The Titans of Mavericks big wave surf contest apparently will offer a women’s competition after all.
The announcement of the women’s heat was made on the contest’s social media accounts Wednesday afternoon, a little more than 48 hours before the opening ceremony for the 2016-17 contest is scheduled to be held Friday at Maverick’s Beach near Half Moon Bay. It also comes less than a week after Cartel Management, Inc., submitted a permit amendment application that included no plans for a women’s heat until the 2017-18 season.
“I’m pretty excited about what’s going on, especially since Friday I was pretty pissed off,” said Sabrina Brennan, who has been a driving force for the inclusion of women in the competition.
Six women will throw down for an hour during the main Titans of Mavericks competition for a share of a $30,000 purse, according to Brian Waters, the chief operating officer for both Titans of Mavericks and Cartel Management. The surfers will be selected by Nov. 1 by the contest’s Committee 5 — a group of five Maverick’s patriarchs, including pioneer Jeff Clark, who were also tasked with selecting the 24 invitees to the main event.
The contest window opens in November and will run through March 31.
Waters said the contest board had no reason for its seemingly sudden decision to include women this year other than, “It’s quite simply the right time.”
“There was no compelling driver other than it was the time to do it,” Waters said.
Titans of Mavericks organizers have been facing increasing pressure to add women to the lineup or give them their own heat since Cartel acquired the contest last year.
Brennan, a San Mateo County Harbor District Commissioner, made her initial push for inclusion when she appeared before the California Coastal Commission during its local meeting in 2015. She asked the CCC to make including women in the contest a requirement for obtaining the commission’s permit, which allows the closure of Maverick’s Beach, the nearby parking lot and a trail connecting the two. The commission voted to adopt the requirement for future permits.
When the initial list of 56 potential invitees for this season’s contest was released on Sept. 20, it included four women. That same day, a group of four of the world’s most notable big wave surfers submitted a proposal to the California Coastal Commission requesting it make adding a separate women’s division as a requirement for receiving its permit.
When the contest released its updated list of 38 on Sept. 29, no women made the cut. Then came the proposal for a women’s heat next season. Many female big wave surfers felt that was Cartel pandering to the commission while seeking a four-year permit extension.
Brennan said Wednesday’s announcement is good news. Still, she noted that the Committee for Equity in Women’s Surfing — the group founded by pro surfers Bianca Valenti, Keala Kennelly, Paige Alms and Andrea Moller — will continue to push for equal treatment.
“It is great news. I’m very excited about it,” Brennan said. “I think having the dialogue is very important.”
“Whoever holds the permit needs to include a professional event,” she added, “and that means including equity for women.”
Contact Julie Jag at 831-706-3257.
