT RIDES ON DIFFER-ENT WAVES?

Well, it’s real simple. Basically you want the biggest wave from the deepest point that is still makeable. So if you take off on the biggest wave from the deepest point, but you can’t bottom turn because it is so critical and there is such a big section in front of you, you aren’t going to get a high score for that because you are just going to get mowed over and you aren’t per-

I START gOINg DOWN THE FACE AND I THINK, “OH MY gOD, I’M gOINg TO DIE. WHAT DID I DO?”

A COuPLE TIMES I HAD TO PuKE MY guTS OuT ON THE INSIDE BECAuSE I gOT HELD DOWN SO LONg.

FROM THE COMMITTEE ROOM

AMBROSE TALKS PAST, PRESENT AND FuTuRE OF MAVERICKS

MATT AMBROSE IS 43. THAT’S ABOuT 137 IN MAvERICKS YEARS. AND IT MEANS HE’S SEEN IT ALL AND LIvED TO TELL.

He was introduced to Mavericks in 1989, and the Pacifica resi-dent surfed it regularly in the 1990s and early 2000s. Was he competitive? He finished in the finals in four consecutive Maver-icks surf contests. He still surfs, but he will have a dry perch for the Titans of Mavericks event this year. He’s on the “Committee 5,” a group of local legends that together carved the reputation of the Pillar Point surf break into the lore of surfing. He joins con-test founder Jeff Clark, Ion Banner, Darryl “Flea” virostko and Shawn Rhodes as contest officials who choose contestants and rule on more technical aspects of the event.He also happens to be a longtime friend of Review photographer Dean Coppola. The pair sat down to talk about the past, present and future of Mavericks in a wide-ranging and candid conversa-tion just days after a Dec. 20 epic day that many surfers consid-ered one of the biggest days at the break in years.

MATT AMBROSE, LEFT, WISHES LuCK TO THIS YEAR’S MAvERICKS CONTEST COMPETITORS.

Matt Ambrose at Mavericks on Feb. 7, 2006. Photo: Don Montgomery


forming.Someone who is taking off as deep as you can and still

making the wave — even if they eat it and you can tell their line has a chance to make it — that means they are making a crazy effort. Even if they fall, they would get a better score than someone who had no chance of making it.

I can’t say for sure, but we will probably do what we’ve done in the past. Your best wave will be doubled and you get your score from your next wave and then add it up. Top three advance to the next round.

ARE SuRFERS PREPARINg DIFFERENTLY NOW THAN WHEN YOu CAME uP?To be honest with you, when I came up, I was just surfing.

Now you’ll hear interviews with some of the top guys on the world tour and some of them are work-ing out and some of them are like, “I surf four hours a day minimum,” and then your timing is better and whatever. For me, big waves, you have to be surf-ing all winter. Now it’s so big that these guys are going to the South Pacific and they are also surfing big waves all sum-mer. And they are so in tune with big-wave surfing. You learn you have to get going. If you get going and then you fall, it’s not a bad wipeout. If you don’t get going and you eat it, everything be-comes real violent. You have that tim-ing. The training when I was surfing was just surfing. Now, they are doing crazy stuff.

Garrett McNamara just blew every-one’s mind on Saturday, and he’s got some training center in Europe. It has to be phenomenal. He just came out here on Saturday and took off on 25-footers like they were nothing. Not like they were nothing, but I mean he was taking off on those things and surfing well. Really dominating waves. He’s been around the whole time and he’s still here. Whatever he’s doing is working.

Now all that I do to train is surf as much as I can — and run — because the running helps me shed weight, so I’m quicker. And the quicker I am, the faster I can react to that stuff.

ARE THE TOP MAVERICKS SuRFERS EVER AFRAID, OR ARE THEY BEYOND THAT?

