Mavericks 2009-2010 Big-Wave Surf Contest Voting Today on Valentine's Weekend contest



Mavs update just before midday:

some encouraging final #MAVS storm model data just came in, the boys're combing through that now.... 6 minutes ago reply

Fans of the annual big-wave surf competition, Mavericks, at Half Moon Bay, are holding their breath. Will it or won't it be a Valentine's Weekend surfing love fest?

The chosen 24 surfers - some of the best in the world - who will enter the contest are at this moment voting on whether to make The Call, and so have surfers and thousands of fans rushing to Half Moon Bay this weekend, or to the Giants' AT &T ballpark in San Francisco, or to turn to their TVs and computers.

The voting result will be announced at 12 pm today with a countdown in place.

Messages are being posted on the maverickssurf.com website. This tweet posted at 11.09 am today:

:) RT @PurringEngine: @Mavericks_Surf 55...54...53 about 1 minute ago reply

 And a second message: 

 

Stormsurf predict a swell of 20 ft Hawaiian, which is what Mavericks' organizers are looking for, to arrive on the coast on Saturday. 

Of the storm now crossing the Pacific, they say, 'The good thing on this one is that it is to be positioned fairly close to Northern CA, allowing all the energy the storm has to offer to reach the coast with minimal decay. The bad thing is that since it is so close, the resulting swell will be very raw upon arrival....Rough data suggests swell arrival in Northern CA on Saturday (2/13) at 20 ft Hawaiian from 280-285 degrees.'  http://www.stormsurf.com/page2/forecast/forecast/current.shtml

Wavewatch on surfermag.com also predict 20 ft waves, but appear to show these arriving just after midnight on Saturday, ie in the very early hours of Sunday morning. 

Their chart shows waves on Saturday afternoon building up from 15 ft, peaking at 20 ft, and then subsiding to 15 ft just after midday on Sunday. 

http://www.surfermag.com/surf-reports-and-forecasts/forecasts/index.html?RegionID=4&rt=Norcal

Everyone is holding their breath, including Mavericks CEO, Keir J Beadling, Contest Co-director, Katherine Clark, and presenters Sony Ericsson, and Barracuda Networks who are providing the biggest-ever roll-over prize purse of $150,000.

Greg Long of San Clemente, California, is the reigning champion from when the contest was last called in 2008.

Mavericks Surf Competition Will Not Be This Weekend After All!

Disappointed big-wave surfers and their fans will not be rushing to Half Moon Bay this weekend for the Mavericks Surf Contest. But there is some hope for next week.

The Pacific Ocean has not complied with their wishes that the contest would be held on Sunday.

According to stormsurf.com, as the weekend approached, a contest was not looking likely. Waves only of 12 - 13 ft are forecast for Sunday, and tomorrow at 9-10 ft. Tantalizingly, further out to sea a storm is forecast with waves of up to 46 ft.

As stormsurf say on their website, there are 'some glorious waves teasing you off in the distance, so close, but yet oh so far----'

However, they say the next swell building behind it is expected to produce waves of 22 ft on Tuesday - although wavewatch on surfer.mag.com favours Wednesday. And more good news is that stronger storms are expected in the West Pacific up to early February with influence from El Nino.

The last El Nino was in the 2002/2003 season, and the last strong one that led to flooding in California was in 1997/1998.

Contest Co-director, Katherine Clark, has said the surfers, 24 of the world's best big-wave surfers, would be happy to compete with '20 ft Hawaiian' waves.

It is up to the surfers, most of whom are now congregating in California, to make 'The Call'.
pic shows the surfers in part of their Opening Ceremony