Half Moon Bay Surf Club | Get in the water and surf!

HMB High Surf Team/Competition Practice @ Jetty Weds (Feb-6) 3:30 pm

Submitted by mwallace on Tue, 2013-02-05 21:03

Start: 02/06/2013 3:30 pm

Timezone: America/Los Angeles

HMB High Surf Team/Competition Practice @ Jetty Weds (Feb-6) 3:30 pm

Surf will be back on the rise, along with the NW winds, leaving the Jetty our only friend for practice. Unfortunately, the tide will be very low and the large windswell pretty mixed up.

Let's give it a shot anyway and at least any Club groms who wish to attend will have plenty of beach to work with.

See ya there,
Your coaches

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HMB High School Free Surf Venice Tuesday 2/5/13 at 6:30am.

Submitted by okeeton on Mon, 2013-02-04 19:39

Start: 02/05/2013 6:30 am

End: 02/05/2013 6:30 am

Timezone: America/Los Angeles

Oliver and Marty will be at Venice Beach to check conditions. Please.. only experienced surfers should go out. We are still expecting solid 6 foot plus sets with a lot of current. Depending on conditions we may cancel or move to a different location.

The coaches

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HMB Surf Club to practice at the Jetty Sunday 2/3 @ 9am

Submitted by okeeton on Sat, 2013-02-02 15:02

Start: 02/03/2013 9:00 am

Timezone: America/Los Angeles

HMB Surf Club practice at the Jetty - be there and suited up at 9am sharp.

See you in the morning-

The coaches

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MAVERICKS INVITATIONAL ENDS WITH A WELL DESERVED VICTORY

Submitted by August on Wed, 2013-01-30 09:58

contest

Mark Healy goes crazy on a Mavericks left. Photo: Ryan Craig. Transworld Surf

Story by August Howell, Half Moon Bay Surf Club team

The 2012/2013 Mavericks Invitational was a contest to remember. It was definitely not the biggest surf ever, but with Peter Mel winning it after many years riding Mavericks, it will be one for the ages.

After three years of political turmoil and few takers for sponsorship of the event, GoPro stepped up and did an amazing job. The 11 time world champion Kelly Slater was unable to compete in the event, because of a conflict with the Association of Surfing Professionals. The Mavericks Invitational is not an ASP sponsored event, and Kelly would have been fined possibly thousands of dollars for competing. Go figure. Big wave legend Shane Dorian was also out of the contest because of a shoulder injury sustained while surfing in Nazare, Portugal, the site of the biggest wave ever surfed. Carlos Burle was also out due to injury. Taking their places were the top three alternates Josh Loya, Tyler Fox, and Colin Dwyer.

The weather was ideal for the contest, hardly a cloud in the sky and extremely warm. New for this year, the beach area and the cliffs looking out to Mavericks were closed to the public due to safety concerns about the eroding cliffs and rouge waves coming up to the beach. Instead, there was a massive festival outside the Oceano Hotel, where everybody could walk around and enjoy all the food, games and entertainment that Half Moon Bay could offer, including a large screen with a live feed of the contest. It was very removed from the original Mavericks spectator site, and as Mr. Harden (Sacred Heart Prep religious studies teacher), who was at the festival, put it, "It feels like I could be anywhere, not even at the site of the competition...I feel like that I definitely prefer being able to watch the event in person without the crutch of a television. But it's really fun to see the spirit of the event."

However, closed beaches were not a problem for me. I simply showed my press pass to the police who had closed off the entrance to the beach. I walked along the deserted beach and lonely cliffs. The only other people there were press photographers. I saw a large pile of dirt crumble away from the cliff. Definitely not safe.

As Mavericks waves go, the surf was pretty small, the biggest reaching about twenty-five feet on the faces. According to Darryl "Flea" Virostko, one of the original pioneers at Mavericks, and winner of the first three Mavericks contests "The conditions were slow, but there were still some big waves, just long waits. There were really good rides today, but we know what Mavericks can do, so its hard to see it like this for a contest, but we're happy with what happened. Mel won and that's sick."

Sacred Heart Prep students Nick Oliver '16 and Nick Becker '16 were able to get onto a boat and watch part of the contest from the sideline. "We left the house at 6am and got there around 7." said Becker. "We got to see the first two heats. It was probably like 20-30ft. The weather was really nice. We were expecting it to be really cold but it was really sunny." Nick Oliver said, "We stayed out there for about two and a half hours...We were there at high tide, so it wasn't the biggest time of the day. It's was big, but for Mavericks it wasn't super big, but it was still pretty big."

