Posts Tagged ‘09’

Public Not Invited to Mavericks Surf Contest Public Safety Meeting in Moss Beach

Monday, February 22nd, 2010

The San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office is going to hold a “critical incident debrief” this morning down in Moss Beach – organizers of the 2010 Mavericks Surf Contest have been invited to discuss the 2009-2010 season. The public and the media are specifically not invited. Well, that doesn’t sit well with some down Coastsigh-eeeeede way. Oh well.

Here’s Critical Incident Exhibit A from the 2010 contest on February 13th, 2010, when an unlucky 13 got hammered by the waves:  

via dwan.mac Click to expand

Now check out the new piece from Katie Worth, and then decide if you agree with this:

Mavericks Surf Ventures passes the buck to San Mateo County, County Counsel Michael Murphy passes the buck to Harbor District Manager Peter Grenell who passes the buck to Vandenberg Air Force Base who promptly pass the buck  to Army Corps of Engineers and then  the buck circles back to Mavericks Surf Ventures.”

And leave us travel back to 2006, during another Mavericks contest with crowd injuries. That was the year that Diana Rivers of Redwood City filed a lawsuit after being injured when the crowd on the bluff apparently dislodged some rocks sending them on down towards the beach. Check out this quote in a bit about the 2006 rock slide victims:

“We feel for the Rivers family and it was a terrible accident. But we’ve always regarded safety issues with the utmost importance. All managers have taken and will be taking all measures necessary to provide a safe contest for surfers and visitors.”

IMO, the post-injury palliative cliches from 2006 don’t square with the post-injury palliative cliches from 2010.

IMO

To Be Continued…

Photos – Mavericks Surf Ventures Claims Biggest Waves Ever Surfed In A Contest

Wednesday, February 17th, 2010

Our recent 2009-2010 Mavericks Surf Contest had the “Biggest Waves Ever Surfed In A Contest,” according to organizer Mavericks Surf Ventures. That’s what they’re claiming today, February 17th, 2010.

What do you think?

Click to expand:

Take a look for yourself.

“What the surfers are saying about it… 

“It was an honor just to be here today and paddle out with these other guys. I flew 36 hours to be here, and this has been a dream come true.” – Chris Bertish, 09/10 Champion
———-
“The entire book of big wave surfing was re-written today.” – Greg Long
———-
“These were definitely the biggest waves I have ever paddled into.” – Shane Desmond
———-
“No excuses on a day like today, it was perfect. Whatever you wanted, you could take.” – Anthony Tashnick
———-
“It was undoubtedly the largest surf any paddle-in contest has ever seen.” – Dave Wassel
———-
“There is such a brotherhood in the lineup.  These people are my family.” – Carlos Burle
———-
“Today took big-wave surfing to another notch.” – Gary Linden, Head Judge”

Of course the event was not without controversy. Perhaps MSV will address that at some point?

Regardless, It was an epic day.

The Reason Why Mavericks Surf Ventures is Dead Wrong about Injury-Causing Rogue Waves

Monday, February 15th, 2010

First of all, let’s acknowledge the fine performances of all the competitors at our recent Mavericks Surf Contest 2009-2010 and especially that of Chris Bertish. As it turned out, his victory was overshadowed somewhat by discussion of the giant “rogue” sneaker waves* that injured a dozen or so spectators.

Mad props:

Having said that, let’s take a look at higher-def footage of the problem, ably shot by KRON VJ (video jockey) Haaziq Madyun. And here’s the reverse angle. And ganderize your eyes on this bird’s-eye view of the scene. If this were the Olympics, this would be the Olympic Village:

via dwan.mac click to expand

O.K. then. Comes now MSV’s Matriarch and area Realtor Katherine Clark to say:

And let’s hear from MSV CEO and former lawyer Kier Beidling:

Bringing common sense is a must for anyone who shows up to watch from the beach.”

Fair enough, but isn’t this your temporary awards stand getting demolished by a tiny tsunami? Was “common sense” used to place it there?

And wasn’t this formerly-underwater piece of sound equipment placed exactly where you wanted it to be?

via dwan.mac

So please let’s go easy on any more nagging, patronizing Respect The Ocean talk coming from MSV, considering that MSV and its sponsors appeared to be just as unaware as some of the spectators.

In other words, if this unsecured P.A. loudspeaker ended up killing a fan, all the DANGER: HEAVY SURF signs in all Christendom wouldn’t save your hides from a dead-bang, seven-figure wrongful death lawsuit. (If you think you see a bunch of people people in the water around the speaker in the video, your guess is correct.)

So that is exactly “how on Earth we [MSV] could be responsible for people willfully going to the ocean.”

(Hello? Hello? Anybody home? Huh? Think, McFly!)

