The Green Room

The Mavericks Surf Contest lives on for another year.

Contest Director Jeff Clark has announced that the official contest window will open on Jan. 1 and run through March 31.

“We are all stoked to be back for another year,” Clark said in a statement. “No matter what else is going on in the world, Mavericks will be there. The season looks promising, as we’ve already seen some major swells roll through Half Moon Bay. The perfect contest day we’re looking for will bring a northwest groundswell between 18 and 20 feet (translating into waves faces of 30-40 feet).”

Ross Clarke-Jones (white) and Ryan Seelbach (red) drop in on one of the bigger waves of the quarters during last year's contest.

If and when Clark determines an impending swell warrants giving the green light to hold the contest, 24 legendary big-wave riders from around the globe will have 24 hours to make the trek to the world-famous big wave break a half-mile offshore of Pillar Point Harbor, near Half Moon Bay.

This year’s international roster of invitees includes eight surfers from Santa Cruz. The 24 competitors, in alphabetical order, are: Matt Ambrose (Pacifica), Ben Andrews (San Francisco), Grant Baker (South Africa), Ion Banner (Half Moon Bay), Chris Bertish (South Africa), Carlos Burle (Brazil), Kenny Collins (Santa Cruz), Shane Desmond (Santa Cruz), Nathan Fletcher (San Clemente), Brock Little (Hawaii), Greg Long (San Clemente), Josh Loya (Santa Cruz), Peter Mel (Santa Cruz), Shawn Rhodes (Pacifica), Ryan Seelbach (San Francisco), Evan Slater (Ventura), Tyler Smith (Santa Cruz), Jamie Sterling (Hawaii), Anthony Tashnick (Santa Cruz), Darryl Virostko (Santa Cruz), Grant Washburn (San Francisco), Dave Wassell (Hawaii), Tim West (Pacifica), Zach Wormhoudt (Santa Cruz).

Also named were the 15 alternates, in order of priority: Alex Martins, Danilo Couto, Mark Healey, Tyler Fox, Rusty Long, Nic Lamb, Jamie Mitchell, Mike Gerhardt, Russell Smith, Kealii Mamala, Garrett McNamara, Andrew Marr, Lawton Smith, John Whittle, Colin Dwyer.

The Mavericks contest window usually starts in December, but organizers were forced to delay the opening ceremonies until they could firm up financial support from sponsors ambivalent to invest given the current economic climate.

Just like last year, the 24 surfers in the contest will compete for a $75,000 prize purse. The purse breakdown awards $30,000 for first place, $12,000 for second place, $7,500 for third place, $3,500 for fourth, $2,500 for fifth and $1,500 for sixth place.

The event will once again be webcast live over the Internet and fans can also sign up to receive a cell phone text message alert as soon as the contest green light is given.

To minimize the impact of spectators lining the beach at Pillar Point, contest organizers are encouraging fans to enjoy the contest via the webcast at home or by attending the live webcast viewing event at AT&T Park in San Francisco.

Heads up! M10 Surfboards currently has a new batch of premium series model surfboards available at their showroom. For the first time this year, shaper Geoff Rashe and crew have caught up to demand from custom orders and have had the opportunity to get some stock boards out on the rack at the showroom, all available at a reasonable price.

In addition, the shop has a plethora of used boards from other top labels such as Rusty, …Lost, Mayhem, Stretch and Channel Islands, all still in good condition and available at great deals. The used boards are piling up as surfers around town take advantage of M10’s trade-in incentive: bring in a used board in good condition and M10 will offer you credit towards a brand new M10 surfboard in exchange.

Swing by the M10 factory [401 Ingalls St. at Swift St. on the Westside] and see general manager Marco Foreman to find out if your next magic board just might be in stock…

"What you need?" 5'6" Hogfish to 8'0" guns, M10 manager Marco Foreman has got you covered.

“The paddle in was amazing and we were surprised how many waves were actually caught. Almost everyone got a wave in what turned out to be an optimal paddle in day at the reef.”
– Contest director and Nelscott Reef founder John Forse.

(After conferring with big wave contest guru Gary Linden, and based on competitors feedback and spectator enthusiasm, Forse decided to integrate the paddle-in into future events.)

“It was insane. Those guys killed it out there. When you are tow surfing all day, it’s really spread out and you can come at it from any angle. tow surfing shows the angel, paddle surfing shrunk the playing field down to a takeoff area, you realize that’s a good wave to paddle. I’m not a big wave paddler, but the guys today put themselves in position to get pounded. There’s some big waves out there. They were doing it like a heat, full-on battling for positioning, strategizing. It’s pretty exciting. I saw Jamie Mitchell get pounded, ran into some bull kelp. That stuff can definitely take you out.”
– 2007 and 2008 co-champion Adam Replogle

“It was fantastic, it was long overdue, demonstrating that it could be paddled. It was really great to see the resurgence of the purity of paddling into big waves. They proved without a doubt that this is a paddle-able wave.”
– Jake Wormhoudt, who won the inaugural Nelscott contest in 2005 with brother Zach

2008 Paddle-In Contest final results:
1. Kealii Mamala (HAW)
2. Jamie Mitchell (AUS)
3. Shane Desmond (N.Cal)
4. Mike Parsons (S.Cal)
5. Gary Linden (S.Cal)
6. Justin Howard (Oregon)
7. Chad Jackson (C.Cal)
8. Zach Wormhoudt (N.Cal)
9. Steve Harnack (Oregon)