Mavericks Goes Too Big, May Affect Spectator Format for Future Events
This Years Event Saw Some of the Biggest Waves in History of the Comp
In the wake of injuries to 13 onlookers during Saturday’s Mavericks big-wave contest, local authorities are considering closing off the event to spectators, a local newspaper reports. Mavericks beach, Pillar Point, and bluffs and cliffs could be restricted, San Mateo County Supervisor Rich Gordon told Half Moon Bay Review. This year’s event saw the biggest waves in contest history—30- to 40-footers—and their size, combined with an incoming tide, created a six-foot shorepound wave that crested a seawall and pummeled contest watchers. Several people had their legs or hands broken, and three were taken to a hospital for treatment.
Coverage of the event has been near hyperventilation levels—and often incorrect. CBS News reported that spectators were hit by a 50-foot wave (wrong) and that several rogue waves hit the beach (wrong). Live Science told its readers that a rogue wave had struck California (also wrong). So, let’s be clear here: A big wave contest was held. Big waves hit the beach. Is anyone particularly surprised by this? Oh, the irony. There was nothing rogueish about the waves that hit the reef at Mavericks or that reformed and wiped out spectators around 9 a.m. The swell was expected and predicted. The tide was pushing to a high at 10 a.m. Safety officials warned of tidal surges. Yet everyone was caught unawares. And major media outlets are spreading misinformation.
Ridiculous. Absurd. Or, said Grant Washburn, a big-wave Mavericks surfer, “It was stupid. It was totally predictable and anyone who knows the spot knows not to put anything on the jetty.”
Meanwhile, a surf contest was held. South Africa’s Chris Bertish pocketed $50,000 for first place.
Dropping swell will pick up again.
Surfer Magazine provided a particularly moody insight to the Mavericks comp. “Pre-dawn at Mav’s in murky light. The one fellow I paddle the lagoon with gets washed away in a heavy line of whitewater and I am alone,” writes Christian Beamish. “Hard to say how big it is, but the lip takes some seconds to hit the trough…seems like Whitey could cruise by. So yeah, it’s eerie. The waves focus at the top of the reef in a horrifying bowl, then slingshot across a wall into an inside out, gaping barrel. It is big out here, and difficult to line up. I sneak on to the shoulder of one, nothing special, but just being near these waves is special.”
Contest surfers echoed that. Bertish, who created a Please Sponsor Chris Bertish web page to raise money to compete, told ESPN, “”To be in the event for me and to just be paddling out in my first heat is a dream come true after ten years dedication, determination, self-finance and resolve.”
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