All photos: newportsurfshots.com "I never thought it was possible for someone from South Africa to do this." Grant 'Twiggy' Baker, 32-year old big-wave surfer from Durban, has every reason to be grinning his head off. He wasn't even supposed to be here. He accidentally-on-purpose 'missed' his Friday return flight after he knew the contest could be on. And being a non-local, he was a last-minute online write-in contestant. And now he can't escape the winner's podium. Cell phones are thrust at him for live radio interviews, cameras follow his every move, teenaged girls are vying for space to get their posters signed, fellow competitors are shaking his hand and giving out man-hugs -- talk about instant fame. Money, too: the Saffa won a cool $30,000 today, which translates to a heckuva lot of Rand. |
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| "My strategy was to catch the biggest wave and stick 'em," Twiggy says matter-of-factly after finally getting two feet off the stage. "And I had a magic carpet, too -- my 9'0" Randy Cone-shaped gun -- I was on the smallest, thinnest board out there. I asked Randy for something heavy, narrow and short, and he thought I was crazy, but that board worked insane." Indeed. Twiggy got a perfect ten in his first heat for a gigantic drop followed by a man-sized carve, and another perfect 10 in the final. The only guy to do so all day. All that training at Dungeon's, South Africa's version of Mav's, paid off.
This is the point where some of you might be thinking to yourselves...who the heck is this Twiggy guy? Where'd he come from? Well, today at least, he came from Grant Washburn's couch. He met Washburn at the Dungeon's contest in Cape Town a few years back, and they've been buddies ever since. He's been staying in San Francisco with Washburn and learning the ropes with the longtime Mav's local. "We've been training hard," Twiggy grins. "Partying at Tommy's at night and surfing Maverick's all day." "Obviously, he's been a good student," Washburn laughs. "Maybe too good." When asked if he was bitter to be beaten by a protege, he says, "No way -- it's like having my brother win." Washburn's exhausted but glowing. So is everyone else. It's been the biggest, cleanest, most perfect Maverick's ever seen for a contest, and spectators and competitors are slowly drifting down the trail after a long day in the 70-degree NorCal sunshine. Evan Slater, who charged through a super-stacked first heat (beating Peter Mel, Anthony Tashnick and Greg Long), had the same glow as Washburn. "I can't lift my arms," he smiled coming out of the water after the final. "And I'm stoked to be on solid ground after six hours out there, but that was absolutely the best ever. You can go a whole winter without one day like this." Make no mistake, though, Maverick's is not Disneyland. Second place Tyler Smith charged like a madman all day but knows NorCal's heaviest wave requires serious stamina, even at its most perfect. "I was seeing stars paddling back out after waves towards the end of the day," he says. "And I felt like if I fell, I would've died."
No one died, but there were a few casualties: Flea's board, which was decimated by a three-wave set in round one, sending the former Mav's champ scrambling to get one solid wave. Peter Mel's board, after an insane airdrop left he called "the heaviest drop I ever made at Maverick's". Allistar Craft almost lost a PWC to the rocks, but was saved by Frank Quirarte. Sadly, too, a woman was rushed to the hospital after part of the cliff fell on her during the finals. But by in large, the 2006 Maverick's Contest was a raging success. From Randy Cone's death-defying drops, to Tyler Smith's heelside confidence, to Washburn's perfectly chosen lines, the 20 competitors stretched the boundaries of paddle-in big-wave surfing today. "Make no mistake, Maverick's is a high-performance big wave," event organizer Jeff Clark points out. "Not just a drop. And these guys were pushing it out there." Clark's tired and sunburnt like everyone else, and grinning, too. "If we scripted it, this is exactly how it would've went," he says. "We couldn't have asked for a better day." RESULTS
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