Hurry up and wait as Mavs window opens

It’s been rougher-than-usual last few years for the beleagured event which, because of weather conditions or infighting or the the debacle that was Cartel Management, has only been contested 10 times in 20 years. Now with the BWT/WSL running the show, the hopes are that the only thing that will prevent the contest is Mother Nature.

But there was still some relunctance by the local community to fully embrace the WSL, the main issue being the over-abundance of tour regulars on the invitation list, at the expense of of local talent, which always seemed to be a point of emphasis in the early years of the contest.

But a look at the invited field and alternate list shows that the event organizers have certainly tried to balance a list comprised Big Wave Tour regulars and local chargers. There are a combined 45 men and women in the field, split between the main draw and an alternate list. Of those 45, 15 have Northern California ties — between San Francisco and Santa Cruz — with five coming from the San Mateo County coastside.

And for the first time since Tim West in 2010, Half Moon Bay will have two locals in the main draw: Half Moon Bay born-and-bred Hunter Murison and Santa Barbara transplant Matt Becker. Pacifica’s Travis Payne also earned a spot in the starting lineup.

Luca Padua, a junior at Half Moon Bay High, made the alternate list for the second year in a row and is joined on that list by Pacifica’s Colin Dwyer, who is Payne’s cousin.

“Super honored and excited,” said Murison, 20, who is a sophomore at California State University-Channel Islands. “I’m just honored to have this opportunity, knowing that Half Moon Bay is watching. [The event], being in town, it’s just so special.”

This will be Murison’s fifth winter surfing Mavericks, but he dreamed of charging the big-wave break since he was in elementary school.

“Ever since I was a super young grom, going to all the contests and events and seeing all these big-wave surfers come to our town (was amazing),” Murison said. “I was honestly trippin’ about how I was going to all these opening ceremonies and watching all the invitees being introduced. Then I was standing up there. It felt so surreal.”

There are also a number of local legends and former Mavericks champions in the field as well. Peter Mel, former BWT commissioner, is part of the original Santa Cruz crew that really put Mavericks on the map in the 1990s. Considered one of the best to ever ride Mavericks, he finally won the contest in 2013. Anthony Tashnick, another Santa Cruz native, was the in the generation after Mel and he won Mavericks as a 19-year-old in 2005. South Africa’s Grant “Twiggy” Baker, who is a two-time champion in 2006 and 2014, is back in the lineup after rumored beefs with organizers the last couple of years. Southern California native Greg Long won the event in 2008.

There are also a group of the new generation on the world scene, including 2016 champ Nic Lamb of Santa Cruz, along with the likes of Hawaiian stars Kai Lenny, Makaukai Rothman and Nathan Florence.

The women’s lineup is a who’s-who of big-wave surfing led by San Francisco’s Bianca Valenti, who is one of the top big-wave riders in the world right now. Sarah Gerhardt, who is generally considered to be the first woman to surf Mavericks, is a chemistry professor at Monterey Peninsula College. They will be joined by Hawaii’s Keala Kennelly, who is, according to the San Francisco Chronicle’s Bruce Jenkins: “The most accomplished and respected surfers in women’s big-wave surfing.”

All in all, I think the organizers got a nice mix of current, local, old-school and rising stars in the lineup for the 2018-19 Mavericks challenge. Besides, it’s really the wave that is the star.

Murison, however, never really got caught up in all the politics surrounding the contest over the years. He just wanted to surf.

“I didn’t really pay attention to it (the politics),” Murison. “I just paid attention to the swell charts.”

You can bet every surfer on the Mavericks invitation list will be paying a lot closer attention to those charts over the next several weeks.

Nathan Mollat can be reached by email: nathan@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: 344-5200 ext. 117.