3 p.m. Update: The 2014 Mavericks Invitational big-wave surfing competition is history. After a day featuring some brutal early-morning wipeouts and lots and lots of seemingly death-defying drops down the faces of the monster waves off Pillar Point, Grant "Twiggy" Baker, a 40-year-old from Durban, South Africa, (and part-time resident of San Francisco), took the $50,000 first prize. He won the contest with two rides early in the six-man final heat that judges rated nearly perfect. None of the other five surfers really came close to overcoming that early lead.
Twenty-four competitors started the competition, with the first heat beginning at 8 a.m. The field was winnowed down to the six finalists. Their order of finish:
1. Grant Baker, South Africa
2. Shane Dorian, Hawaii
3. Ryan Augenstein, Santa Cruz
4. Tyler Fox, Santa Cruz
5. Greg Long, San Clemente
6. Anthony Tashnick, Santa Cruz
Last year's winner, Peter Mel of Santa Cruz, did not make the final.
Original post: If you care about big waves, you know that the Mavericks Invitational is on. Heats started at 8 a.m. — I don't know anything about surfing except that it looks amazing — and the finals (to be televised live on NBC's Universal Sports channel) start at 1:30 p.m.
