Grant “Twiggy” Baker was the winner at the 2012/2013 Mavericks Surf Competition at Half Moon Bay, California. Following a weekend of competition that saw many 30 to 40 foot high waves, Baker, hailing from South Africa, was declared the winner. Baker had won the contest previously in 2006. For his victory at this contest known as the Super Bowl of Surfing, Baker takes home a check for $12,000 and a lot of respect from fellow surfers. On his way to the victory, he posted two perfect 10 rides to rack up a score of 29.33 points.
In second place was Shane Dorian from Hawaii with a score of 25.53 points. He gets to take a check for $6,000 back to Hawaii. Finishing in third place was Ryan Augenstein of Santa Cruz California with a score of 16.66 points who received $5,000.
The event is tentatively planned for each year by Jeff Clark, but the last two have been canceled because of lack of good surfing conditions. In a statement to reporters, Clark said, “I would say this is pretty close to the Lombardi trophy for surfing. It takes everything you know about the ocean to compete and survive and be successful at Mavericks when it’s this big.” Other surfers only wish that they would receive the recognition and pay that those in other sports receive.
Spectators were not allowed to watch the event live after several were injured in 2010 by sneaker waves. Instead, they were invited to watch the event from a nearby beer garden that featured 30-foot television screens tuned to ESPN’s coverage of the event.
Baker is thrilled to have this victory, because his former supporter Billabong had recently dropped their support of him after he failed to produce any big wins in 2013. In the past, Baker has been nominated for several XXL Awards. He is also well known in his native South Africa for dating playgirl Kate Lovemore. With this victory, it will probably not be long until Baker has supporters fighting for him to endorse their products. Baker hopes to produce more victories in the near future as this contest begins the official big wave surfing competition for the year.