Mavericks Big Wave Surf Competition Opens Nov 9 -March 31st

 

Mavericks Big Wave Surf Competition Opens Nov 9 -March 31st!

The copetition window this year will be from nov 9 - March 31st the biggest window Mavericks has ever had.Ideal conditions failed to materialize last season, just like in the 2010-2011 season, and the contest was not held. Mavericks Invitational is a big wave surfing event. The one-day, invitation-only surfing competition is held at the legendary Mavericks surf break.Where 24 of the best big wave surfers are given 24 hours notice to arrive and go big, once competition is called on by the Mavericks commitee.

In Beautiful Half Moon Bay, Ca.


Last year the event had a festival on the last day of the event that was filled with great entertainment at Harbor Village and this year the group hopes to do it when the event is called on!





Information from Half Moon Bay Patch

The opening of the big-wave surfing contest at Mavericks is scheduled for Nov. 9, surfer and organizer Jeff Clark said.

"The opening ceremony is a special ceremony to gather the tribe, this family and community of surfers, to join hands and bless the event," said Clark. "It's a chance to bring the competitors and Mavericks community together on a non-contest day, away from the spotlight and commotion of a contest. It's a time for us to come together in the spirit of family and remember why we do what we do."

According to Mavericks Big Wave Invitational organizers, the contest waiting period will officially run through March 31, 2013.

Clark and fellow surfers are hoping for big waves this season at the spot known for its massive swells less than a mile off the San Mateo County coast near Pillar Point Harbor.

Ideal conditions failed to materialize last season, just like in the 2010-2011 season, and the contest was not held.


The 24 competitors, among them Chris Bertish, of South Africa, Matt Ambrose, of Pacifica, 2005 champion Anthony Tashnick, of Santa Cruz, and 11-time world champion Kelly Slater, have been selected to be judged on how they can handle the Mavericks.

The opening of the contest season coincides with last week's release of the film "Chasing Mavericks" starring Gerard Butler as legendary big-wave surfer Jay Moriarty's mentor Rick "Frosty" Hesson.

The movie, originally titled "Of Men and Mavericks," was shot throughout Santa Cruz and Half Moon Bay last fall and winter, including at Mavericks, where Butler was briefly trapped underwater during filming in December 2011.

He was rescued by emergency responders from the Coastside Fire Protection District and suffered minor injuries.

Chasing Mavericks: A Tribute of Mavericks Greatest Surfer named JAY MORIARITY On Theaters Oct. 26, 2012

Mavericks Greatest Surfer: Jay Moriarity

Big-wave rider Jay surfed the Mavericks, the breakers up to 50ft high that crash along the Santa Cruz ­coast in winter.

He was just 16 and working part-time in a pizza parlour when ­photographer Bob Barbour took a shot that made him famous.

It made the front page of Surfer magazine and he became a hero to surfers around the world.

Then, the day before his 23rd ­birthday, the sea he loved claimed his life. Ironically he wasn’t surfing.

Jay drowned off the Maldives while free-diving, staying on the seabed without oxygen to practise his ­breathing techniques.

Kim brought his body home and scattered his ashes in the waves he worshipped as hundreds of surfers formed a vast circle of boards.

As film-makers recreated the ­amazing life story, Scots-born star Gerard, 42, who plays Jay’s trainer Rick “Frosty” Hessen, got a chilling ­reminder of the sea’s lethal power.

Swimming out to film a scene he was battered through rocks by a series of waves and held underwater for almost a minute as rescuers on jetskis raced ­towards him.

Gerard, barely conscious, was dragged out of the water and had to spend a night in ­hospital.

He says: “It was a pretty close call. These waves came out of ­nowhere.

“I was with three of the best surfers in the world and they were shouting, ‘Paddle, Gerry, ­paddle!’. But this wave spread across the skyline, 30ft high, and just dived on us and it took me. It ripped off my safety leash so there was nothing to pull me back up. I was just tumbling, tumbling, ­tumbling… going, going. I was thinking, ‘I need to get up!’. Then I felt the next wave hit and it all started again.

“I had a few hairy ­experiences in ­training. I got out of my depth and sometimes I was under water for 10 or 15 seconds, but this time, I was ­under for nearly a minute.”

Of Men and Mavericks follows the relationship between Frosty and hiseager young pupil Jay, played by ­newcomer Jonny ­Weston.

After Frosty agreed to train him he made Jay write his life philosophies. The title of one essay was prophetic: “What would I do if I was going to die ­tomorrow?”

Whatever Jay’s answer, the way he lived touched the lives of hundreds of surfers, many of them inspired by that iconic image of him riding the Mavericks.

Photographer Bob, 61, recalls: “The picture was not just sheer chance. Jay was out to prove himself that day. The waves were big and he was going for it. He wasn’t reckless, he was ­supremely skilful. He knew what he wanted to do and was ­determined to achieve it. When you look at him there, at the top of the wave, you see so much grace.

“In fact it wasn’t so much a natural ­talent with Jay, he ­really had to work hard at it. He was dedicated, totally.

“If he said he would see you on the beach at 7am, he’d be there at 6.30 and he’d stay until the job was done.”

Bob adds: “I’ve worked with hundreds of surfers. I know what their egos can be like. Jay was different. He was the best but he treated everyone as his equals. There was always a friendly warmth in his eyes.

“I guess it’s difficult for people outside the community to realise how there’s a special bond between surfers.

“It’s built out of a respect for the ocean, and for the way each one takes on the challenges.

“Surfers understand one another and why they do it. So the loss of someone like Jay really touched everyone’s hearts in this neighbourhood. If he had died on a big wave rather than out training, maybe that might have been easier to accept.”

When Jay died, he and Kim’s first ­wedding ­anniversary was approaching. But they were ­childhood sweethearts and had been together as a couple for years.

A decade on from his death, Kim, 34, has moved back to Santa Cruz and is due to remarry this year.

But Jay’s memory is, not surprisingly, still very precious and vivid.

“Sometimes I’m overwhelmed with a feeling that he’s close by. I keep his ­image near to my heart,” she has said. “I was just numb after he was gone. I was ­upside down, turned around in the dark.

“I watched him grow into what he ­became. Being a big-wave rider is really very cool and people idolised him.

“But meeting him on the street you would never know that. He would treat you like you were his brother or sister. He had no ego. He was just incredibly real in a world…”

Mavericks Goes Hollywood : Jay Moriarity Film

Jay Moriarity, big-wave surfer who died the summer of 2001, will be remembered in the up coming hollywood movie "Mavericks". Set to begin shooting in October the film will be based mostly on Moriarity's early life and his relationship with mentor Frosty Hesson. Producers plan to find an unknown actor to play Moriarity and costarring as Hesson will be Gerard Butler. Butler who is know for his films 300, Law Abiding Citizen and most recently The Bounty Hunter will also be the executive producer. Moriarity, who conquered Mavericks at age 15 will not only be honored through hollywood but at the renamed contest "The Jay at Maverick's".