Maverick 2007

Maverick 2007
January 16, 2007 Kaja Cencelj

 

Akcija se zacenja, moja sushi vecerja se je zbrala in bo pokazala, kaj zna za letosnje leto..

ce hoces videt, kdo ma jajca.. dobesedno in metaforicno:


http://www.maverickssurf.com/

 

History

"The
first time that I heard the name Mavericks was in 1968, when I surfed
inside the rocks there with Walt Von Hauffe and a couple of friends,"
explains Mavericks surfing pioneer and legend Jeff Clark. "At that time
Walt owned the Von's Cinema in Half Moon Bay, a popular hangout for the
kids in the neighborhood. This was a time when you could drive to the
end of Pillar Point and park right at the beach, then walk up the hill
to see past Sail Rock where the big waves would break.

 

"On
the giant days we would bail on school and find our way to the point to
watch Mavericks. The year that I first surfed the main peak that we now
know as Mavericks was 1975. In the early years I would bring whoever
was willing to paddle out with me to sit in the channel, people like
Jeff Kayes, Jim Dale, Jerry Hogan, Keith Delari, Heather Brown Dent,
Mark Harrington, and John Dale. Interestingly, one of the biggest
problems I had back then was a lack of the right equipment. The
mentality was that there was no such thing as a 20-foot wave in

California, so there was no reason to have a board for it.

 

"One
day in 1990, Tom Powers, Dave Schmidt and I paddled out to surf
Mavericks. What we experienced that day was bigger than anything that
any of us had ever seen. When Dave and Tom returned to

Santa Cruz
with stories of the most perfect big wave on the planet, everything changed. The thought of a 20-foot wave in
California
didn't
really sit well with the rest of the surfing world, but over the next
few years the photos and the videos convinced the doubters that
Mavericks was for real.

 

"The next time that Mavericks broke there was quite a contingent from
Santa
Cruz. In addition to Dave and Tom, I was joined by Dave's brother
Richard, Vince Collier, Bud Miller, Vince Broglio, Nacho Lopez, Shawn
Barron, Marcel Soros, Anthony Ruffo, and Rick Hesson (Frosty). The

Ocean
Beach
group, headed up by Dr. Mark Renneker along with John Raymond and Grant Washburn, was there too, as was the crew from
Pacifica
whose
big-wave guys followed in the footsteps of Dick Keating, including Jim
Kibblewhite, Shawn Rhodes, Matt Ambrose, Brent Heckerman, and Rod
Walsha. There were also a few part-timers from Half Moon Bay like Jim
Tjogas, Daren Bingham, Alan Nelson, Tony Canadas, Mike Kimsey, and Ion
Banner. Steve Tadin, a close friend of mine, took the first published
photo of Mavericks. It showed up in an article that Surfer did on me in
1990. The next year things really changed when photographers like Bob
Barbour, Don Montgomery, Lawrence Beck and Doug Acton came onto the
scene. In the span of just two years, we saw Mavericks go from
anonymity to the pages of Surfer, Surfers Journal and Surfing.

 

"Soon
thereafter a videographer named Gary Mederios released the first movie
about Mavericks called Waves of Adventure in the Red Triangle. Other
filmmakers followed including Grant Washburn, Steve Spaulding, Eric
Nelson and Curt Meyers. All of this publicity inspired still more
surfers to step up to the plate and take their swing at Mavericks,
including Frosty's protégé Jay Moriarty, Darryl Virostko (Flea), Peter
Mel, Zack and Jake Wormhoudt, and many more

Santa Cruz
kids. Then came Peter Davi, Don Curry and Armond, who began making the trek up from
Carmel.
And in a defining moment, Ken Bradshaw made the first journey from
Hawaii to surf Mavericks; he kept getting orders from Doc Renneker for
his big Waimea guns and had to find out what was causing so many of
them to break! This was an exciting time with all of these people
coming to take on the challenge of this giant wave. On the other hand,
Mavericks used to be my solitaire of surfing, a place of peace where I
went to clear out all of those cluttering thoughts from being on land.
So it took a while to get used to the hustle and bustle and the nervous
energy that the crowds brought to the water.