In other words, from the 2/16/10 Santa Cruz Sentinel:

“The Maverick’s contest organizers probably realize that, in retrospect, it was unwise to put scaffolding and platforms in an exposed area and then allow spectators too close to the high tide line and a seawall along the Pillar Point coastline.”

You see? That’s why the party line of having MSV reps repeatedly bleating about how spectators just need some common sense doesn’t wash.

Now do I think that this fellow (people never seem to let go of their cameras or their beer, huh?) and others who got banged up by the surf on their own will win any possible lawsuits their shysters file? No.

via dwan.mac

But do I suppose that things could be handled differently by Mavericks Surf Ventures the next go around?

Yes.

(Contrary to what you might have heard, no post mortem meetings with county (or other) authoritahs are scheduled this week. But they’ll be coming soon.)

*Or surge or whatever. It’d be nice to have one descriptive term to cover all these different words…

Rogue Waves at 2010 Mavericks Surf Contest – Video Showing What Happened

Saturday, February 13th, 2010

[UPDATE: Even more better vids have turned up today, links right here. Still hunting for 1080p High Def...]

Here’s some video from creilly94010* showing a giant rogue wave that injured spectators at the 2009-2010 Mavericks Surf Contest in Princeton-by-the-Sea / Half Moon Bay today. The video only has two YouTube views now but nevertheless it, so far, does the best job of showing what went wrong.

From the bluff, with people on the rocky seawall getting inundated by the wave:

Those are temporary structures temporarily in the water.

Here’s view from the seawall during the 2005 Contest, looking up at the bluff – nice and dry that year. Click to expand:

UPDATE: Comes now KRON Channel 4 FTW. Their video shows the same wave as the one shown above crashing through the seawall like it was nothing. The beach here has more than its fair share of random boulders, hence the danger:

And here’s a first person report from reporter Beth Spotswood. And here’s a discussion of just what, in fact, constitutes a wave’s rogue-ness.

(Waves going rogue at Mavericks- there’ll be a Sarah Palin joke to make once everybody’s recovered 100%.) 

This kind of incident hasn’t happened at prior contests – it’ll be interesting to see what changes, if any, are made at future events…

* Of Burlingame, this is not San Francisco’s famous C. Reilly

Mavericks Surf Contest is a Go This Saturday, February 13th, 2010

Thursday, February 11th, 2010

It’s on! The world famous Mavericks Surf Contest is on.

After two long years of lulls, get ready for some lulz and excitement. The long wait, she is over:

From January 12, 2008: Darryl “Flea” Virostko was a tad aggressive in the first round. Not too long ago he went though rehab (“FleaHab” they calling the program) - look for him to do well. Click to expand:

Canon 1D Mark II, Canon EF 300mm 2.8 IS plus Canon 2x II extender at f8.0

*Assuming you have a reason to go. Assuming you are really, really up for it. Otherwise:

“NOTE: IN AN EFFORT TO LIMIT CROWD IMPACT ON THE HALF MOON BAY AREA AND COASTAL ECO-SYSTEMS, WE ARE ENCOURAGING ALL MAVERICKS FANS TO WATCH THE CONTEST VIA FREE LIVE WEBCAST OR BY ATTENDING OUR LIVE VIEWING PARTY AT AT&T PARK IN SAN FRANCISCO. BOTH OPTIONS PROVIDE A MUCH BETTER VIEWING EXPERIENCE THAN THE VIEW FROM THE BEACH.  IF YOU PLAN ON ATTENDING MAVERICKS IN-PERSON, PLEASE BE RESPECTFUL AND CAUTIOUS OF THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT, AND LEAVE NO TRACE.  PLEASE PARK IN THE OFFICIAL PARKING LOTS ONLY AND BE RESPECTFUL OF THE LOCAL COMMUNITY.”

All the deets, and I mean all the deets, after the jump

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Awesome Video Shows What It’s Like to Surf at Mavericks – It’s POV Cam!

Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010

The people at the Mavericks Surf Contest are still mulling over when and if they’ll be able to put on a show this season, but no matter, check out this recent video of veteran Bart Willems taking on San Mateo County’s best surf on a 15-foot day.

Go ahead, watch it full-screen at 720p HD - why does your CPU have four cores if you’re not going to use them?

And do you like the wipeouts at Mavericks, like this one from a few years back?

Then check out this tale of woe from Joao De Macedo’s Thanksgiving Day, 2009.

Tink happy toughts, and the 2009-2010 season will go off without a hitch.

Mavericks Surfers Vote to Delay Contest Once Again, Despite Recent Big Waves

Monday, January 11th, 2010

The Bay Area’s  Mavericks Surf Contest 2009-2010 should be coming again soon, but the selected surfers just voted thumbs down to going out over the next few days.

Still, the surf looked pretty big yesterday. Confidence remains high that we’ll end up with a great day over the next couple of months.  

