Every year the world’s best surfers wait with bated breath from December until March to hear about Mavericks. “When the Pacific storms start raging again and the conditions line up just right” some of the best surf conditions imaginable will suddenly materialize and contestants get a phone call and 24 hours to get to Half Moon Bay, California. The call has come in, and the annual Mavericks Surf Contest has been announced for 2008 — and it’s today. The fortuitous Saturday timing of the event will surely bring out a larger-than-usual crowd to the cliffs of Half Moon Bay. But if you’re not able to get your gear in order in time to make it to the event, don’t worry.
If you’re in San Francisco, for $25 you can party it up at AT&T Park and watch the world’s elite shoot the tubes on the giant stadium screen. Or if you’re more of a homebody and don’t want to leave your computer, you can catch the event streamed live on MySpace for free.
Last year we were excited because the contest was scheduled to be streamed live for free on on both CBS Sportsline and the official Mavericks site. However, the swells never materialized during the 2007.
Mavericks Profile — The Mavericks Mystique
The waves at Mavericks, located just north of Half Moon Bay, can routinely top 25 feet and have gotten as high as 50 feet. The spot is so storied multiple books and movies have been made about its tubular swells.
Mavericks Surf Contest — 2006 Highlight Reel
I could listen to surfers talking about surfing all day long. Their casual drawl, fluid sentence construction, and punctuating “dudes” are a surefire cure for winter cabin fever.
This is exactly the type of coverage that Current’s View Created Content (VC2) program was designed for. A cool story hook, some beautiful b-roll, colorful main character and a rockin’ soundtrack make for compelling online video. The surfing film is its own genre and since The Endless Summer it’s been shot by the surfers themselves. Taking it online is the natural next step.
Here is the promo video for the 2006/2007 Mavericks Surf Contest that never happened. They had their media syndication and Ask.com sponsors all in a row but the forces of nature didn’t cooperate.
More surfing videos on SurfingMagazine.com
There is nothing hotter than surfer chicks. Seriously. Also, SurfingMagazine gets some points for a surprisingly decent video selection, complete with embeds, as seen here.
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