 

"The
next year, in December 1994, Mark Foo accompanied Ken Bradshaw to
Mavericks along with Brock Little. They were joined by Mike Parsons and
Evan Slater, who came up from So Cal, and in total there were about 20
guys in the lineup. What was the most amazing convergence of the
world's best big-wave riders would end in the most tragic way: the
drowning of Mark Foo. It was the saddest day that I have ever
experienced surfing. Soon thereafter, we founded the Mavericks Water
Patrol.

"During the summer of 1998 we started to make plans for the first Mavericks big-wave surf contest. We got our chance on
February
17, 1999. The contest went off in 15 foot surf after a morning of fog.
There was a thought that the waves weren't as big as hoped for, but
several were so intense that nobody wanted any part of them! The final
result was Flea in 1st, Richard Schmidt in 2nd, Ross Clarke-Jones in
3rd, and Peter Mel in 4th.

 

"What came next was unbelievable. On
October
28, 1999, the forecast was for a giant swell to hit the coast, and the
outside buoy hit a remarkable 53 feet @ 17 seconds. Grant Washburn and
I went out to the lineup and couldn't believe how big the waves were.
Along with Peter Mel, Ken Collins (Skindog) and Flea, we towed into the
biggest waves that I have ever seen ridden, and were lucky to come away
unscathed.

 

"On
March
1, 2000, I made the call for the second Mavericks contest. On March 3,
we woke up to clear and calm skies with waves well into the 20-foot
range. The Hawaiian Water Patrol was in the water and the judges were
in position. This day was to become one of the greatest contest days in
surfing history. The swell was so intense that many competitors later
admitted they had never seen so many 20-foot waves in one day. The
final results were Flea in 1st for the second year in a row, Kelly
Slater in 2nd, Tony Ray in 3rd, and Pete Mel in 4th. Notably, Zach
Wormhoudt placed 5th and

Pacifica
local Matt Ambrose took 6th.

 

"In
November of 2003, I partnered with San Francisco-based sports
marketing/management company Evolve Sports to create Mavericks Surf
Ventures, ushering in a new chapter in the history of Mavericks.
Mavericks Surf Ventures brought competition back to the waters of

Half
Moon
Bay
after a 3-year hiatus.

 

“The 2003/2004 Mavericks Surf Contest was held on
February
27, 2004, heralded as the “Super Bowl of big-wave surfing” by Sports
Illustrated and the "Holy of Holies" by the San Francisco Chronicle.
With nearly 2 million television viewers of the world’s first high
definition surfing competition broadcast (HDNet) and the Outdoor Life
Network’s first big wave surfing show, more than 20,000 unique website
visitors, 15,000 spectators, 75 credentialed media, 24 of the world’s
best big wave surfers, 5 broken boards, 2 ground-breaking broadcast
partnerships and one Champion in Darryl "Flea" Virostko, the Contest
reclaimed its place as the premier paddle-in surf contest.”

 

20-year-old Anthony Tashnick of
Santa Cruz
took command of the 2004/2005 contest, which was held on
March
2, 2005. Flying in from Hawaii with only two hours sleep, “Tazzy” took
on some of the biggest waves of the day (up and over 40 foot swells)
and rode to victory and the $25,000 prize. The crowd also swelled to
well over 30,000.

 

The
2006 contest was even bigger and better with over 50,000 spectators, a
$30,000 purse and near perfect conditions at Pillar Point. Grant
“Twiggy” Baker of Durban, South Africa was the big winner scoring two
perfect tens on a picture perfect day.

 

The
Mavericks Surf Contest® will be back again in 2007, bigger and better
than ever. We will continue the rich tradition of years past, bringing
24 of the world’s very best surfers together to test themselves against
the incredible challenges of the Mavericks wave. As in year’s past,
invitees to the ’07 contest will only have 24 hours notice before
they're expected in

Half Moon Bay,
California,
ready to rip. There they will face cold water, strong currents,
unpredictable conditions, huge waves, and each other in a surfing
contest like no other on the planet. Why would elite athletes risk
everything in the truly hairy conditions off Pillar Point?

Clark
sums it up nicely:

 

"Mavericks
is really the only spot that still holds its own in paddle-surfing," he
says. "It's the biggest, baddest paddle-in spot in the world. When

Waimea
Bay
(Hawaii
) closes out, Mavericks is still ripping.
When it comes to who's paddling into the biggest waves on this planet,
it's the guys that surf here."

 

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