There’s a massive swell approaching the Northern Californian coast. Forecasters spotted it days ago. It’s scheduled to hit Pillar Point in Half Moon Bay during the course of Saturday, with Sunday expected to be in excess of 25 feet – which is plenty big enough for them to run the Maverick’s Invitational Big Wave event.
The green light has been given and the first heat kicks off around 6:00pm this Sunday. The event is being streamed live HERE, and with no Isidingo scheduled for Sunday evening, there is no excuses to miss what is potentially going to be the most talked-about event all year.
What can you look forward to?
Well, Kelly Slater is up in heat 1, reigning champ Chris Bertish is up in heat two, Shane Dorian and Greg Long follow that in heat 3 and past champ Grant “Twiggy” Baker is in the last heat of Round 1, heat 4.
Will Greg Long put his recent near drowning at the back of his mind and charge? Will Twiggy catch the wave of the day, again? Will Shane Dorian get to face-off with Kelly Slater in the later rounds, his Pipe Masters loss to the champ fuelling him to hard-charging revenge? Or will Chris Bertish do what he did in 2010 and win the whole damn show?
We’ll find out this Sunday
Press Release: Thursday 17 January, 2013:
Contest organizers for the Mavericks Invitational 2012-2013 presented by GoPro, have confirmed that the world’s premier big wave surf contest will take place on Sunday, January 20, 2013 in Pillar Point, Half Moon Bay, CA.
“The waves are going to be insane, the weather is going to be beautiful, and the level of surfing will break new ground,” said Mavericks Invitational Contest Director Jeff Clark.
This is the first time in three years that contest-worthy waves are headed to the legendary surf break. Stormsurf forecaster Mark Sponsler stated, “This is looking like the best opportunity we’ve had in quite a few years with great conditions for running the contest.”
“This swell is going to offer huge waves and possibly perfect conditions. This is a very powerful swell, and we will have dramatic conditions that will push the competitors to their limits. Sunday is going to beautiful and very scary at times. I look forward to seeing plenty of glory rides,” said competitor and surfers’ representative Shawn Dollar.
For public safety, local authorities from San Mateo County Sheriff, California Parks,
CHP, San Mateo County Harbor District and other participating agencies will close off all roads to Pillar Point, including access to the beach and bluffs.
Read more here: mavericksinvitational.com
THE HEAT DRAW:
Heat 1: Peter Mel, Dave Wassel, Mark Healey, Kelly Slater, Ken ‘Skindog’ Collins, Rusty Long
Heat 2: Chris Bertish, Jamie Sterling, Grant Washburn, Shawn Dollar, Nathan Fletcher, Matt Ambrose
Heat 3: Tyler Smith, Ryan Augenstein, Zach Wormhoudt, Shane Dorian, Greg Long, Ryan Seelbach
Heat 4: Alex Martins, Anthony Tashnick, Grant ‘Twiggy’ Baker, Ben Wilkinson, Carlos Burle, Shane Desmond
The COMPETITORS:
Matt Ambrose
Ryan Augenstein
Grant “Twiggy” Baker
Chris Bertish
Carlos Burle
Ken “Skindog” Collins
Shane Desmond
Shawn Dollar
Shane Dorian
Nathan Fletcher
Mark Healey
Rusty Long
Greg Long
Alex Martins
Peter Mel
Ryan Seelbach
Kelly Slater
Tyler Smith
Jamie Sterling
Anthony Tashnick
Grant Washburn
Dave Wassel
Ben Wilkinson
Zach Wormhoudt
THE ALTERNATES:
1. Tyler Fox (Santa Cruz)
2. Josh Loya (Santa Cruz)
3. Colin Dwyer (Pacifica)
4. Nic Lamb (Santa Cruz)
5. Danilo Couto (Brazil)
6. Derek Dunfee (San Diego)
7. Ben Andrews (San Francisco)
8. Andrew Marr (South Africa)
9. Travis Payne (Pacifica)
10. Ion Banner (Half Moon Bay)
11. Kohl Christensen (Hawaii)
12. Shawn Rhodes (Pacifica)
13. Mike Gerhardt (Santa Cruz)
14. Garret McNamara (Hawaii)
15. Russel Smith (Santa Cruz)
16. Jamie Mitchel (Australia)
17. Frank Solomon (South Africa)
