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Rob Machado and Melali Sessions Band in San Francisco on Tuesday, April 12, 2011 (win free tix!)

matt — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 16:19:09 +0000

Renowned professional and free surfer Rob Machado brings his musical talent to San Francisco’s venerable SOMA club Slim’s on Tues., April 12. In support of his new surf flick “Melali,” the Drifter Sessions are a series of concerts throughout the United States.

Slim’s – 333 11th St.
Tues. April 12 doors 7:30pm/show 8pm
Rob Machado’s Melali – the Drifter Sessions
Tickets are $16 advance/door

SurfPulse and Slim’s are giving away 2 free tickets to the show, but they won’t come easy. We are holding a limerick contest that must use Rob Machado as the subject of the five-line poem. Enter your limerick in the comments section of this post—MAKE SURE you enter your real email address (it will not be published and only is visible to SurfPulse administrators) so that we can contact you if you are the winner. Deadline is midnight of April 1. More on the rules of writing a limerick: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limerick_(poetry)

Maverick’s Contest Locals Trial Heat Held on Tuesday, January 18, 2011

matt — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 15:35:21 +0000

Banner Heat at Maverick’s
by Tim West

On Tues., Jan. 18, 18 surfers from Half Moon Bay made the paddle out to Maverick’s as a building northwest swell began to hit the reef under sunny skies and windy conditions. All of them were surfing for an opportunity to represent one of the two HMB local slots next to Ion Banner in the upcoming trials heat on contest day. Positive vibes and excited surfers filled the room at the pre-session meeting with Maverick’s just a birds-eye view away in the distance. The details were set and everyone was frothing to see what Mother Nature would deliver on the reef out at Pillar Point. The swell was already showing at the outer buoy, 14 feet at 19 seconds, so we knew it was on.

Locals Only Trial Crew

Leading up to this local session a lot of planning and conversation took place between contest organizers and HMB surfers. It was agreed to have a contest trials heat to give the local surfers an opportunity to get into next year’s contest being held at their home break, just as what occurs at Pipeline, Teahupoo, Sunset Beach, and Punta De Lobos. It brings the community together, inspiring and motivating everybody in town to cheer on one of our own and live the contest through them, just as we all did with the S.F. Giants when they took home a World Series title. It is this type of encouragement and local involvement that guys like Ion Banner, Curt Myers, Steve Iverson, and the HMB Surf Club are pushing for right now, which has been lacking in contests of the past.

Staking a claim

Tuesday morning at sunrise the swell was hitting hard with 20-second intervals under clean conditions. Big clouds of whitewater were rumbling like an airplane engine, with outer reefs exploding all throughout the bay. Most of the crew showed up at our lookout spot in El Granada with hot cups of coffee to balance out the cold weather. High fives with some words of encouragement went down, and then it was off to the lot at Junes Beach where the surfers suited up and paddled out for an 11:00AM start.

Ion Banner and Alan Baxter judged waves from the cliff, joined by numerous supporting locals. As the 18 surfers walked the path, cheers and heckles were exchanged, with smiles all around. From the water Andrew Kehl and Jesse Kinsella were judging waves with Brian Overfelt taking photos. Curt Myers, Troy Dooley, and myself helped with water safety to make sure everyone in the lineup was safe.

Wyatt

First wave of the session was Wyatt Fields, breaking the ice for the rest of the pack on a solid peak. At this point the tide began dropping really fast to a -1.0 from a 6.4. Staying in the peak took skill battling the current along with increasing northwest winds, which picked up to 25 mph that afternoon. Jarred Abbot was in tune getting a lot of waves early in the session and showing solid form and comfort in the bowl. For it being his third time out at Maverick’s, we were all impressed and stoked by his surfing. Jim Tjogas got some nice waves carving his way to the inside bowl with style, just as he does in any size surf. Ryan Chapman, a Montara native who flew in from Hawaii, caught one of the biggest waves of the day. Wipeout of the session went to Gabe Polom, who has been stepping it up every session with a true passion for big waves. Other surfers included Ian Shweikert, Dave Lovelace, Dom Spinardi, Skylar Banner, Matt Wilkinson, Greg Broderick, Darren Bingham, Jedd Rain, Ryan Morrissey, Forest O’donnell, and Eoin Bloomer.

