“Now we have a prize purse that begins to acknowledge what goes down out there at Mavericks, and we can all look forward to an amazing show of athleticism on Contest Day this season.” -Mavericks CEO Keir J. Beadling. -

One of the biggest big-wave surf competitions just went even bigger. How big we talkin’ ’bout here? Surfing’s top big-wave chargers selected to compete in the 2009 Mavericks Surf Contest will be battling it out for a prize purse worth $150,000, the largest known prize purse in big-wave surfing competition history. Let’s put that in our metaphorical pipes and smoke on it for a bit….that’s a lot of money for a surfing competition, and every single cent of it will be more than deserved by some of the world’s greatest and most skilled big-wave surfers who will be putting their lives on the line at Mavericks.

The Mavericks competition should no doubt win some sort of award for “comeback of the decade by a surfing competition“. Lacking a sponsor and thought to be on it’s deathbed not all that long ago, the 2009 Mavericks Surf Contest is now set up to be one of the biggest events ever for surfing, and not just because of it’s record prize purse. There are brilliant minds making things happen for the Mavericks event, and if the surf cooperates we could end up seeing one of the all-around great productions in the history of surf competitions. For the first time ever, a live surfing event will be webcast in high-definition, brought to us by FUEL TV. On top of that, the action at Mav’s will be available for viewing through Myspace, as well as FLO TV. Those in the ‘Frisco area will also have the opportunity to attend the simulcast that will once again take place at AT&T Park in San Francisco.

So who’s behind the “let’s go bigger than ever” movement currently taking place for the event at Mavericks? It’s a combination of Moose Guen and Jane Sutherland of MVision, who personally contributed $75,000 last month, and new Mavericks partner Barracuda Networks Inc., who followed suit and doubled up the prize money.

“Jane and I are very happy for Mavericks and the Contest surfers with Barracuda Networks’ decision to double the prize purse,” commented Moose Guen. “This historic moment serves to recognize the bravado, the skills, and the talent of these big-wave surfers in such extreme conditions. As I like to say, ‘Let us defy the odds in 2009!’”

This is big for big-wave surfing….really big. And it’s not only big for big-wave surfing, but for surfing in general. I love seeing obscene amounts of money being thrown at the guys who are at the front of the sport, especially those who are paddling into a wave such as Mavericks. They deserve every bit of it, and then some. The prize money for surfing in general has been criticized at times for being stagnant, but I think that’s starting to change. Having guys like Bob Hurley calmly drop an extra $45 G’s on top of the standard ASP purse the way he did at Trestles is awesome for the sport (that is, if he did in fact follow though with the I.O.U. presented to Mr. Slater), and it’s great to see others following suit. There is obviously a lot of money being made off of our sport, and who better to reap the rewards than the surfers who are at the forefront of it’s progression.

You can peep the Mavericks Surf site for more info on the upcoming event.

2009 Invitees – The 24
* Matt Ambrose
* Grant ‘Twiggy’ Baker
* Ion Banner
* Kenny Collins
* Shane Desmond
* Brock Little
* Greg Long
* Josh Loya
* Peter Mel
* Shawn Rhodes
* Ryan Seelbach
* Evan Slater
* Tyler Smith
* Jamie Sterling
* Anthony Tashnick
* Darryl Virostko
* Grant Washburn
* Zach Wormhoudt(2)
* Carlos Burle
* Dave Wassell
* Alex Martins
* Danilo Couto
* Chris Bertish
* Tim West

Posted by Shaun on Thursday, January 15th, 2009 in Surfing.

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