PRINCETON BY THE SEA >> “There’s nothing to see here.”
Zach Wormhoudt all but added “move along” Thursday when the Santa Cruz big wave surfer was asked what people planning to drive to Half Moon Bay on Friday to watch the Titans of Mavericks contest should know.
Very little can be glimpsed from shore, especially since the bluffs and beach closest to the break have been required to be closed for the event ever since rogue waves injured several spectators in 2010. So, competitors and organizers alike strongly encouraged fans to stay home and watch the event’s livecast on Redbull.tv. Alternatively, they suggested finding a spot at one of several bars and restaurants between Santa Cruz and San Francisco that will be showing the webcast on TVs or paying upwards of $250 for half a day on a boat.
But there will plenty to see.
That includes 24 of the world’s gutsiest big wave surfers throwing themselves in front of waves that are taller than most houses, as fast as a BART train and colder than a can of soda from the back of the fridge.
“What sets Mav’s apart from other big wave spots in the world is that some stand up tall, but at Maverick’s, it has the entire ocean behind it,” Wormhoudt said.
“It comes and it just heaves forward, so it’s very, very difficult to surf and very, very difficult just to get into the waves,” he added. “Some other big waves are very difficult once you’re riding the waves, Maverick’s is hard just to get the ride going.”
That leads to the spectacle of cringe-worthy wipeouts, in which surfers risk being slammed into the reef below. There’s also the slim chance one might run afoul of a Great White Shark. All of that combined tends to draw a circus of circling Jet Skis and boats loaded with passengers and helicopters buzzing overhead — a spectacle itself.
This year, the spectacle will take place among waves expected to reach 35-40 feet tall, according to Darryl “Flea” Virostko of Santa Cruz.
Virostko, a three-time champion at the break, is now part of the Committee 5 charged with picking the contestants and the contest day. He said the vote to run the event Friday was a close one, in part because the call was made Tuesday — 72 hours before the event.
Ultimately, it got the majority and Virostko said it is looking like they made the right call. The waves will be created by the same storm system that caused organizers of the Quiksilver in Memory of Eddie Aikau to give that event the green light for Wednesday, only to cancel it when the waves didn’t show. But Virostko said the reason the waves didn’t meet expectations in Hawaii is because the swell turned more toward California.
“All that energy is coming our way,” he said.
Virostko added that a low tide in the morning and a peaking swell in the afternoon should make conditions consistent throughout the event.
All 24 invitees who were placed into heats during the opening ceremony in November are expected to attend, including former ASP World Tour standout Shane Dorian of Hawaii and past Maverick’s contest champions Chris Bertish (2010) of South Africa, Greg Long (2008) of San Clemente and Anthony Tashnick (2005) of Santa Cruz.
The winner will get $30,000 out of the total $120,000 purse that is mostly coming out of the pockets of Cartel Management, which took over production of the event last season. It will also pay for hotel and some travel expenses for the competitors.
No suitable contest days occurred in 2014-15, so Cartel has had more than a year and a half since Jeff and Cassandra Clark turned over the contest to get everything in order. Cassandra Clark said she likes the way things are going so far, including, she said, that the focus has been more on the surfers and less on outside influences like putting on a fan festival or catering to sponsors.
“I think we’re going to be wowed, and I really want to be wowed,” she said. “It’s taken a huge amount of trust, but now we’ll see the outcome.”
Whether it’s a success or failure, that’s something people are bound to see whether they watch in person or online.
“If the men and women who surf there get what they need out of it,” Clark added, “we’ll be satisfied.”
Contact Julie Jag at 831-706-3257.
