Twig celebrating his Mavericks win.
Grant “Twiggy” Baker won the Big Wave World Tour’s crown jewel event, the Body Glove Mavericks Invitational presented by GoPro.
A host of the world’s best big wave surfers showed up at Pillar Point, and the final consisted of Grant Baker, Shane Dorian, Ryan Augenstein, Greg Long, Tyler Fox, and Anthony Tashnick.
South Africa’s Grant “Twiggy” Baker, coming off a win in Spain, held his competitors at bay for most of the final. With four minutes to go, his score was 29.33, while Shane Dorian trailed with 25.53. No one could catch up, and as the final horn sounded, Baker thew his arms up in triumph.
“We just put our heads down and had to go, because it was the final,” he said in a post-win interview. I just got lucky that I didn’t hit a bump halfway down and get catapulted.”
“I think every single person in this contest would be doing this with or without sponsors,” he continued.
The swell that showed up at Mavericks produced 20-25 foot waves with relatively clean conditions. Some of the most spectacular wipeouts of day included Mark Healey’s two-wave hold down and Anthony Tashnick’s upside down over-the-falls tumble.
This was the first time the Mavericks Invitational was televised live, with Universal Sports Network broadcasting it on national television.
