I’ve been wanting to publish this story for some time now but didn’t want to get my sources in trouble, since everyone would know who my sources were the moment I wrote the story. Now that the Half Moon Bay Review is publishing a report on a new group who is interested in running a surf contest at famed Mavericks, it’s time to let the flood gates open and allow the public to decide for themselves who should be the winner in this Battle Royale.
On one hand you have Mavericks Surf Ventures, a group of non-surfers led by Keir Beidling. We have strong opinions of Beidling, mainly because he decided to listen to another non-surfer and removed us from webcast commentating duties at the Mavericks Surf Contest. Naturally we don’t support Beidling, because in addition to his decision to replace us as the webcast commentators, he also decided to remove the Godfather of Mavericks, Jeff Clark, from his duties as Contest Director.
In the other corner you have an eclectic group led by Peter Mel, Grant Washburn, Doug Acton, Frank Quirarte and Katherine Kelly Clark. Let’s quickly explain who this cast of characters are. Mel is the famed Santa Cruz surfer who competes regularly in big wave contests like the Mavericks Surf Contest and The Quiksilver in Memory of Eddie Aikau. Washburn is our boy, he’s been on our program many times and we have nothing but respect for the regular finalist of the Mavericks Surf Contest. Washburn is also an accomplished video producer. If Jeff Clark isn’t running the Mavericks Surf Contest, our next pick would be Washburn. Acton and Quirarte are photographers who were in bed with Beidling for a while before venturing into this new group. I don’t recall them ever being involved in the actual organizing aspect of the Mavericks Surf Contest, then again we weren’t too involved with the recent edition
And Katherine Kelly Clark? She’s Jeff Clark’s ex-wife who rose through the Mavericks rankings thanks in large part to Jeff Clark’s help, and who stayed with Beidling after Clark’s departure as Contest Director. Think what you want about that tidbit, we won’t go any further there.
Where’s the Godfather of Mavericks Jeff Clark in all this? At the moment, not speaking publicly. He declined comment when asked to speak to the Half Moon Bay Review about the new group, although the story did say that Jeff Clark was asked to participate (we wish to not comment on Jeff Clark’s side of the story, out of respect to Jeff Clark).
We only take one position when it comes to any version of the Mavericks Surf Contest: The Godfather of Mavericks Jeff Clark needs to be running the show. The Mavericks Surf Contest looses legitimacy when Clark isn’t involved. This new group, who is planning on calling the contest “The Jay Moriarity Maverick's Invitational” needs to get Clark into the mix immediately. In the meantime, we’ll just sit back, heat up some popcorn, and enjoy the fireworks. The San Mateo County Harbor District, who reportedly will only issue one permit for a contest at Mavericks, will start holding meetings next week to decide which group will host a surf contest at Mavericks.
