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Mavericks, California

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For other uses of the word, see: Maverick.

Maverick's or Mavericks is a world-famous surfing location in Northern California. It is located approximately one-half mile (0.8 km) from shore in Pillar Point Harbor, just north of Half Moon Bay. After a strong winter storm has occurred in the northern Pacific Ocean, waves can routinely crest at over 25 feet (8m) and top out at over 50 feet (15m). The break is caused by an unusually-shaped underwater rock formation.

Mavericks is a destination for some of the world's premier big wave surfers. Very few riders become big wave surfers; and of those, only a select few are willing to risk the hazardous conditions at Maverick's. An invitation-only contest is held there every few winters, depending on wave conditions.

The name

In early March of 1961, three surfers, Alex Matienzo, Jim Thompson, and Dick Knottmeyer, decided to try the distant waves off Pillar Point. With them was a white-haired German Shepherd named Maverick, owned by a roommate of Matienzo. Maverick was used to swimming out with his owner, or with Matienzo, while they were out surfing.

The trio left Maverick on shore, but he swam out and caught up with them. Finding the conditions too unsafe for the dog, Matienzo paddled back in and tied Maverick to the car bumper, before rejoining the others. The riders had limited success that day, surfing the tail end of the break and generally deeming the conditions too dangerous.

They decided to name the point after Maverick, who seemed to have gotten the most out of the experience. It became known as "Maverick's Point", and later simply "Maverick's".[1]

However, in the Special Features section of Riding Giants, Jeff Clark-- the first person to surf Mavericks (1975) claims that his junior high teacher used to refer to this distant break as Mavericks. Clearly, this calls into question the validity of one of these stories.

Discovery

Jeff Clark, having grown up near Half Moon Bay, learned about Maverick's at an early age. At that time the location was deemed too dangerous to surf. He spent time watching the break, and conceived the possibility of riding Hawaii-sized waves right there in Northern California. One day in 1975, with the waves topping out at 10 to 12 feet, Clark paddled out alone to face Maverick's. He was successful, catching a number of left-breaking waves, thereby becoming the first person to tackle Maverick's head-on.

For the next 15 years, Clark continued surfing Maverick's alone. Other than a few close friends who had paddled out and seen Maverick's themselves, no one believed in its existence. The popular opinion of the time was that there simply were no large waves in California.

The next two people to surf at Maverick's, on January 22, 1990, in the company of Clark, were Dave Schmidt (brother of big wave legend Richard Schmidt) and Tom Powers, both from Santa Cruz. John Raymond, from Pacifica, and Mark Renneker, from San Francisco, surfed Maverick's a few days later.

Sea-floor maps released by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in 2007 revealed the explanation for why the Mavericks form where they do. A long, sloping ramp leads up to the surface under the wavebreak. The presence of this ramp slows the propagation of the ocean wavefront over it. The wavefront in the deep water troughs on each side of the ramp continues at full speed forming two angles in the wavefront centered over each of the boundaries between the ramp and the two troughs. The result of this is a V-shaped wavefront on the ramp that contains the energy from the full width of the ramp. This V-shaped wave then collapses into a small area in the center at the top of the ramp with tremendous force.[2]

Popularization

In 1990, a photo of Maverick's taken by Steve Tadin, a friend of Clark, was published in Surfer magazine. This event triggered a flood of interest in Maverick's as surfers realized that world-class big waves could be found in California. Over the next couple years, more photos of Maverick's began showing up in surfing magazines, and before long, filmmaker Gary Mederios released a movie about Maverick's, Waves of Adventure in the Red Triangle. As news of Maverick's spread, many big-wave surfers came and surfed the new break.

The next major event occurred in December of 1994. During a week of huge swells Mark Foo, Ken Bradshaw, Brock Little, Mike Parsons, and Evan Slater came to surf Maverick's; unfortunately, the occasion is remembered for its tragic outcome. Hawaiian big-wave legend Mark Foo died when on takeoff he caught an edge on a midsize wave and fell. A few hours later his body was found floating just under the surface. Foo's death gave Maverick's more publicity and also prompted the formation of the Maverick's Water Patrol.

The first big-wave surfing contest at Maverick's was held in 1999. The competition resulted in Darryl Virostko ("Flea"), Richard Schmidt, Ross Clarke-Jones, and Peter Mel taking first, second, third, and fourth places, respectively. The second competition was held the following year and put Darryl Virostko, Kelly Slater, Tony Ray, Peter Mel, Zach Wormhoudt, and Matt Ambrose in first through sixth places. In 2004, with Darryl Virostko, Matt Ambrose, Evan Slater, Anthony Tashnick, Peter Mel, and Grant Washburn placing in spots first through sixth. The 2005 winner was Anthony Tashnick. In 2006, Grant Baker, from South Africa, won first place, with Tyler Smith (Santa Cruz) and Brock Little (Hawai'i) in second and third places. The 2007 contest was called off by organizers because unusually mild weather resulted in no days with suitable waves by the end of March, the usual cutoff time for holding the competition.

In October 2006, the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary proposed barring personal watercraft from Maverick's, which led to disputes within the sport.[3]

Maverick's in film

The first video images were shot by Eric W. Nelson in February of 1990. On that sunny day Jeff Clark paddled out with Dave Schmidt and Tom Powers. Eric was shooting for his community access television show 'Powerlines Surf-Spots'. This would be the genesis of the Powerlines Productions company that showcases big wave surfing around the Globe.

Eric's first movie was 'High Noon at Low Tide' 1994/2005. In 1998 he produced another big wave documentary 'Twenty Feet Under'. Meanwhile Curt Myers, another local filmmaker, had produced 'Shifting Peaks' and 'Heavy Water' 94/95.

On December 11, 1998, during a big Northwest open ocean swell reaching 20-25 feet, Curt Myers was shooting from the water and Eric was shooting from land. On this memorable swell they joined forces and produced the mini documentary 'twelveleven'. On this day Powerlines Productions was born.

Jeff Clark and Maverick's are featured in the 1998 documentary Maverick's, a one hour PBS film that chronicles the break's early years, and the 2004 film Riding Giants, which documents the history of big wave surfing. Directed by skateboarder turned documentary producer Stacey Peralta (best known for the skating documentary Dogtown and Z-Boys), Riding Giants includes interviews with many of the surfers mentioned in this article. In the film Zoolander, Owen Wilson's character's retinue includes a big wave surfer from Maverick's.

References

  1. ^ Warshaw, Matt (2000). Maverick's: the story of big-wave surfing, Chronicle Books, ISBN 0-8118-2652-X
  2. ^ McKenna, Phil (19 April 2007). "Map reveals secret of awesome Mavericks waves". NewScientist.com. Retrieved 2007-04-19.
  3. ^ Powers, Ashley (November 25, 2006). Proposal could have surfers cooling their jets. Los Angeles Times

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