A South African who scored perfect 10s navigating near 12m waves won the Mavericks surf contest, besting California riders in an event many refer to as ”the Super Bowl of surfing”.
Grant ”Twiggy” Baker (32) of Durban, South Africa, entered the contest as a special add on. Online voters decided that he deserved a crack at the big waves — and he responded by scoring a perfect 10 on two rides in front of thousands of onlookers on Tuesday.
”I never thought this was possible,” Baker said after winning $30 000 and a trophy. ”For someone from South Africa, this is an impossible dream.”
Baker’s first perfect score from the judges came in the third heat of round one. Each heat pitted six surfers against each other, with the top three moving on to the next round. Baker deftly sliced down a large wave, and then stylishly steered clear of the crush of whitewater that followed him close behind.
Three-time Mavericks winner Darryl ”Flea” Virostko and defending champion Anthony Tashnick, both from nearby Santa Cruz, were eliminated in the first round.
Out-of-town surfers are often viewed as long shots at Mavericks because many locals practice surfing the rough and cold waves year-round.
Tyler Smith of Santa Cruz won second place and $10 000, while Brock Little won $5 000 for third place.
Little, a California-born surfer now living in Hawaii, was in serious contention throughout the day. In the first semifinal he carved his way down an extremely steep wave face, and finally shot clear of the powerful wind and whitewater that can come back to bite a surfer who lingers too long near the base of the wave without moving to the side.
Little pumped his fist to ”claim” that ride, surfer parlance for a physical gesture at the end of a good ride that told the others he had won that small battle with nature.
But in the end, it was Baker sticking to wave faces like a magnet in the finals, brushing aside any hesitation as he propelled himself down wave after wave. The locals simply couldn’t keep up.
”On the final I kind of took off too deep, but I managed to skate along, just kind of turn a bit before I had to hit the bottom,” Baker said.
Baker remained impressed at the power of Mavericks on this sunny day with cloudless skies.
”It’s a powerful wave. It’s a crazy wave,” he said.
Riders at Mavericks must brave a two-storey drop onto the face of the world’s most feared breaks and ride away unscathed. Mavericks is located about a kilometre off the coast of Half Moon Bay, about 32km south of San Francisco.
Jeff Clark discovered the quirky and powerful surf break in 1975 and rode it alone for 15 years before convincing others to join him. – Sapa-AP