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| Mid-sized Mavericks favors the quick and the canny By Lewis Rutherfurd--[ lewis@hmbreview.com ] Published/Last Modified on Wednesday, January 16, 2008 1:31 PM PST The 2008 Mavericks contest didn't feature the heaving, 50-foot slabs of water that make the Pillar Point spot among the world's riskiest. The swell checked in at 12 feet at 18 seconds just before the early morning start - and a rising tide throughout the day meant the resulting 20-foot plus waves would only get fewer and farther between. But at 20 feet under sunny skies, Mavericks still dished up plenty of action, especially with the hottest big-wave surfers in the world making the most of every set. The contest favored the young and quick and the top three winners, Greg Long, Grant Baker and Jamie Sterling were all under 25. But veterans made a strong push. In Heat 1, local standout Ion Banner, 38, was all over the lineup. Banner caught more waves than anyone, even jumping into a reverse stance on the shoulder of one mid-sized musher. But the judges on the bluffs go by wave size, quality - and how the surfer positions himself on the drop. Early in the heat, Sterling set the pace with a desperate air drop down one of the larger faces that drew whoops from the flotilla of charter boats, Jet Skis and assorted watercraft in the diesel-choked channel next to the break. Banner placed fourth and missed the cut for the semifinals, edged by 24-year-old Long, of San Clemente, Sterling, 24, of Hawaii, and veteran Shawn Rhodes of Pacifica. For parts of the morning, it looked as if the ocean would shut things down. "Long lulls, but they're good when they come in," said Evan Slater, editor of Surfer magazine and a perennial contestant before his heat. "It's going to be a dogfight out there." Slater would make it through to the finals, taking the most bruising wipeouts of any competitor along the way. Grant Washburn, a second-place winner in years past surfed consistently all day on his way to another final as well. "There were still some big ones," said the San Francisco resident. Washburn made solid drops and never took a serious wipeout - which he said was no accident. "I know what it does to you - I can't recover from that like I used to." As the early heats wound down, Tyler Smith of Santa Cruz and South Africa's Grant "Twiggy" Baker made strong appearances and pushed through to the finals. Dave Wassell, a Hawaiian lifeguard and a standout at Oahu breaks like the Banzai pipeline, replaced South African John Whittle in the contest. He showed he belonged in cold water and missed the final cut by one spot. Darryl "Flea" Virostko, a winner of three of the five past contests, showed up 10 minutes late for his heat and scrambled to wax up his board while perched on a Jet Ski. He gave a game effort in Heat 3, dropping in and going left in a wild layback on one critical peak - making the wave. He took some big falls too and was done early. Fellow Santa Cruz surfer Peter Mel, often considered the best surfer at Mavericks, missed the cut for the semi's as well. The semifinals brought long lulls interspersed with hectic sets of solid 20-foot waves. Sterling, Long and Wassell went to work early and split the first peak after an eight-minute stretch of flat water. Washburn chose well and made a key drop to make it through. Baker took the first wave of the second semifinal with a steep drop from behind the peak - reminiscent of his contest-winning effort in 2006. He nabbed another as soon as he paddled back out. The swell was dropping fast too as noon approached - but Slater showed that Mavericks has fangs at any size with a back-slamming fall down one face that brought gasps from the fleet. Organizers cut short a planned break before the final - and the hour-long finale began at 1 p.m. with one of the longest lulls of the day. Sterling, Long, Washburn, Baker, Slater and Smith sat in a tight pack scanning the horizon - and made a pact to share the $75,000 in prize money. It was Long who pitched the idea, according to Sterling - much as he had in another big-wave contest in South Africa a few years before. Long went on to win the South African event and he won Mavericks too. Just after the pact was made and the event became a "free surf" among friends, a hammering set rolled in - one of the biggest of the day. About 14 waves were ridden in the final hour. A perfect, tip-toes drop from just behind the apex of one peak - the toughest, most difficult position possible - won the event for Long. He scored the only perfect 10 of the day. Baker scrapped for every chance and came in second. Sterling caught the biggest wave of the final by far to place third. The wave of the day rolled past unridden as competitors were caught out of position. And the final ended with a long stretch of flat water. "The guys are happy," said Jeff Clark, Mavericks pioneer and the contest founder. He was a constant presence, sitting in street clothes astride a Jet Ski throughout the day. "That's the best thing, that the surfers are happy." |