Battling through a stacked field of big wave surfing legends, Big Wave World Tour elite surfers, a diehard contingent of locals, and incredibly hazardous conditions, Grant “Twiggy” Baker clinched his second title at Maverick’s. It’s been a week of XXL waves throughout the Pacific–from Hawaii to the Pacific Northwest. Along with the large west swell that hit Half Moon Bay, dangerous southeast winds set the stage for an exhilarating day of big wave surfing at the Maverick’s Invitational.
Like last year, the headlands and bluff-top at Pillar Point Harbor were closed to spectators, who now all vied for expensive, half-contest trips on charter fishing boats to watch from the channel, or purchased tickets to the festival village where they could watch live on the big screen.
The word was out; the 2014 Maverick’s Invitational was on. By 6:30 am there was little to no parking within the harbor or immediate area. It was a much bigger crowd than previous years. And for the first time ever, in addition to the live webcast, a portion of the contest was aired live on TV.
Conditions maxed out around 20ft with a few larger sets bombing through. The west swell and southeast winds formed incredibly steep bowls, and despite the pedigree of elite big wave surfers on the roster, there were a number of waves they just couldn’t drop into. Floatation devices were pulled and rescues were made. A few contestants were rag dolled towards the rocks including Mark Healey, who was caught inside during his first round heat.
In his own first round heat, last year’s winner Peter Mel put on a show to emphasize why he was the defending champion, but it wasn’t enough to best Tyler Fox, Anthony Tashnick or Ryan Augenstein in semifinal number one. Greg Long, Twiggy, and Shane Dorian advanced out of their semifinal, but Shawn Dollar could have just as easily taken one of those spots.
By the time the final rolled in, the swell was already dropping showing long lulls in between sets. But never count Maverick’s out. Twiggy and Shane Dorian (fresh off a red-eye flight from Jaws) scored the only barrel of the day and a massive airdrop to respectively place first and second.
After his first win back in 2006, amazingly just a short while after his first time riding Mav’s, Twiggy was compared to the legendary Maverick’s charger Flea, who won three contests in a row. Now, after his second win, the comparisons are starting all over again, and were the overwhelming topic of commentary during the awards ceremony. With this win shortly off the back of his Big Wave World Tour win in the Basque Country of Spain, the question remains: what’s next for the South African charger who lost Billabong as his main sponsor just six months ago?