No. I think every single person out there is scared when he takes off on a wave. Not to go off on a tangent, but when you go off on a wave at Mavs – and you’ve probably seen this in other stuff that you’ve done – everything slows down. You take off on a wave and it feels like it takes a minute to get down. Every little thing, every little chop you go over, you are so focused. It’s almost like you are moving so fast that you can react even in that one or two seconds it takes to drop in. It feels like every little piece of it you can react to. So I think you know when you are out of control and now it’s luck — and if this goes bad you are in trouble. But when you make it, that fear thing turns into confidence. The more you do that, the more you have less fear. The more times you handle a really bad situation, the more you came back with more confidence. It’s a build-up.

Some people get so haired-out; they don’t want to come back ever. Or not even ever —sometimes they just never go back to that spot. Some people quit. And some people just go, “I almost had it.”

I actually think when Mavericks is 10 or 15 feet, it’s so criti-cal and gnarly. Just watching it the other day, I was think-ing when it’s bigger it’s more doable. There is so much more room. You can see where the opportunities are. When it’s 15-footers, it’s just as violent, but you don’t have has much chance. You have more room in the big ones, in my opinion.

DO YOu HAVE A BLOW-uP VEST?I’ve got one. But I haven’t had it fitted to the suit yet. There

is no reason not to have one. I hate those climbing-uphill-in-the-snow stories: “I didn’t have any shoes and I walked up the hill in the snow to school both ways.” But seri-ously, dude, paddling out there back then, there were no Jet Skis. Your de-cision was everything. If I go in on this wave and there are waves behind it, I’ll go into these rocks, which seems to kill people occasionally. It’s so much dif-ferent now, knowing that you have the vest and that you are coming up quick. And that gives the ski operator so much more time to grab you. When you are down for a two-wave hold down and you pop up, they can’t pick you up because they can’t be there. But if you pop right up after your wave, he can putter in there and get you before even the next wave gets you.

It’s almost unfair, kind of. But you have to have it. So now you go after the really big waves because now you have a bul-letproof vest.

HOW DO THE TOP BIg-WAVE SuRFERS MAKE IT WORK FINANCIALLY? HOW MANY CAN AFFORD TO LIVE JuST OFF THEIR WINNINgS?

One percent. I honestly believe it’s harder to be a profes-sional surfer than to be on the PGA tour, and you know how hard that is. There is just now becoming some kind of orga-nized circuit — maybe. Who even knows if it’s going to make it? I think the guys doing big waves now without a sponsor should get way more play because it’s so much harder.

When I grew up, you would work doing something in the off months. You would be here surfing in the winter and then in the summer you would go off on a surf trip. We were in the mecca of big waves, even if we didn’t know it. Why would we leave here? The only place you would want to go is Hawaii — and if you go there you aren’t a local. Why would I want to go there and be 50th in the lineup when I can be first at my home break?

Out of every hundred guys, there are probably 10 who are making it work.

As for big-time sponsor? Six digits? One percent. It’s way less than you would think. It’s hard. People think when it booms there will be more money, but there will be more surf-ers too. That is something to mention to locals. There were guys who came out the other day who had never been to

Mavericks — and they caught giant waves. They could come back and be throttled, but still the level is going to make it harder to be that guy around here.

WHAT PIECE OF ADVICE WOuLD YOu gIVE A YOuNg gROM AS IT PERTAINS TO MAVERICKS?

Well, it would have been different advice before Saturday. This whole new Titans of Mavericks thing is another level of Mavericks. I would tell a young kid around here who wants to be a big-wave guy to surf your ass off all the time. And when you are at Mavs, when that opportunity comes, you have to create an image. It doesn’t matter if you aren’t creating an im-age. It doesn’t matter if you are better than everyone else, if you don’t have an image. If there are no photographers taking pictures of you, it doesn’t matter.

Your time of being “the man” is so short that, when it is your time, you want to be sure that you get it all out there so that some people give you stuff so you can remain out there.

The other day I was thinking, this is going to be so hard to be in Mavericks if this is how it’s going to be. Guys are surfing 25-footers like they are 20-footers, because of the new vests, the rescue thing and just how hyper-competitive things have gotten. These guys are traveling the world surfing big waves, and they are ready to surf anything.

