Mavericks scene:
Spectators turned away, must watch on screen.
The bars, parking lots and hotels in Half Moon Bay were teeming Friday as the Titans of Mavericks competition returned to the legendary big- wave break, drawing thousands of spectators looking to see the best surfers on the planet compete — even though seeing them directly proved impossible.
Mattox Goodrich, 9, came from Sacramento on Thursday night with his dad Steve, 52, and woke up at 5 a. m., hoping to glimpse the enormous swell with his own eyes, but father and son were turned away from the bluff overlooking the surf spot. Public access to both the beach and cliff areas was blocked after injuries and overcrowding in previous years made both areas unsafe.
Nonetheless, Mattox and his dad found themselves parked in a prime spot in front of the Mavericks Surf Shop, where Red Bull, one of the contest’s sponsors, had set up a giant SUV with a big-
screen TV showing the live stream of the contest and had a DJ playing rock music for the crowd that gathered.
“We tried to get up to the cliff this morning, but they turned us right around. We could have done this from home,” Goodrich said, motioning to his son, who sat on a bench watching the contest on TV in front of the surf shop.
Mattox, however, had a more positive take on the situation.
“My dad has been wanting to do this his whole life,” he said. “We’re here for the surf, and I’m really excited.”
Santa Cruz native wins
The surfers didn’t let Mattox down. Santa Cruz native Nic Lamb was declared the winner of the competition after scoring two good runs in the hour- long afternoon final. Loud cheers from the shore sounded for the 27- year- old Lamb as fans realized he had clinched the title with two minutes left in the contest.
As Lamb tamed the big waves, the biggest gripe of the day concerned public access to the contest, or the lack thereof. In 2010, 13 people who got too close to the water were injured and at least 40 others were knocked off their feet by a monster wave. Many of them had been standing on a short concrete wall and were thrown into rocks or mud by the surge of water.
A volunteer with the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office who was tasked with turning people away from the viewing areas at Pillar Point Bluff said there had been a steady stream of people since he started at 6: 30 a. m.
“We’ve probably turned back close to 2,000 people,” the volunteer, who declined to give his name, said in between turning around carload after carload of dejected surfing fans. “Everyone has been understanding for the most part, though. It really comes down to just being a safety issue.”
One of those told to look elsewhere was Albert Bui, a 25- year- old software engineer who made the trek from San Jose on Friday morning.
“I heard about it on the news and wanted to come check it out for myself,” he said, adding that watching the contest play out on a computer was nothing like viewing it with the naked eye.
With the bluff off- limits — and no public viewing party this year — spectators were relegated to nearby bars and restaurants showing the event.
One such viewing spot, the Half Moon Bay Brewing Company, was just about as close to the surf spot as you could get. Spokeswoman Mary Oldham said every year she sees scores of disappointed faces as she informs people that they can’t actually see the contest from the nearby cliff area.
“During the last festival, I had to tell hundreds of people, people that had come from all over, I’m talking Brazil and Germany, that they couldn’t actually see the contest,” she said. “I would tell them, ‘ It’s right over there, but you can’t go there.’ ”
That didn’t stop crowds from flocking to the seaside town. Nearly 100 people stood in line outside the brewing company around 7: 30 a. m., a full hour before the surfing began.
“You want to watch something like this with a crowd,” said Ryan Voeltz, 38, who stood near the front of the line with his dad, Bruce, 67. “It’s an El Niño year, so we knew we had to come out. It’s almost like a tailgate party.”
“And we might just do some father- son bonding, too,” Bruce Voeltz added with a chuckle.
Crowds pack businesses
As the waves grew throughout the day, hovering around 20 feet at noon, the crowds did too, and the small strip of businesses was packed with surfing enthusiasts looking for the best place to catch the competition.
Just before noon, David Brooks, 59, of Redwood City stood in the outdoor patio of the brewery, beer in hand and eyes on the big screen TV set up to show the event. Like many others, Brooks was disappointed he wasn’t watching the contest with his own eyes, but was excited for the surfers, many of whom he knows.
“It really is a shame,” Brooks said of the bluff closure. “I come up here a lot when they aren’t having a contest and the bluff is a great place to watch if you’ve got binoculars or a long lens on your camera. But you get a couple people who don’t know how to act up there, and they ruin it for the rest of us.”
Brooks was a competitive surfer when he was in his early 20s, so he had an idea what some of the competitors were going through as they navigated the monster waves.
Dangerous waves
“I was lucky enough to live on Maui’s North Shore and surf some of the best waves anyone could hope for,” he said. “It’s just as dangerous here. These waves are big and these waves are scary, so you really have to hand it to these guys. Once the waves get this big, it’s a different kind of surfing.”
Back over at the Mavericks Surf Shop, a sizable crowd had gathered by midafternoon, with Kal Clarke playing master of ceremonies as the contest showed on multiple TVs. During a replay of some of the day’s worst wipeouts, the crowd oohed and aahed as surfers were swallowed by walls of white water and tumbled around like socks in a dryer.
After a particularly bad wipeout, Clarke asked the crowd, “Now who wants to be a big- wave surfer? Show of hands.” In the crowd, all hands stayed where they were, either in pockets or clutching pizza.