Titans of Mavericks

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Titans of Mavericks poster

Titans of Mavericks was a big wave surfing competition held at the Mavericks surf break in California. The event took place annually from 1999 until 2016, when the organizing company filed for bankruptcy, leading to the cancellation of the 2017 competition. The World Surf League subsequently took over the event but indefinitely canceled it in 2019, citing "various logistical challenges" and the inability to hold the competition during the previous two seasons. [1] [2]

Contents

History

2010 Mavericks surfing competition. 2010 mavericks competition edit1.jpg
2010 Mavericks surfing competition.
Spectators of Mavericks contest in 2010. Maverick's spectators 2.jpg
Spectators of Mavericks contest in 2010.

The first surfing contest at Mavericks, later known as the Titans of Mavericks, [3] was held in 1999 and occurred ten times, with the final contest taking place in 2016. Each year, 24 big wave surfers were invited to compete in the one-day event, which was only held if wave conditions were favorable during the competition season. The event featured waves that could reach heights of up to 60 feet (18 m).[ citation needed ]

Darryl Virostko ("Flea") won the inaugural contest in 1999, with Richard Schmidt, Ross Clarke-Jones, and Peter Mel taking second, third, and fourth places, respectively. In the following year, Virostko secured first place again, followed by Kelly Slater, Tony Ray, Peter Mel, Zach Wormhoudt, and Matt Ambrose in second through sixth places. In 2004, Virostko placed first, with Ambrose, Evan Slater, Anthony Tashnick, Mel, and Grant Washburn rounding out the top six. Tashnick won first place in 2005. In 2006, South African surfer Grant Baker won first place, with Tyler Smith and Brock Little finishing second and third. The 2007 contest was canceled due to a lack of suitable waves by the end of March, which was the usual cutoff time for the competition. In 2008, Greg Long won the Mavericks Championship, with Baker in second place and Jamie Sterling in third, followed by Smith, Washburn, and Evan Slater. The contest was canceled again in 2009. [4] In 2010, South African surfer Chris Bertish took first place, winning a prize purse of $150,000, sponsored by Moose Guen, Jane Sunderland, and Barracuda Networks.

In the fall of 2010, a group of surfers, community leaders, and contest organizers formed the Half Moon Bay Surf Group, Inc., with the intention of managing the contest. In October of that year, the San Mateo Harbor Commission granted them the permit to organize the event, leading to the planning of the inaugural "The Jay at Maverick's Big Wave Invitational" (as it was then called). [5] [6] Invited competitors included 11-time ASP World Champion Kelly Slater and 23 others. [7] However, due to a lack of waves, the contest was not held in 2011 and 2012. The 2013 contest was won by Peter Mel, and the 2014 event was won by Grant Baker. [3] The contest was later rebranded as "Titans of Mavericks" and was governed by a group of five Mavericks surfers known as the "Committee 5" . The final Mavericks Surf contest took place on February 12, 2016.

AT&T Park in San Francisco hosted[ when? ] live broadcasts of the event on its 110-foot-wide video display. [8]

In October 2006, the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary proposed banning personal watercraft from Mavericks, leading to disputes within the surfing community. [9]

Mavericks contest results

The following is a list of past Mavericks invitational competitions and winners.