Jim Tjogas

During the middle of the heat, after catching a couple of medium-sized waves, Mike Joshua dropped into an inside bowl, barely pulling it off and earning him honors for one of the heaviest drops of the sesh. Wave after wave was ridden by the HMB crew in a pack of Maverick’s regulars, including Ryan Seelbach, Shane Desmond, Ryan Augustine, Alex Martins, Frank Solomon, and Zach Wormhoudt. They were all stoked to be sitting amongst some of the hardest charging surfers out there.

The three standout surfers were Fields, Abbot, and Joshua during the three-hour session. Joshua had a last-minute late drop that scored high, Abbot was consistently catching good waves through the whole session, and Fields was

Wyatt's Field Day

dominating from start to finish. He caught four waves, each deep in the bowl with steep drops that stood out amongst the rest. At the end of the day, Joshua took 2^nd place, just edging out a 3^rd-place Abbot, with Wyatt Fields taking top honors. Fields will now join Ion Banner on contest day in the trials heat, consisting of the following surfers:

1. Ion Banner (HMB)
2. Wyatt Fields (HMB)
3. Travis Payne (Pacifica)
4. Shaun Rhodes (Pacifica)
5. top alternate #1
6. top alternate #2
7. top alternate #3
8. top alternate #4

The top two scores from this trials heat will be automatic entries into next year’s The Jay at Maverick’s Big Wave Invitational. Congratulations to Wyatt Fields and Ion Banner, both representing HMB in the upcoming trials event, as well as Travis Payne and Shaun Rhodes, our Nor Cal cousins.

Updated: Video – Thirteen Injured at Maverick’s Contest 2010

richard — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 20:55:53 +0000

A crew of about 100 people moved out on the sea wall at HMB early today to get a vantage point to watch the 2010 Mavericks contest. Unfortunately a large set came through and swept the wall clean. It sounds like it was pretty hairy as ABC is reporting broken bones and such.

“Nobody was swept away into the water. They were just swept onto the beach area pretty hard,” Jalbert said. “It’s pretty rocky. We’ve cleared the beach area so this doesn’t happen again.”

GL to those who were injured. Caveat emptor. Via ABC 7

Photo credit: Surfcrs. Video credit: SanFranVideo

Jeff Clark Sues Maverick’s Contest on Wednesday, January 20, 2010

richard — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 19:14:20 +0000

Jeff Clark has filed a suit against MSV, organizers of the Maverick’s Surf Contest, for breach of contract. Read more on ESPN, but this quote kinda sums it up:

“I’ve waited patiently and remained quiet in an effort to settle our issues in private, without casting a shadow over the contest that I founded. But it’s obvious MSV has no intention of working this out. They have forced me to file suit in order to move on with my life,” Clark said.

(1/21/2010: SFGate has published an article on this issue.)

International Surfing Day on Saturday, June 20, 2009: A NorCal Listing of Events

matt — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 02:58:06 +0000

First celebrate International Surfing Day by going surfing, of course! Then, join Surfrider Foundation chapters from Santa Cruz to Marin with lots of activities.

Here’s the line-up, south to north:

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY SURFRIDER

What: Surfrider Santa Cruz’s Surf Art, Photography & Film Fest  

Where: The Cosmo Factory Cosmetology Academy  131 Front Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, (831) 621-6161 (www.thecosmofactory.com) 

When: June 20, 7:00 to 10:00 pm

Come celebrate International Surfing Day (ISD) Santa Cruz style! Emerging and distinguished local surf artists, photographers, and videographers will be sharing their work at this 1st annual event. A portion of the evening’s proceeds will benefit the Santa Cruz Surfing Museum.

Guest Speaker: Dan Young will be speaking on the history of surfing in Santa Cruz, as well as efforts to save the Santa Cruz Surfing Museum. Dan Young is one of the original cofounders of the Santa Cruz Surfing Museum, Director of Public Affairs for the Santa Cruz Surfing Club Preservation Society, and one of the original cofounders of the Surfrider Foundation in 1984.