So I would tell young guys around here to take wherev-er you are now and take it up another notch. There are guys I didn’t think were really there yet and they came from no-where to ride giant waves. And they are the B team. The A team is … Dude, look, the guys who were the bad asses the other day: (Shane) Dorian, Greg Long, (Grant) Twiggy (Baker) and all those guys. They got no footage of themselves catch-ing any heavy waves. They are at the pinnacle of their sport, but now there is this whole new crew. Garrett and this Matt Becker kid are just catching giant waves. If I was a local … it’s a lot of work … They are going to start talking about Greg Long being the elder. And he’s 10 years younger than me! It’s so alien to me. Oh my god, you just pull a rip cord, you get picked up by a ski, and everyone’s clapping their hands, dude!

THEY DIDN’T CLAP FOR YOu, RIgHT?Totally. (Laughs.) We got mauled and you didn’t see us for

half an hour. A couple times I had to puke my guts out on the inside because I got held down so long. Then you have to work your way outside just because you feel so violated. (Laughs.) Now, he pops up and he’s all blown up like a Gumby guy with all those muscles and everyone’s clapping. It’s com-edy, really.

I’m stoked where I am now, though. If I were younger I would be stoked to push it, but I’m stoked to be right where I am.

YOu’RE ON MOuNT RuSHMORE NOW, RIgHT?Kind of. We can say at least we did it without all this stuff,

and we had our time.I will say this: The talent pool out here is great. Collins, Travis

and those guys … they got waves the other day, by the way. They could have been the ones catching the biggest waves from the deepest points — and they just have to realize it.

SOME PEOPLE gET SO HAIRED-OuT; THEY DON’T WANT TO COME BACK EVER.


Pillar Point Harbor

Boat Launch

Montara State

Beach

Fitzgerald Marine Reserve

Seal Cove

Ross’s Cove

The ‘golf ball’

Surfer’s Beach

“The Je

tty”

Poplar Beach

Redondo Beach

Ritz Beach

Francis State

Beach

Dunes Beach

Roosevelt Beach

Venice Beach

Pilarcitos Creek Park

Ocean View Ave.

Park

Frenchmans Creek Park

Smith FieldDog parkHorseshoe Pits

Pilarcitos Creek

San Vincente

Creek

Denniston Creek

Frenchmans Creek

Coastal Trail

Coastal Trail

Coastal Trail

Coastal Trail

Coastal Trail(Ends at golf course)

Unimproved Coastal Trail

UnimprovedCoastal Trail

Camping, picnic area, Restrooms

DirtCoastal Trail

Fairway Dr.

Bayhill Rd.Redondo Beach Rd.

Miramontes Roadttet

Higgins Canyon Rd.

MAIN ST.

Poplar St.

Seymour St.

Lewis Foster Dr.r

Wave Ave

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Beach A

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Venice

Blvd.

Ruisseau Francais Ave.

Young Ave.

Frenchm

ans Creek

Rd.

El Grana

da Blvd..

Coronado St

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Touraine Ln..

Capistrano Rd

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Wes

t Poin

t Ave.

Airport St.

Cypre

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Ethledore St.

Califo

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Stetson St.

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ve.

Birch

St.

Ceda

r St.

6th St.

Harte St.

Miramontes Point Rd.

Cypr

esss

Poi

nt Rd

.

Cana

da C

ove

Kelly Ave. Kelly St.

Church St.

San Benito St.

Purissima St.

Johnston St.

Mill St.

Correas St.

Miramontes St.

Filbert St.Filbert St.

Magnolia St.

Myrtle St.Myrtle St.Amesport Lnd.

Granelli Ave.

Miramontes Ave.Correas Ave.

1. Cypress 2. Willow 3. Laurel 4. Pine

Valdez Ave.

Garcia Ave.

Spruce St.

Metzgar St.

