The fourth edition of the Mavericks Surf Awards was headlined by Northern Californian locals taking top honors. San Francisco charger Bianca Valenti swept the women’s awards for the third straight year, winning Biggest Wave, Ride of the Year, and Performer of the Year once again. Meanwhile, Wilem Banks and Alo Slebir brought two of the men’s awards back home to Santa Cruz, winning Ride of the Year (Banks) and Performer of the Year (Slebir). For Slebir, it was the second year in a row earning that title.
Jojo Roper was the only surfer to take one of the cash prizes outside of NorCal but he managed to keep the Mavericks Awards a clean sweep for California. The San Diego native nabbed the wave of the day on more than one occasion. The biggest one of his winter (and everybody’s at Mavs) came on March 11, about a month before the end of the contest window.
The Mavericks Awards has a standing tradition of awarding prize money to both surfers and photographers/videographers for each category. True to that, the $5,000 for each award was split 60/40. The total purse amounted to $25,000 for this winter with the photographers’ and videographers’ share being split amongst each lensman based on the number of clips used in the final awards show presentation. According to The Mavericks Awards, organizers expect the prize purse each year to be between $25,000 and as much as $100,000 depending on sponsor involvement.