Live music by Dave’s Garage and Underwater Chocolate Cake and DJ Graham Davis spinning tunes

Raffle: Win a photo from featured photographers, Tyler Fox (www.tylerfoxphotography.com) and Chris Ryan (www.viewsoftheworld.com), clothing from Fringe and Santa Cruz Skate Shop – plus more prizes to be announced soon.

Featured Artists:  Tim Foley Colleen Gnos (www.artbycolleengnos.com)

Featured Photographers:  Tyler Fox (www.tylerfoxphotography.com) Chris Ryan (www.viewsoftheworld.com)

More artists, photographers and filmmakers to be announced.

What: Beach Clean-Up & Storm Drain Stenciling  

Where: Cowell’s Beach 

When: June 20, 2009 @ 12 noon to 2pm

Join us for a beach clean-up and storm drain stenciling demonstration at Cowell’s Beach on June 20 (to the right of the pier facing the ocean). A team will also be painting nearby storm drains within that time frame.

SAN MATEO COUNTY SURFRIDER

BEACH CLEANUP + BEACHIN’ BEACH BASH & SURFRIDER SURF SESSION (12n-2p…then sunset!)

Surfrider San Mateo County Chapter and LIVE 105 Action Team jointly host our next beach cleanup, Saturday June 20th from 12noon–2pm at Linda Mar Beach in Pacifica. Surf with us for a beachin’ beach bash after the cleanup for International Surfing Day

We’ll have a ton of prizes too, including International Surfing Day (ISD) t-shirts, posters and cleanup bags, plus t-shirts, flip flops, DVDs, CDs, water bottles, surfing gear, stickers and much more courtesy Billabong, Body Glove, DVS, DaKine, Ecousable, Globe, Matix, Monster, O’Neill, Patagonia, Quicksilver, Reef, Rip Curl, Sector 9, Vans and Volcom. Plus, tickets to the Vans Warped Tour featuring Bad Religion, NOFX, Anti-Flag & more, Sat June 27 at Piers 30/32, from LIVE 105!

Sign in at the Surfrider table (near the bathrooms) and feel free to bring your own gloves and bags (though we’ll have some on hand too). If the main Linda Mar parking lot is full, you may have to park on the other side of Highway One in the Pacifica Community Center lot. Oh, and don’t forget your board if you want to surf with us into the sunset!

Thanks for cleaning up our beaches and HAPPY INTERNATIONAL SURFING DAY!

SAN FRANCISCO SURFRIDER

Beach Cleanup at Baker Beach

Join us on the summer solstice for the 2009 International Surfing Day! There will be a beach cleanup at Baker Beach from 10:00 AM–noon, watershed exploration walk of Lobos Creek, and BBQ. Opportunity to win some prizes. For more on Baker Beach and Lobos Creek please visit http://www.sfsurfrider.org/programs/restoration.htm

MARIN COUNTY SURFRIDER

Beach Cleanup and Paddleboard Race

Join Surfrider Foundation, Live Water Surf Shop, 2 Mile Surf Shop and Parkside Cafe for a beach cleanup 10am to 12 noon Saturday at Stinson Beach in celebration of International Surfing Day. Meet in the main parking lot.

Saturday is also the 2009 SHORE to SHORE paddle race from Bolinas to Stinson, benefiting Stinson Beach Junior Lifeguards and Surfrider Marin. There’s a 2.75 mile and a 7-mile race, with Men’s, Women’s & Minors divisions for various paddle crafts — stock, SUP, outrigger, prone…Cost: $30 minors, $50 adults. 7:45 registration opens; 8am Check-in at Brighton Beach in Bolinas; 9am race start.

Live Water Surf Shop also will be hosting a SWAP MEET at Stinson Beach on Sunday June 21.

Whew!!

Maverick’s Contest Window Extension through Wednesday, April 8, 2009

matt — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 14:13:08 +0000

According to the San Francisco Chronicle’s Bruce Jenkins, the San Mateo County Harbor District has granted Maverick’s contest officials an extension on the contest window. Instead of today’s official closing date, the extension goes until April 8–and possibly will be extended further through the month of April.

For more information, read the article on SFGate.com.

