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The Mavericks Surf Contest ran today in epic, clean conditions at Pillar Point, Half Moon Bay, CA at one of the world’s heaviest and biggest waves. Results were: 1st – Chris Bertish (South Africa), 2nd – Shane Desmond (Hawaii), 3rd – Anthony Tashnick (Santa Cruz). The Mavericks Contest was webcast on Ustream and they provided updates throughout the contest on Twitter and Facebook. They shot some great photos from the line-up and posted them via Twitter (see below).

The Mavericks contest is held semi-annually at Mavericks (between 1999 and 2010, there have been 7 contests). Contest organizers wait until the swell is sufficiently big (40 ft. minimum) before calling the contest. Invitees fly from all over the world within a few days notice to compete. Previous years winners have included Darryl “Flea” Virostko (1999, 2000, 2004), Anthony Tashnick (2005), Grant “Twiggy” Baker (2006), and Greg Long (2007). Check the photos below (full gallery at SFGate.com). Photos: Ben Margot/AP.

Josh Loya paddles into a giant

Diagram of the wave at Mavericks

Evan Slater drops in late on a macking wave as Darryl "Flea" Virostko looks on.

View from the boat of the Mavericks Surf Contest - This photo posted via Twitter

More photos of the Mavericks Surf Contest after the jump

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A high pressure sitting over California and a big West-Northwest Swell driving toward California could set up ideal conditions for the Mavericks contest this Friday. The Swell is expected to be in the 15-20 ft. range, which is on the smaller side for Mavericks, but ideal conditions with warm weather and off-shores could have the contest going for Friday. Forecast courtesy of Stormsurf.com. Check the Mavericks Surf Contest home page for updates.

1) Kelly destroys ASP winning 9th world championship.

Photo: Quicksilver

I’m not sure there’s anything that needs to said here. He blew away the field, winning 6 contests and 5 of the first 7 contests. It was never a contest, there was no race in points, it was just a matter of when he would close the deal, which he did in Mundaka, Spain. Unless the top 10 on the tour step up huge next year, there doesn’t look like anything is getting in the way of Kelly winning his 10th world title next year. Final ASP Rankings.

2) AI implodes on tour, takes 2009 off.

Photo: ASP/Cestari

Andy Irons put up a disappointing performance on WCT tour in 2008. He highest finish was 5th place. He failed to show up for his heat at the Quicksilver Pro France and skipped the Brazil contest leading to speculation about his troubles. Andy announced that he was taking 2009 off from the tour, and may be following the path of free surfer of his brother, Bruce Irons.While I respect any athletes decision to do what he pleases with his career, A.I. has shown to be the best competitor to Kelly Slater (no disrepect to Taj, Mick, Parko, Bede, and others in the top 10). When he’s on top form, he’s one of the most exciting surfers to watch on tour. So while a year free surfing the best barrels of the world will no doubt be the time of his life, he will be missed on the 2009 WCT tour and his absence removes one more hurdle to Kelly Slater clinching his 10th world title.

3) Kelly wins 6th pipeline masters (on 5’11” board).

Photo: Channel Islands Surfboards

Kelly looked unstoppable all year and the Pipeline Masters was no exception. He beat Chris Ward in the final heat while riding a 5’11” in 8-10 ft Pipeline. Adding a final flourish to his epic year. Well done, Kelly. Looking forward to see what you can do next year.

4) Year of the shark.

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Ghost Trees, one of the biggest waves in the world and situated in Pebble Beach in the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, is now off limits to personal watercraft (PWC). The ruling by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) was expected as the protected sanctuary has become increasingly crowded with personal watercraft over the past few years.  In an effort to protect the environment and the surrounding marine life, the decision was made to close off the entire sanctuary to personal watercraft, meaning there will be no more tow-in surfing at Ghost Trees or Moss Landing (Story DailyStoke). Ghost Trees, a relative new comer in the big wave world, put on a display of big wave might as well as a couple of XXL contenders last year on January 4th (Video surfline).

Winter arrived last week in California with the first serious swell, which resulted in giant waves at Ocean Beach, San Francisco, and Mavericks rearing it ugly green head. The northwest swell linked up well with a southwest swell which put out some great waves in Southern California as well. Surfline has a good slideshow of the swell.

Mavericks 2010 Surf Contest Runs in 50 Ft. Waves (photos)

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Mavericks 2010 Surf Contest Runs in 50 Ft. Waves (photos)

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Clark Little’s Stunning Images of Waves

Diver Fights and Kills 12 ft. Tiger Shark (Photos)

Your Risk of Dying of a Shark Attack

Incredible HD Footage of Surfer in the Barrel

Here’s a collection of what surfline editors selected as the best 10 videos of 2007. Unfortunately, I had to miss that epic tow session at Teahupoo in November because of a head cold. I’ll make it next swell, I swear.(Surfline link).

Billabong announced the winners of the annual Billabong XXL competition on Sunday (link). Shane Dorian won ride of the year for his heaving tube at Teahupoo on November 1st. Manoa Drollet won Monster Tube Award for an equally crazy wave on the same day.

Mike Parson took the Biggest Wave with a 70 ft + wave at Cortes Bank. Greg Long won Biggest Paddle-In wave with a bomb at Todos Santos.

Winter 2007-2008 was good, and big. We saw a few big swells on the West Coast and some consistent surf in between. Some were calling the December 4, 2007 swell at Mavericks and Ghost Trees some of the biggest surf there ever (link). Meanwhile, a team of tow surfers including Mike Parson and Brad Gerlach hit Cortes Bank to score huge surf there (link). Both swells created some epic rides and Billabong XXL contenders.

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Billabong’s posted their 2008 XXL Ride of the Year Nominees. In case you hadn’t heard, Billabong sponsors the XXL contest and gives awards (and cash) for Biggest Wave, Ride of the Year, Monster Paddles, and Monster Tube. They’ve got all the video submissions on their website. The Ride of the Year winner gets $50,000. Don’t quit your day job yet.

Surfers don’t often think of themselves as spectators, especially when the surf’s good, you’re going to go surf. It’s why I would make a crappy surf photographer. I’d rather be out there surfing. Still we all appreciate watching a good wave, here’s a collection of the biggest and most impressive. Surprisingly, they’re all very accessible and worth the trip. When I was living in San Francisco, I saw Maverick’s break a few times and watched the 2006 Mavericks contest from the bluff.

Where: Jaws, Maui, Hawaii

Why: Jaws is the polished, blue water, sunny big wave with the claim to the heaviest and biggest in the world. Because of the size and speed of the waves it is almost exclusively a tow-surfing spot. But the tow surfing allows surfers to exploit the wave to its fullest, pulling giant carves of 50 ft faces and pulling into 20 ft. barrels. Beauty can be deceptive, Jaws and Mavericks rival each other in degree of heaviness with many surfers claiming Jaws takes the title. The wave is similar to Mavericks in that it breaks close to a mile offshore. There’s a high over-looking bluff to watch from.

When: Winter. The same giant swell that pound the California coast, generally hit Hawaii first in their march across the Pacific.

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