Mavericks Big Wave Contest Organizers Wrestling for Control
There is more drama in the lineup of the Mavericks organizing ranks. After last years legal wranglings with Mavericks pioneering surfer Jeff Clark the trouble continues for event organizers.
Photo Credit Shawn R Davis/www.picyourshot.com
Mavericks is arguably the world's premiere big wave surfing event that sees some of the best surfers scramble once a year to Pillar Point California on 24 hours notice when conditions are just right. And with them come throngs of spectators and hoards of media.
The group currently organizing the event, Mavericks Surf Ventures, is under siege from a new group whose goal is return the event back to its roots.
The current organizers are still reeling from the mayhem that ensued during last year’s contest when a wave overran the sea wall washing away spectators and even seriously injuring some.
As the event has grown in popularity so too has the number of spectators and some would say it has grown too big too fast. As the crowds scramble to catch a glimpse of some of the top surfers riding some of the biggest paddle in waves on the planet they come dangerously close to the sheer cliffs that make up Pilar Point trampling the sensitive environment along the way.
Leading the new organizing committee, which counts some of the big wave surfers amongst its ranks, is Frank Quirarte. Quirarte’s group wants to limit the number of spectators, and sponsors, in an attempt to return the event back to its origins. "It’s become a huge commerce event that’s lost its soul” says Quirarte.
Part of Quirarte's groups plan is to rename the event the Jay Moriarty Mavericks Invitational in honor of one of the areas fallen watermen who personified the spirit of the site and the event.
The decision lies in the hands of the Pillar Point Harbor Master who will make his choice by the end of September. Regardless of the decision the event will go on as planned as neither group wants to see the event disrupted.
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