Grove St.

Railroad Ave.

Alsa

ce Lo

rrain

e Ave

.

1st Ave.

Potte

r Ave

.

Pilarcitos Ave.

Jenina Ln.

Grand

Blvd

.

Spindrift Way

Roosev

elt Blvd

.

Mirada Rd.Med

io Ave.

Magellan

Miramar D

r.

Obispo Rd.

Ave. Alhambra

Santiago Ave.

The AlamedaAve. Balboa Av

e. Cabr

illo

Columbus

St.

Ave.

Gran

ada

Harvard Ave.

Princeton Ave.

La Gr

anad

a Coral

Reef

Ave.

Los B

anos

Ave.

Verm

ont A

ve.

Carlos St.

Buena Vista St.

Ocea

n Blvd

.

Berna

l Ave

.

Le Co

nte Av

e.

East

St.

Faral

lone A

ve.

Main

St. 3rd St.

Acac

ia St.

Seton Coastside

Half Moon Bay Airport

To Devil’s Slide, Pacifica and San Francisco

To Ritz-Carlton, San Gregorio, Pescadero, Santa Cruz

To Purisima Creek Redwoods

2nd Ave.

3rd Ave.

4th Ave.

Wavecrest Rd.

MAIN ST.

Johnston House

Historic Site

Stone Pine Center

Strawflower Village Shopping

New Leaf/Rite Aid

City HallHalf Moon Bay Review

Fire Dept.

Library

Post Office

Sheriff

Fee

Fee

Arnold Way

Monte Vista Ln.

Bloom Ln.

1234

To Harbor, Fitzgerald Marine Reserve, Montara

Farallone View Elementary

Half Moon Bay High School

Cunha SchoolHatch

ElementarySchool

1

92

1

1

Montara Lighthouseand Hostel

VandenbergAir force

Station

0 1Miles

WHY MAVERICKS?The uniquely shaped reef just off the coast of Pillar Point is the reason why a Northwest swell will translate to extraordinarily large waves. As the swell hits the reef, the wave will slow down. The edges of the swell will wrap around Mavericks and effectively fo-cus all the wave energy on one spot. Locally know as the launch pad, the wave will jump quickly out of the water, and a seemingly modest swell can easily become a 20-50 foot (or larger) wave.

Wave forecasters will look for storms far out in the Pacific and make their determination as to whether the direction and swell will likely create ideal surf conditions. Once the contest is called, competitors will have 48 hours to arrive in Half Moon Bay.

Note that waves break at Mavericks only in fall and winter and only with specific conditions. Do not expect to see large waves during

LAuNCH PAD

REEF

WHERE TO WATCH

AREA AROuND PILLAR POINT TO BE CLOSED DuRINg THE CONTEST

!

SCENES FROM THE PAST

While the beaches and bluffs are open to visitors who want to watch surfers during the season, during the contest, the area around Pillar Point closes for safety reasons.

In 2010, a rogue wave washed up onto the beach and bowled over onlookers, resulting in several injuries.

Instead, organizers will be broadcasting the event live and encourage viewers to watch online or at local es-tablishments that will host the event.

unlike during the past two contests, there will be no festival planned for 2015. Organizers have said they plan to include a festival in upcoming years.

CONTEST WINDOW JAN. 1, 2015 - MARCH 31, 2015.If conditions are not suitable for holding a contest by March 31, the event will be postponed until the follow-ing season.

MAP BY BILL M

uRRAY / REvIEW FILE PH

OTOS

Gems & Jewelry • Art Glass • Masks & ArtMeditative tools • Clothes & Scarves • Oddities & Ends

524 Main Street, Half Moon Bay • (650)712-8457 • Open Daily 10-6

Good Luck to all of this year’s Mavericks competitors!

Wave

Phantom of the Sea

Cool Pool

Tropical Storm

Blue Planet

Black Hole

Northern Lights

Serving The Universe

Phantom of the Sea

Documents

Mavericks 2015