Season(s)Date Held [10] Champion2nd Place3rd Place4th Place5th Place6th Place
1998-1999February 17, 1999 Flag of California.svg Darryl Virostko Flag of California.svg Richard Schmidt Flag of Australia (converted).svg Ross Clarke-Jones Flag of California.svg Peter Mel
1999-2000March 3, 2000 Flag of California.svg Darryl Virostko Flag of Florida.svg Kelly Slater Flag of Australia (converted).svg Tony Ray Flag of California.svg Peter Mel Flag of California.svg Zach Wormhoudt Flag of California.svg Matt Ambrose
2000-2003No contest held
2003-2004February 7, 2004 Flag of California.svg Darryl Virostko Flag of California.svg Matt Ambrose Flag of California.svg Evan Slater Flag of California.svg Anthony Tashnick Flag of California.svg Peter Mel Flag of California.svg Grant Washburn
2004-2005March 2, 2005 Flag of California.svg Anthony Tashnick Flag of California.svg Greg Long Flag of California.svg Tyler Smith Flag of California.svg Zach Wormhoudt Flag of California.svg Shane Desmond Flag of California.svg Matt Ambrose
2005-2006February 8, 2006 Flag of South Africa.svg Grant Baker Flag of California.svg Tyler Smith Flag of Hawaii.svg Brock Little Flag of California.svg Matt Ambrose Flag of California.svg Grant Washburn Flag of California.svg Evan Slater
2006-2007No contest held
2007-2008January 12, 2008 Flag of California.svg Greg Long Flag of South Africa.svg Grant Baker Flag of Hawaii.svg Jamie Sterling Flag of California.svg Tyler Smith Flag of California.svg Grant Washburn Flag of California.svg Evan Slater
2008-2009No contest held
2009-2010February 13, 2010 Flag of South Africa.svg Chris Bertish Flag of California.svg Shane Desmond Flag of California.svg Anthony Tashnick Flag of Hawaii.svg Dave Wessel Flag of Brazil.svg Carlos Brule Flag of California.svg Kenny Collins
2010-2012No contest held
2012-2013January 20, 2013 Flag of California.svg Peter Mel Flag of California.svg Zach Wormhoudt Flag of California.svg Greg Long Flag of Brazil.svg Alex Martins Flag of Hawaii.svg Mark Healey Flag of California.svg Shawn Dollar
2013-2014January 24, 2014 Flag of South Africa.svg Grant Baker Flag of Hawaii.svg Shane Dorian Flag of California.svg Ryan Augenstein Flag of California.svg Tyler Fox Flag of California.svg Greg Long Flag of California.svg Anthony Tashnick
2014-2015No contest held
2015-2016February 12, 2016 Flag of California.svg Nic Lamb Flag of California.svg Travis Payne Flag of California.svg Greg Long Flag of California.svg Tyler Fox Flag of Australia (converted).svg Jaime Mitchell Flag of Brazil.svg Carlos Brule

Indefinite cancellation of the event

In 2019, following two consecutive years of canceled competitions, the World Surf League announced that the Titans of Mavericks contest had been indefinitely canceled, citing "various logistical challenges" and "the inability to run the event the last two seasons." [11] The competition has not been held since.

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References

  1. ↑ "World Surf League Ends Titans Of Mavericks Competition". CBS SF BayArea. September 2, 2019. Retrieved January 14, 2020.
  2. ↑ Stech, Katy (August 24, 2017). "World Surf League to Take Over Titans of Mavericks Contest". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved May 12, 2018.
  3. 1 2 "Titans of Mavericks - History" . Retrieved August 23, 2015.
  4. ↑ "The 2009 Mavericks Surf Contest is canceled due to lack of waves". Surfertoday.com. October 16, 2011. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
  5. ↑ "Barracuda Networks". ThejayatMavericks.com. Retrieved January 29, 2013.
  6. ↑ Julia Scott (October 21, 2010). "Newcomer ousts longtime Mavericks surf event promoter". San Jose Mercury News .
  7. ↑ Mark Conley (November 5, 2010). "Mavericks surf contest adds Kelly Slater's name back to list". San Jose Mercury News .
  8. ↑ "Mavericks Surf". Mavericks Surf. December 3, 2009. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
  9. ↑ Ashley Powers (November 25, 2006). "Proposal could have surfers cooling their jets". Los Angeles Times .
  10. ↑ "Mavericks Surf Winners".
  11. ↑ "World Surf League Ends Titans Of Mavericks Competition". CBS SF BayArea. September 2, 2019. Retrieved January 14, 2020.



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