Maverick’s 2009 Contest Heat Line-ups Announced

matt — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 15:43:01 +0000

As we wait for the call to hold the Maverick’s 2009 contest, the heat line-ups have been announced, including the insertion of alternate Danilo Couto in place of Nathan Fletcher, who broke his left femur at Pipeline on Wed., Jan. 7 (as reported by San Francisco Chronicle sports columnist Bruce Jenkins).

View the heat line-ups and Bruce Jenkin’s comments on the heats’ participants at the 3-Dot Blog.

2009 Maverick’s Contest Finds Sponsorship

matt — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 03:17:19 +0000

As reported by veteran sports and surf writer Bruce Jenkins at SFGate.com, the 2009 Maverick’s Contest has found sponsorship and the contest window will be from Jan. 1, 2009 through March 31, 2009.

The usual 24-hour notice will be provided to invited contestants and the public.

The contestant list, as reported by Mr. Jenkins:

“The entry list looks quite familiar to anyone who keeps up with Maverick’s lore. Virostko, Tashnick, Washburn, Zach Wormhoudt, Peter Mel, Shane Desmond, Matt Ambrose, Kenny (Skindog) Collins, Ryan Seelbach, Josh Loya, Ion Banner and Shawn Rhodes have been regulars in the lineup for years. The out-of-town representation includes Brazil (Carlos Burle), South Africa (Chris Bertish), Hawaii (Sterling and Brock Little) and Southern California (Long, Slater and Nathan Fletcher). For years, Banner was the only competitor from Half Moon Bay (Clark runs the contest but does not compete), but Banner now has company in the person of Tim West, among the best of the new, up-and-coming generation.

It’s rare that any of the 24 invitees miss the contest in a given year, so only the top-rated alternates have any chance to get in. This year, the top three alternate slots (in order) have gone to San Francisco’s Alex Martins, Brazil’s Danilo Couto and Hawaiian standout Mark Healey.”

As with last year, if the contest goes off, it will be webcast live (this time in HD) and can be viewed at AT&T Park on the large scoreboard screen.

Maverick’s 2008 Surf Contest Report: Notes from the Channel

mike — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 01:31:44 +0000

by Mike Wallace

January 12, 2008

We can’t all get out to the channel at Maverick’s or see much from the cliffs over a mile away, and the best view for non-participants of the Maverick’s contest is truly the live webcast at PacBell Park, or, even better yet, from the safety of your own laptop. But the following is one observer’s impression of the circus at sea from the front lines.

Though StormSurf forecaster Mark Sponsler allegedly had reservations about the call to hold the event Saturday after doing some secondary analysis, the overall conditions couldn’t have been better and kudos go to Jeff Clark for pulling the trigger and setting the wheels in motion on Thursday. It was a bluebird day, the kind you usually witness from the cornice of some Sierra mountain top, only the slopes are moving, jacking and coming at you with deadly purpose. The waves came, perhaps not as consistently as some competitors might have wished, but the scene was pristine and spectacular all the same.

After the sun came up and the morning mist burned off, the heats got off to a slightly later start than the 8:00 A.M. scheduled. Watching the wave bend and warp on the reef from close proximity took away some mystique and at the same time re-instilled fresh awe. It was not the big, raw tow-in-only Maverick’s of December 4, shrouded in fog and surging with up to 80-foot faces. The swell peaked out overnight at about 12 foot and 21 seconds, roughly translating into waves of up to 20 foot, with anywhere from 20–40 foot faces. By the time of the contest, the swell settled in the 10 foot and 18 second range, tame enough to be ridden both left and right during the early heats into the rising tide, which peaked at just over 5 feet at about 12:30 P.M.

Maverick's Contest 2008, dropping right

High tide took some consistency out of the heats, not giving enough waves to go around for the six competitors in each heat, though rogue sets appeared regularly enough to remind the surfers that it was still the real deal. Unfortunately, that made positioning very challenging: should you bag a couple insiders to get points on the board, or wait patiently for a bomb on the outside to make an impression on the judges? Sometimes the pack got caught in between and more than one large set went unridden as contestants opted out of the steeper, make-or-break slabs. Active surfers like Sterling, Washburn, and Smith, among others, got through the early rounds, but quality and wave selection weighed heavily in the end. Some barrels were attempted without exit, bottomless drops were many, and longer rides were taken all the way to the inside reef pass, just for the joy of it.

