It’s a FleaPete – Mavericks Surf Contest
by Frank Quirarte
March 3rd 2000

The Northern California coast had been stormy all week, sunshine one minute, torrential downpour the next, very unpredictable. Thursday, the 2nd of March, wasn’t any different. The Quiksilver/Mavericks Men Who Ride Mountains green light was illuminated, and Storm #23 was headed our way. And for the moment the sun was peaking out from behind the clouds. It was less than 24 hours before Showtime, and every nuance of tide, swell, wind, and rain was being monitored. I was at home when the phone rang–it was Katherine Clark calling to go over some details regarding the contest. We both had noticed the fog bank that began sneaking over the hill in Half Moon Bay. We joked nervously about a repeat of last year’s foggy morning, but according to all of the forecasts, Friday had the potential to be one of the most epic paddle-in days of the 1999-2000 Maverick’s season. We held our breath!

I finally fell asleep some time around midnight. Normally sleep did not come easily before a big swell – but the level of anticipation for this swell event was the highest I have experienced since becoming involved with Maverick’s. I had my alarm set for five o’clock in the morning, but I knew I would be up well before the morning light if I ever slept at all. At 5:30 a.m. I was out the door and heading straight towards the boat ramp. I pulled into the harbor in darkness — Peter Mel was already suited-up and getting ready to head out to the break. There was no one else in sight. I sat and watched the sunrise–there was a little residual cloud cover from the night before, and the moon was still out, so the sunrise was incredible. March 3, 2000 had arrived.

I talked to Pete before he motored out and then headed back to the Roadhouse Cafe. Grant Washburn was the next to roll in. Soon all the competitors and reporters were starting to file in. I cruised out to the Point. Jeff Clark was rounding up his troops. Basically it was quiet. I headed back to the ramp to launch the skis. The boat launch was now crawling with camera crews, surfers and spectators. The news crews were getting their interviews, guys were waxing boards, and photographers were checking the light. This event was going to go, and it was going to go hard in epic conditions.

Surfing Magazines’ Doug Acton and I made our way over to the beach. Now the sun was up–a beautiful morning. The competitors were mulling around. As the crowd began to build, so did the anticipation. Clark was a couple hours behind and things at the beach were a little confusing.

Meanwhile, the Mav’s regulars had already paddled-out to sneak in some of the sweetness before the contest began. Danilo Couto dropped in on a giant wave setting the pace bright and early. Pete Mel, Tony-Ray and Brock Little were the only competitors to warm up. Mel actually dropped in on a bomb. By this time everybody involved was ready to get this thing started. Jeff Clark showed up from the water with a call to head out. He was standing on the edge of the Jetty wall and facing away from the ocean. The tide was so high that a wave snuck in behind him and drilled him, along with a few photographers. This provided a bit of comic relief for Vince Collier and the Santa Cruz gang, who had a front row seat to the whole incident. Perhaps this was Jeff’s baptismal for being dealt such a perfect day.

HEAT ONE – With a few glitches and a little time delay, the first heat was ready to go. Peter Mel, Tony Ray, Ion Banner, Josh Loya and Richard Schmidt were the first to ride. Tony Ray took first wave honors, and ended up driving through the rest of the heat, scoring a solid heat victory with Mel pulling off second. The tone of the event was set when Ion Banner, the only Half Moon Bay local in the event, went totally airborne on one of the most hideous ledges Maverick’s could ever deal-up. “A freefall from outer space”, said Eric Nelson one of the cliff photographers. Ion charged the rest of the heat as he advanced to the next round. ADVANCED: (1) RAY (2) MEL (3) BANNER

HEAT TWO – Heat 2 served-up even more drama when Brock Little went vertical on what would have been the wave of the day–unfortunately his board didn’t cooperate, and he added himself to the heinous wipeout club. After Brock’s wipeout, he was washed all the way through the reef, down and over about a half mile from the lineup (An adjacent reef called Blackhand), but he paddled back out “True waterman style”, twice waving off a jet ski ride back to the paddle around buoy. Zach Wormhoudt, a Santa Cruz local and Mavs regular, launched off a beautiful ledge and appeared to be on his way to a solid spanking, but to nobody’s surprise, he stuck it. The crowd hooted and Zach not only ended the first heat with a solid showing, but he advanced to the semifinals. Ross Clarke-Jones wasn’t so lucky–he made a few good waves, but paid dearly on a couple of ill-fated take-offs, one of which found him going down and getting drilled by the lip. Mike Brummet, the only backsider in the comp, caught a few good ones but was not a factor. Pacifica’s Shawn Rhodes, one of the original Maverick’s crew, was quietly picking-off wave after wave which advanced him to the semi. ADVANCED: (1) LITTLE, (2) RHODES, (3) WORMHOUDT

