by Sabrina Brennan
When it was my turn to speak during public comment at the November 2015 California Coastal Commission hearing, I explained that the San Mateo County Harbor District has a five-year exclusive permit with Cartel Management, the Titans event promoter. It specifies that only one surf contest can be held at Mavericks from Nov. 1 to March 31. I noted that the Mavericks contest does not include a women’s heat and no women have ever surfed in the final competition. I asked the Coastal Commission to add a condition to the Coastal Development Permit that would require a women’s heat.
My expectations were low. To my surprise my public comment was not lost on Commissioner Mark Vargas. He was concerned about inequality.
Contest organizers defended their all-male selection process. Contest founder Jeff Clark said, “The way we choose those invitees to surf in the Mavericks event is through a polling of the peers, the guys that surf out at Mavericks and the guys that are pushing it to the level of performance, that is the absolute highest level of performance. Now, there are women that surf Mavericks, I’ve surfed with many of these women at Mavericks and there’s the bowl at Mavericks, the most extreme and intense place to take off, and there’s, (pause) well we call it the west bowl, the much easier place to catch the waves, and the guys that get invited in this event, men or women take off in the bowl. And at this point we haven’t seen that kind of performance that would, you know, when the Committee 5 is watching a group surf Mavericks it’s like there’s always one guy that stands out. It’s that kind of, okay, can that person beat the guy who won it last year or the year before. Who has the ability to win this event. And the guys on the Committee 5 were with me when I first talked someone into going out there with me. They’re the guys in the early 90’s that actually surf Mavericks and still surf Mavericks, and they know, they have a very good eye of the performance level that we’re looking at, not only to surf Mavericks at the highest level, but to surf it safely and be in the condition that if you go down out there it’s not going to become a problem for the lifeguards, we want to avoid the rescue situations.”
Note that that the “Committee 5,” which selects competitors is not necessarily fair in its process. Case in point: Three days before the Coastal Commission hearing Sports Illustrated reported that the 2014 Mavericks defending champion, as well as 2006 Mavericks champion and 2014 Big Wave World Tour Champion Grant “Twiggy” Baker had fallen out of the Committee 5’s favor. Baker was banned from the 2015-2016 Mavericks contest for distributing a petition to support former 2013 Mavericks champion Peter Mel’s reinstatement in the contest. Mel was banned from the Mavericks contest because of a “conflict of interest.” The reasons given for banning Baker were convoluted. Jeff Clark told Stab Magazine that Baker had, “put other athletes’ at risk by being associated with a petition that was (circulated) on behalf of Mel to challenge the Committee 5’s decision on matters pertaining to the framework of their event protocol for the selection process.”
During the discussion at the Coastal Commission hearing, Mark Vargas said, “I'm still a little concerned about the fact that there is no clear plan for highlighting, involving, or encouraging the growth of women in this event or in this sport. I'll float it out there. I'd like to see if I can make an amending motion to add a specific condition that we ask the applicant to provide a plan for encouraging equal opportunity for women surfers in future events.”
In 1994, bodyboarder Sara Lucas broke the Mavericks gender barrier and four-years later Sarah Gerhardt became the first woman to ride the enormous wave standing on a surfboard. On The Inertia website Gerhardt is quoted saying, “I live as though I don’t have any limitations, when I have many. Physically, mentally, I’ve got many limitations. But surfing, surfing at Mavericks, makes me forget about them. And I try not to think about those limitations. I just go.”
In November 2015 a clear mandate was issued by a 7-4 vote to approve Vargas’ amended motion. Moving forward, oversight by the Coastal Commission will be necessary to insure that equity for women athletes includes a Women’s Division with multiple heats, appointment of a woman to the Committee 5, and a condition that corrects the gender pay gap in prize money. The Coastal Act provides coastal access for all.