Maverick's Contest 2008, Deuce on the Face

On the spectators’ boats in the channel it was truly like Water World, or Mad Max with life jackets, with PWCs (personal watercraft) darting in and out and surfers interspersed. Diesel was belching from the larger vessels like the Huli Cat and Rip Tide, which concentrated on holding their line between the contest buoy markers positioned to keep the swirling boats at a safe distance and marshaled back and forth by the Coast Guard, as well as by the harbor and contest water patrols.

Light afternoon onshores eventually helped clear out the fumes. Near-misses were constant and it was a mad scrum to maintain separation and visual contact with the line-up. Sometimes it was hard to distinguish the contest in the line-up from the battle in the channel. All manner of craft were in water: surfers who just paddled out to watch, PWCs, shrimpie motorboats, a catamaran, several fishing trawlers and a huge flotilla of power boats. Some vessels were flash, shiny and decaled to the helm. Others were motley and spray-painted in graffiti. It truly takes all kinds of folks to be surfers and to be spectators.

Maverick's Contest 2008, Pushing the Lip

High speed shutters whirred on the Huli Cat press boat at every dramatic air drop or gut-wrenching plunge into the pit as surfers were swatted from their perch on the ledge. The collection of telephoto lenses gathered on the starboard side of the boat actually appeared heavy enough to tip the boat over on more than one occasion. Those watching from land appeared as colorful ticks dotting the cliffs all the way around from Ross’s Cove to the harbor. Flyovers by a couple different helicopters and private planes served to amplify the surreal atmosphere.

Maverick's Contest 2008, The Grant Washburn Grin

The closing ceremonies on the beach were a simple, but heart-felt affair and a tribute to the character it takes to regularly challenge such conditions. The final results were (1) Greg Long; (2) Grant “Twiggy” Baker; (3) Jamie Sterling; (4) Tyler Smith; (5) Grant Washburn; and (6) Evan Slater. Long, from Southern California, was very humble about his victory and honored to share waves with such watermen. He revealed that following a lull 10 minutes into the final, the group of six agreed to split the $57,000 pot ($30k for first place), no matter who won, and just share the pure joy of surfing the spot with a small group of friends, though Long admitted he would hold on to the oversized cardboard check himself. That move by the group really transcended the event and showed a class and commitment to the sport of big wave riding, which more often than not, depends on crazy last-minute global logistics and the kindness of others. Hawaiians have a word for it, “Ohana,” that means extended family, embodied in the bond shared by these brothers of the sea.

Jamie Sterling received the Jay Moriarity Memorial Award from an emotional Clark for his similar traits of outgoing friendliness and character on land and in the water. Sterling had to hop a flight right back to Hawaii for the prestigious Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational at Waimea Bay, along with Hawaiians Garrett McNamara, Dave Wassel, and Brock Little, Australian Ross Clarke-Jones, and Californians Peter Mel, Darryl “Flea” Virostko, Greg Long and Anthony Tashnick. Off they go again to the next big wave event, a little weary, a bit salty and still glowing from the perfect day at Maverick’s.

(Editor’s Note: The Eddie was called off on Jan. 13 due to inconsistent conditions.)

Maverick's Contest 2008, The Results Board

Full heat-by-heat results can be found on: www.maverickssurf.com.

Mike Wallace has surfed for over two decades on the East and West coasts, Hawaii, Europe and NorCal. Currently a resident of Moss Beach with his family of four, he can often be found haunting the beaches south of Devil’s Slide in search of the perfect sandbar with his one-eyed dog, Moose. Comments? Mike(at)surfpulse.com

Maverick’s Contest To Be Held On Saturday, January 12, 2008

admin — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 23:22:18 +0000

The unofficial word from reliable SurfPulse sources is that the Maverick’s Contest will be held this Saturday, January 12, 2008. Visit the official contest website at www.maverickssurf.com for official information about the contest. And check out SurfPulse’s photo gallery to see dozens of Maverick’s photos from contest and other days at California’s most notorious big wave surf spot.