HEAT THREE – Heat 3 highlighted Ken “Skindog” Collins and Jay Moriarity. The two had a solid heat, catching wave after wave. Their tow-in sessions from early in the season were clearly evident as they confidently carved smooth bottom turns on twenty-foot waves. Noah Johnson, last years Eddie Aikau winner, took off on a bomb. He looked as though he would stick it but by the time he hit his bottom turn he was literally on one leg. He pulled off a great recovery only to find himself being buried by a twenty footer. He made it back out to the line-up less his jersey and looking a bit dazed. Water Patrol ended up pulling him out of the line-up to be checked by waiting paramedics. Matt Ambrose, another member of the Pacifica/Maverick’s original crew, mirrored his partner Rhodes from the previous heat as he snuck up from the rear with some solid twenty-foot bombs. ADVANCED: 1) COLLINS, (2) AMBROSE, (3) MORIARITY

HEAT FOUR – The much anticipated heat four featured Kelly Slater and last year’s champ Darryl “Flea” Virostko. The two traded-off wave for wave, with nothing being particularly spectacular. Then Flea dropped in on a heaving Mavericks monster–he made the drop but failed to make it stick. He is now the President of the heinous wipeout club–he took heavy doughnuts on this one. Grant Washburn, considered the true journeyman of Mav’s, dropped in on some solid waves, which advanced him to the semi. Flea closed out the set with the Wave of the Day. It was almost identical to the one that buried him earlier in the heat, and it looked as though he was going to give a repeat performance, only this time he stuck it and moved on to the semi final round. Slater also moved ahead. ADVANCED: (1) VIROSTKO (2) SLATER (3) WASHBURN

SEMI FINAL/ROUND ONE – Semi round one started out with a good showing from veteran big-wavers Peter Mel, Tony Ray, and Brock Little. But, Zach Wormhoudt caught the most dramatic waves. Clearly wanting this one bad, Zach was charging his heart out. He launched off another Mav’s ledge to get high-hoot honors from the gallery, and a solid round sent him to the finals. Peter Mel racked-up some more bombs, some of his best surfing all day and maybe one of the best waves ridden so far. T-Ray got the high wave count again, and they both headed to the final. ADVANCED: (1) PETER MEL, (2) TONY RAY, (3) ZACH WORMHOUDT

Zach was charging his heart out.

SEMI FINAL/ROUND TWO – Semi round two produced the first controversy of the event. It started off with Flea and Jay Moriarity trading wave for wave. Everyone had Flea ahead because he had wave height. Slater caught a few during the round, but nothing huge. The semis went an hour, as opposed to the forty-five minutes allotted for the first heats, and unfortunately, the waves backed-off in the middle of the round. It looked as though Flea and Jay would definitely move ahead to the final, but the rest was up for grabs. All of sudden the waves cranked back up. Six and eight wave sets started rolling through. These waves seemed to be a bit more inviting to paddle into, and the pressure was on. Flea continued to solidify his final position, as did Moriarity. So, now it would be between Slater, Washburn, Ambrose and Skinny–all were making a charge for the last slot, and with this round featuring the best surfing of the event, it would be hard to judge it. Ambrose clearly caught the biggest wave of the four and followed up with three more just as impressive. This earned him a trip to the big show. ” I was stoked beyond belief”, said Ambrose. “I waited a half hour in that set and thought it wasn’t going to happen but then came that bomb”. Jay Moriarity hit the beach and was greeted with congratulations on making the finals, only to be disappointed minutes later by losing out to some questionable judging. Even the Contest Director, Jeff Clark thought he made it through. ADVANCED: (1) VIROSTKO, (2) SLATER (3) AMBROSE,

