Mavericks: Biggest of the big waves

The San Francisco Chronicle’s Bruce Jenkins reports on the big surf at Mavericks in California on Saturday, Feburary 13:

“Over the 40-odd years in which big-wave surf contests have been held, the benchmarks were always set at Hawaii’s Waimea Bay: the 1974 Smirnoff contest, the 1990 Eddie Aikau Invitational, and this winter’s Aikau, held in December. In all cases, the surf was 25 to 30 feet on the so-called Hawaiian scale, similar to what arrived at Mavericks on Saturday.”

South Africa’s Chris Bertish came up on top winning the $50,000 first-prize check.