HALF MOON BAY — Two local surfers finished in the top five of the internationally-acclaimed Mavericks International Surf Competition.
Ryan Augenstein of Santa Cruz and Tyler Fox of Aptos finished third and fourth, respectively. Augenstein took home a $5,000 prise for finishing third.
The one-day, invitation-only event near Half Moon Bay draws crowds from all over the nation to see the world’s best surfers compete in the dangerous break called “Mavericks.” This year’s event took place on Jan. 24. it is considered the world’s premier big-wave surfing event.
Most of the day the waves were awesome, around the 40- or 50-foot range — substantial but manageable for this level of competition. However, high winds provided an element of difficulty adding to the excitement.
Grant Baker of South Africa was the Mavericks Invitational winner, while Hawaii’s Shane Dorian placed second.