Ken "Skindog" Collins (left) and Rusty Long (right); classic Mavericks take off. Photo: Ryan Craig. Transworld Surf

Derek Dunfee, a big wave rider, photographer, surf journalist, and an alternate for the contest said "The conditions were perfect. It was about as clean and beautiful and sunny and nice as Mavericks can get. The waves weren't huge but there were enough really good waves to keep the contest fun and exciting." GoPro did an amazing job of sponsoring the event, and got some fantastic shots of Mark Healy, Ben Wilkinson and Peter Mel. "Its cool how they linked up with the big wave surfers and used all the different angels." said Dunfee. Indeed, Anthony Tashnick put his GoPro facing backwards on his helmet to how people what a Mavericks peak will do to you if you get hit.

Peter Mel (red) on a signature steep drop. Photo: Frank Quirarte. Surfing Magazine

At last, the event came down to the final heat, which provided some of the best and biggest waves of the event. The final 6 surfers were all superstars, some of them as well known as celebrities, while others were lesser known underground chargers:

Peter Mel, a long time stand out at Mavericks; Zach Wormhoudlt, a very active big wave surfer from Santa Cruz; Greg Long, a big wave superstar from San Clemente; Alex Martins, a Brazilian who lives at Ocean Beach and respected local at Mavericks; Mark Healy, overall madman/waterman who surfs the formidable Mavericks left with a unique skill; Shawn Dollar, who has paddled into one of the biggest waves ever ridden at Mavericks.

It wasn't announced until the award ceremony, that Peter Mel was the winner of the 2012/13 Mavericks Invitational. Mel told the cheering crowd that all the finalists would split the prize purse of $50,000 dollars between them, showing true camaraderie and brotherhood. To watch more of this memorable event, go to surfermag.com or mavericksinitational.com.

The finalists celebrate Peter Mel announcing the prize money will be split. Photo: Jenna Merrilees

August's blog

test

Submitted by okeeton on Wed, 2013-01-30 08:00

okeeton's blog

HMB High Surf Team/Competition Practice @ Kelly Weds (Jan-30) 3:30 pm

Submitted by mwallace on Tue, 2013-01-29 19:15

Start: 01/30/2013 3:30 pm

Timezone: America/Los Angeles

HMB High Surf Team/Competition Practice @ Kelly Weds (Jan-30) 3:30 pm

Winds are finally supposed to mellow out tomorrow before flipping offshore again, with the seas settling back down into the ride-able range. Kelly could still be a little raw, however, so this may just be appropriate for the high school team.

Junior high surfers and any Club chargers may wish to check Dunes or the Jetty to have a more relaxing session.

We will make the final call tomorrow before practice and confirm with an update.

See ya somewhere tomorrow, fingers crossed, after the search..
Your coaches

Calendar

Surf Team Schedule Update

Submitted by mwallace on Mon, 2013-01-28 13:41

Surf Team Schedule Update:

Our Club calendar has been updated to reflect recent changes in the team contest schedule for both the middle and high schools. This has also just been changed on the SC SSL website as well:

http://www.scsurfleague.org/p/contests.html

In short, there are no comps next weekend. These have been moved to the weekend of Feb 23-24, while the comps on Mar 9-10 have been swapped. The middle school will compete at the Hook for their remaining contests, while the high school will compete at the Point in Feb and the Lane in Mar.

*In addition, thanks to all who attended and donated to the Maverick's Photo Exhibit and raffle - we raised an additional $640 for the Club!

**Thanks go to Oliver for updating the website banner to reflect our new logo, colors and cool attitude! Hope you like it.

Your Coaches

mwallace's blog

Never winter...

Submitted by okeeton on Sun, 2013-01-27 23:46

Pillar Point Girl from konrad Wallace on Vimeo.

okeeton's blog

HMB Surf Club to practice at the Jetty Sunday 1/26 @ 9am

Submitted by okeeton on Sat, 2013-01-26 13:09

Start: 01/27/2013 9:00 am

Timezone: America/Los Angeles

HMB Surf Club practice at the Jetty - be there and suited up at 9am sharp.

See you in the morning-

The coaches

Calendar

Maverick's: Everest of the Seas Team Fundraiser Saturday Night

Submitted by mwallace on Fri, 2013-01-25 20:15

Start: 01/26/2013 5:08 pm

Timezone: America/Los Angeles

Maverick's: Everest of the Seas - Fundraiser for the HMB Surf Club

All Club families are welcome to attend and support the exhibit at Saturday night's reception, Jan-26th, from 5-8 p.m. at the Coastal Arts League at 300 Main Street.

http://grantsgraphics.com/everestoftheseas2013/everestoftheseas2013.html

There will be an army of Mav's photographers and journalists on hand and likely a couple competitors with whom to hobnob. Raffle items will include a surfboard, wetsuit and other goodies, along with superb photos for sale. Raffle and Club garment proceeds go to the Surf Club.

Come on down and support your team!

Your Coaches