In a bit of news that had been expected for weeks in the Northern California surf community, the Mavericks big-wave contest officially has been called off, bringing closure to one of the most disappointing seasons in memory.
The contest window ended Sunday. There were faint hopes the event could be held March 23-24, and a lot of the sport’s biggest names hit the water for a solid northwest swell in favorable weather. But the surf didn’t measure up to the World Surf League’s standard: 40-foot waves arriving consistently over a full day’s time.
In retrospect, the contest could have been held during a four-day period in mid-December. The surf was huge, especially on Dec. 17, and some of the event’s most prominent competitors were out there taking it on. Because the WSL insists on issuing the “go” alert 72 hours ahead of time, it was reluctant to hold the event with potentially contrary wind and weather in the forecasts.
No problem, everyone figured, not with January, February and March ahead. Instead, nothing. Surfline.com’s Kevin Wallis, the official forecaster for the WSL’s Big Wave Tour, said the most recent swell “was the first time in about three months that we had formal discussions around a swell with (commissioner) Mike Parsons and the whole BWT crew. It’s been that slow.”
The news is particularly discouraging for women surfers invited into the contest for the first time — and granted equal prize money, thanks to the WSL’s historic September decision. They were to surf two five-woman heats and then a six-woman final on the same day as the men’s event.
Looking back on the big December surf, “The real issue is that they need a full day of good surf in order to fit the men and women in on one day,” said San Francisco filmmaker Sachi Cunningham, who is preparing a documentary on women’s big-wave surfing. “There were some epic waves during that swell, but no full days of great waves. Tides were an issue, and at times, it was just weird and gigantic out there.
The WSL has been at the vanguard of the women’s big-wave movement, staging contests at Peahi — the fearsome “Jaws” break on Maui — alongside the men over the past three winters. The surf was particularly challenging during the event held Nov. 26, with howling winds greeting a swell that approached 50-foot faces for the women’s heats and 60 feet by the time the men hit the water.
Now we’ll have to wait until next winter to see how the top women fare at big Mavericks.
Bruce Jenkins is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist. Email: bjenkins@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Bruce_Jenkins1
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