It’s looking as though the Maverick’s Big Wave Surfing Competition may take place this year. The World Surf League says waves only need to be consistently at 25 feet for the competition to get the green light and right now they are looking at waves that could be 40 to 60 feet in the coming week. Surfline, the official surf forecasting partner of the Mavericks challenge, says the “massive swell” could be rolling in late Sunday into Monday, and good wind and wave conditions are expected on Wednesday as well. The WSL gives a “Yellow Alert” 4 days in advance if the competition could happen. Official word that the competition is happening will come 48 hours before the event.
The competition has been held 10 times but never as early as December.
Scotts Valley’s Patrick Shaughnessy and Santa Cruz’s Anthony Tashnick, Peter Mel and Nic Lamb are invitees to the men’s 24-surfer field, while Santa Cruz’s Sarah Gerhardt and Jamilah Star are invitees to the field for the inaugural women’s competition, which will include 10 surfers.