As it appeared yesterday, January 10, 2010:

Seth Migdail

Cross your toes when you hang ten and the contest will be here before you know…

WinterFest 2009: The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition’s Annual Party Comes December 6th

Wednesday, November 25th, 2009

On December 6th, 2009 you might find yourself riding to WinterFest 09 at the SOMArts Gallery on 934 Brannan near 8th Street in the SoMA. Just follow the path laid out on our newly beiged (fawned? fawndled?) streets.

Don’t call it FallFest, nor AutumnFest neither. It’s WinterFest! See you there.

sfbc1

Don’t forget to bring your buddy on your new $1500 Buddy Bike backwards tandem. (Mom, don’t be such a backseat driver all the time!)

buddybike-shelley-riding copy

All the deets:

“Don’t miss the hottest bike party of the year the 14th Annual Winterfest Member Party, Auction, Art Show and Fundraiser.

WHEN: Sunday, December 6th from 6-10:30pm.
WHERE: SOMArts Gallery, 934 Brannan St. at 8th St.
Free Valet Bike Parking provided of course.
Download the Winterfest Poster (PDF).

Over 1,000 SF bicycling advocates of all stripes — SFBC members, bike industry, local businesses, local artists and politicians coming together for a festive evening to celebrate the growth of San Francisco bicycling. An occasion to raise a glass to the SFBC & our members for being 10,000 current-members strong!

To top it off, the event includes New Belgium beer, DJs Laron & ShOOey spinning all night, the photo booth, food vendors ($) and over 1,000 bike-friendly party-folk.

Bid and buy

Winterfest features a fabulous 60 piece bike focused local art auction, plus an unrivaled silent & live auction complete with the hottest bikes, gear and oodles of gift certificates from your favorite restaurants and cultural institutions.

If crafts are more your speed, Winterfest has a robust craft table. Or you could try your luck and enter the raffle for your chance to win a beautiful one-of-a-kind bike quilt. To top it off, the event includes New Belgium beer, music, photo booth, food vendors ($) and over 1,000 bike-friendly party-folk.

Volunteers needed

We are seeking over 200 volunteers to help make Winterfest run smoothly. There’s something for everyone. Sign up today to get the shift and task of your dreams!

Pricing

$15 suggested min. admission for SFBC Members.
$40 for people joining at the door (Includes SFBC membership + admission)

Admission includes:

Complimentary New Belgium beer, DJ’s, valet bike parking and a photo booth along with a great feeling knowing you’re supporting SF’s most effective bicycle advocacy organization

Flash your SFBC membership card for quick entry into the party. Missing your card? Request one here

All proceeds from our fundraiser go directly toward improving biking conditions in San Francisco so all cyclists have a comfortable, safe and dignified ride about town.

 

Thank Yous

This event is only possible through the generous support of hundreds of sponsorsand through the help of Girl Friday Events and Winterfest Interns: Eliza Barrios (ebx design & tech solutions) Emma Kemp & Kim Quinones.

 

OMG! The Mavericks Surf Contest 2009/2010 Window Opens This Sunday – It’s On!

Thursday, October 29th, 2009

[Update: The long wait ended today, February 11, 2010. The 2009-2010 Contest will be held on Saturday(!), February 13th.]

Boy, oh boy, there are a lot of changes to the Mavericks Surf Contest this go around.

The El Nino

The expanded Contest Window

The new if they say ‘go,’ we go” method of deciding when to hold La Competencia

Don’t miss the big wave action, baby!

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Click to expand

All the deets, after the jump.

See you there in San Mateo County!

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“Surf Alaska” Land Cruiser Dude – San Francisco’s Hipster of the Year, 2009

Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009

An immaculate black FJ-40 Toyota Land Cruiser is the primary reason this Matrix Morpheus-looking dude just won SF HoTY ‘09.

Just look at the details:

IMG_6924 copy

As seen on Fell Street. Click to expand.

Aging FJ-40 model (豊田 ランドクルーザー, Toyoda Rando-Kurūzā). Of course! Dude could buy a much newer Bland Cruiser (2009 price = $50k-something) instead of this (possibly amazingly expensive) torture box, but where’s the fun in that?

Alaska license plate: SURF. Of course! Our 50th state is the next frontier of surfing, don’t you know.

Right Hand Drive (RHD). Of course! Dude’s driving on the wrong side of the vehicle. Why? Why not?

Snorkel. Of course! Can you see the urban snorkel air intake standing up on the left side? Very handy when our streets are under five feet of water. Snorkle! Snorkle! Snorkle!

Original diesel engine. Of course! A Chevy small block would just drop right in, but where’s the fun in that?

No doors. Of course! How can people see your stylish shoes and socks with doors blocking the view?

The hat and the fogglasses (on a very dark summer day)  put him over the top. Nobody could possibly best this fellow, that’s why he’s San Francisco’s Hipster of the Year, 2009.