FINAL – There was a half-hour break before the final round. Plenty of time for word to spread about the final roster. Everyone was in disbelief. How could Slater move ahead of Jay? It made no sense. The word on the beach was Jay was penalized for dropping-in on Slater. But we could not get a definitive answer from contest officials. But, what we saw from the water is that Slater dropped-in on Jay and Ambrose. In Big Wave Competitions you don’t generally get penalized unless it’s a blatant offense. The real problem may have been that the judges were placed in a small skiff halfway down the line, which resulted in poor visibility. After the event, I asked Mike Kitahara, the skipper of the judging boat, why they were positioned so far forward. He said it was because of the lumps that the swell was creating that they were missing all the drops. They had to reposition. According to the photographers and cliff spotters, some of the best surfing–the carving that was going on in the inside double up–was taking place beyond the vantage point of the judges. We heard later that Slater had scored almost perfect tens on one of his waves. All that aside, what was done was done. Slater, confused about having to go back out to the finals, reluctantly headed out, along with Flea, Peter Mel, Tony Ray, Matt Ambrose and Zach Wormhoudt. Kelly Slater=Quiksilver=Event Sponsor=Slater to the finals. Enough said.

“Flea was schooling Slater”, said Kenny Collins.

By the time the final round took place the waves had all but backed off. The tide was high and there were a lot of bumps on the face. Slater got off to a good start catching some solid waves. Mel followed up with a bomb. He stuck his first one, but didn’t get so lucky on the second. Pete took off deep and didn’t make it across. He found himself next to the rocks, waving off rescue-he was down to his back-up board and the Mavericks Rescue Crew wanted him to ditch it. Finally they came in and got him, with his board intact. They dropped him at the paddle-around buoy. Pete made it back to the lineup, but was physically shaken over the ordeal.

Meanwhile, Tony Ray was stacking-up the wave count. This had worked for him all day, no sense in changing-up now. He even got a few bombs that were clearly the biggest of the set–at least so far. Slater seemed to back off a bit and was paddling noticeably slower as he headed back out to the lineup. Zach Wormhoudt, the Cinderella story of the event, didn’t get the waves he was looking for, but finished solid nevertheless. Matt Ambrose also followed-up clean. So, now it was up to Flea. Before the finals, Flea paddled up to me and jokingly asked, ” What should I do?” My reply? . . . “Hey, you’ve have to dance with who got you here.” And what a dance it was . . . His first wave was a solid twenty-footer–one of those Maverick’s bombs that falls over itself as far as it is tall. This one ate him up and spit him out. But it spit him out shallow and he was able to get right back in the lineup. He paddled into another hideous Mavericks cliff and stuck it. “Flea was schooling Slater”, said Kenny Collins. “This wasn’t a big wave event, says Collins “This was Iron Man Style”. A fitting description to the surfing that was going on all day. Now, there was no turning back. Flea wanted this one and he wasn’t going to let Mel, Slater or anyone else take it away. But, what was the most amazing part is that during this marathon of a contest he continued to laugh and have fun–it was a clear repeat victory for the Santa Cruz local. It looked as though it would be Flea #1, T-Ray #2 and either Slater or Pete #4. Again the judges saw differently–they gave Flea the win, Slater second, and T-Ray third. Peter took fourth, Wormhoudt fifth, and Ambrose sixth.

At the awards ceremony Flea graciously took the high honors with a Budweiser salute, the red winner’s jacket, and a huge gold medal (which onlookers jokingly likened to a big chocolate medallion). Slater was next and cordially gave major props to Flea and the rest of the Maverick’s crew for charging so hard. T-Ray was third, and with his quiet demeanor he had little to say. Mel came up later and gave his Santa Cruz mate Flea a huge hug-clearly the two best Maverick’s surfers to ever take to the spot.

The day ended with autographs and good cheer. Quiksilver awarded Rick “Frosty” Hesson the Mark Foo Award for his dedication to the spot. “This was the best and the biggest waves I have ever seen in a contest”, said Doug Acton who was shooting for Surfing Magazine. We witnessed one of the best big wave surfing competitions to take place, anywhere. This year’s event proved you don’t need hotdog stands, charter boats, or websites to have a great surf contest–you just need twenty of the most dedicated big-wave chargers, some swell, a little sunshine, and a lot of stamina and courage. Today belong to not only Flea, the true King of the Mountain, but to all the chargers who paddled out. Right when you think it couldn’t get any better, Mavericks delivered. And it will surely deliver again. Can’t wait till next year ———— more photos and contest results click here