Current Popularity
The first big-wave surfing contest at Maverick's was held in 1999. The competition resulted in Darryl Virostko ("Flea"), Richard Schmidt, Ross Clarke-Jones, and Peter Mel taking first, second, third, and fourth places, respectively. The second competition was held the following year and put Darryl Virostko, Kelly Slater, Tony Ray, Peter Mel, Zach Wormhoudt, and Matt Ambrose in first through sixth places. In 2004, with Darryl Virostko, Matt Ambrose, Evan Slater, Anthony Tashnick, Peter Mel, and Grant Washburn placing in spots first through sixth. The 2005 winner was Anthony Tashnick. In 2006, Grant Baker, from South Africa, won first place, with Tyler Smith (Santa Cruz) and Brock Little (Hawai'i) in second and third places. The 2007 contest was called off by organizers because unusually mild weather resulted in no days with suitable waves by the end of March, the usual cutoff time for holding the competition. In 2008, Greg Long, from San Clemente, was crowned Maverick's Champion, Grant Baker (South Africa) won second place and Jamie Sterling (Hawai'i) won third place, followed by Tyler Smith in fourth, Grant Washburn in fifth, and Evan Slater in sixth. The contest was canceled in 2009 due to small swell conditions. In 2010 South Africa's Chris Bertish took first place; winning the largest prize purse in history of surfing of US$150 000, sponsored by Moose Guen, Jane Sunderland and Barracuda Networks.
For future competition Mvision Private Equity advisors are sponsoring the prize "ten for ten" which is US$10 000 to the person has the best ride.
AT&T Park in San Francisco, host live broadcasts of the event on its giant (110 foot wide) video display when Mavericks surf contests are held. Tickets for this event are generally $20–$25.
In October 2006, the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary proposed barring personal watercraft from Maverick's, which led to disputes within the sport.
In the Fall of 2010 a group of surfers, community leaders and contest organizers joined together to form the Half Moon Bay Surf Group Inc with the aim of regaining control of the contest over former event management. In October, the San Mateo Harbor Commission granted the permit to hold the contest to HMB Surf Group and official planning of the inaugural “The Jay at Maverick’s Big Wave Invitational” began. The inaugural contest has the support of leading high tech company, Barracuda Networks Inc., which signed on as the premier sponsor of “The Jay at Maverick’s Big Wave Invitational” for the next three seasons.
Competitor lineup for the first “The Jay at Maverick’s Big Wave Invitational” includes 11-time ASP World Champion Kelly Slater and 23 of the world's greatest Big Wave Surfers.
Read more about this topic: Mavericks (location)
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