Mavericks event slogs forward; Permit OK’d but costly

Burle Mavericks Contest 2010

Clark, who is returning as the contest director this year, said after the meeting that he was pleased with the decision. “I feel really good about this year’s contest, and the group of people we’ve put together to run it,” he said. The group has renamed the 2011-2012 contest as The Mavericks Big Wave Invitational.

While obtaining the contest permit was good news — the “golden ticket,” as Santa Cruz professional big-wave surfer and Mavericks Invitational board member Ken Collins put it — the Harbor District’s move to unexpectedly raise the cost of the permit by $10,000 was a sticking point.

Two months ago, the District quoted the cost of the Mavericks surf contest permit at $20,000. Members of Mavericks Invitational’s Board of Directors spoke to the Harbor Commissioners about what they felt was an unfair hike on the permit fees compared to what the district charged others. “There’s an event this weekend at the harbor with 500 people,” said Rocky Raynor, Mavericks Invitational board member, referring to this Sunday’s debut Half Moon Bay International Marathon. “Their permit cost $250,” he said. “Ours is $30,000.”

Raynor, who is also the head coach of the surf club at Cunha Intermediate School in Half Moon Bay, said that the Mavericks Invitational’s plan involves bringing in revenue to the Harbor District through paid parking and through the group’s plan to generate income for harbor businesses by granting viewing rights for the contest at local establishments.

“The district doesn’t have a rigid standard schedule for events like these,” said Peter Grenell, General Manager of the San Mateo County Harbor District. Grenell said that the $250 fee is a standard district administrative fee, so it could not be compared to the $30,000 use fee charged for the surf contest.

“We’re aware that the financial benefits are very large and widespread,” Grenell said, citing a study conducted by the University of Hawaii which concluded that the Mavericks surf contest brought in $24 million to the area. “The Harbor District does not share in that except it may get some percentage revenue from a few businesses in the harbor,” he said.

The Harbor District needs “to make ends meet,” Grenell said, citing the district’s financial strain. Jeff Clark voiced his concerns about the fee increase. “Watching this permit fee grow has put questions in our mind,” he said. “I think there needs to be some balance and look at this homegrown group now with control of this event. Moving forward, we’re going to need to have you as partners in this event as well.”

Harbor Commissioner Robert Bernardo voiced concern that the increased fee was too high, and that he wanted to know more about what determined the amount of the fee.

Cassandra Clark, Mavericks Invitational board member, suggested that the group could make up for the $10,000 increase in fees in the long term with the harbor and pay the original $20,000 fee instead. But Grenell and Commissioner James Tucker said they felt it was important for the Harbor District to bring in the $30,000 revenue.

Perfect conditions in Fiji draw surfers from worldwide

Huge waves have drawn surfers (including Kelly Slater) from across the globe to Fiji where conditions at Cloudbreak are more perfect than could be possibly imagined. Sets have been consistently in the 12-15 feet range with the occasional 20 footer sneaking through. The waves are being fanned by light, dead offshore winds to create some of the roundest barrels ever paddled into.

Fiji, has been the story of the week. A little more than a year after Caloundra’s David Scard attracted worldwide attention with an amazing paddle-in barrel at Cloudbreak, conditions are even better. The low pressure system that is generating the swell is being held in place by a high covering most of Australia. The huge distance between source and the reefs of Fiji has seen the swell clean up into picture perfect lines.

Scard, who runs World Surfaris’ on-call surf missions, is back at Cloudbreak this week shepherding young big wave professionals Ryan Hipwood, Dean Bowen and Nick Vasicek with the assistance of World Surfaris’ guide Adam Yared, also from the Sunshine Coast, who has spent the past 20 surf seasons in Fiji. Reports are that Scard was finding the slot in the intense swell drawing on his years of experience at Java’s G-Land to negotiate the narrow gap between pleasure and pain.

World Surfaris’ boss Shaun Levings said the crew were holed up at a small secret spot, a 15-minute boat ride from the break. Scard headed across on Monday, taking with him a new 7’6” Al Byrne channel-bottomed gun ordered in advance in anticipation of the swell.

Tavarua Island resort, that is home to one of the world’s best, if not the best left hander, said it was a full house. “They’re sleeping in the observation tower, on the floor of the bar and finding accommodation at nearby Nomotu,” he said. Since the end of exclusivity rules for surf breaks across Fiji, others are also boating out to the break each day. Ten times world champion Kelly Slater has amazed everyone with his ability to even paddle into the monster surf on his 5’11” board. The Hawaiian contingent headed by Mark Healey has been riding the more traditional 10’6” big wave guns.

While most big wave hunters chose Fiji’s blue, warm-watered, not-a-drop-out-of-place perfection, Visser grabbed brother Ken and headed to the south coast of Tasmania last weekend. There, with locals James Hick, Marty Paradisis and Mike Brennan, they endured 13 degree water temperatures, 157km winds and four hail storms that lashed them in the giant waves. “It was freezing cold and the winds would literally blast the board out of your hands,” Visser said. The surfers were unable to tow in because of the conditions and had to battle into the faces paddling to find position before taking intense drops.

Biggest storm to hit Australia in recent years provides huge surf

You may remember him as the athlete who surfed a moonlit 30ft wave at Jaws last January. While preparing for his next projects as part of a new documentary, 28-year-old Mark Visser and other local big wave surfers have paddled into the biggest storm to hit Australia in recent years. Battling severe hailstorms, up to 70-knot winds, freezing waters and torrential rain, Visser and a small group of local surfers have braved up to 30-foot (face) waves off the coast of South Tasmania.

Coastalwatch chief swell forecaster Ben Macartney has reported that this swell is the biggest he has ever seen on swell charts in Australian waters.This same swell is about to hit Fiji and Tahiti, so we are expecting more big wave images to come very soon from other surfers.

Visser along with James Hick, Marty Paradisis, Mike Brennan and a handful of other local surfers were among the brave few surfers to successfully ride the waves. Mark (seen in the video as the surfer in black, deep on the inside of the wave) and James (seen in the video with the yellow surfboard) took the heaviest wipe outs of the day. Many of the best waves were missed on video due to the severe weather conditions. At one point during the storm, a falling tree hit a cameraman, breaking his camera and tripod. He survived uninjured with only minor bruises.

Making this feat even more dangerous is the fact that the surfers paddled in, surfing without the aid of jet ski’s. In big wave surfing, jet ski’s are often used to tow the surfer onto the wave, placing them in the right position, then retrieve the surfer after the wave and help keep them safe. Paddling in greatly increases the risk of injury and makes catching waves all the more challenging.

Mark Visser will be in Los Angeles this week for the ESPY awards. Please let us know if you are interested in any interviews, etc. Also, keep your eyes peeled for the next Mark Visser project coming soon as part of the “9 Lives” series currently in motion.