The 2024 Mavericks Awards were held at San Benito House in Half Moon Bay, California, on May 4th in front of a sold-out packed house that was highly energized.
The Awards Show featured five video segments that included: "A Day To Remember" covering the historic tow session on December 28th, "Humans vs. Mavericks" wipeout reel, and a "Raw Highlights" section featuring some of the best rides of the season at Mavericks.
These high-intensity segments lit up the audience as they watched the heaviest moments on the big screen with ample cinematic audio to match.
The crowd roared as the top performances were shown in slow motion, reliving an incredible El Nino season with plenty of top-tier rides on offer.
"This season, we watched some of the gnarliest Mavericks conditions ever ridden," stated Jeff Clark, pioneer of the spot and the Mavericks Awards co-founder.
"There were many different swells coming into Half Moon Bay with difficult and challenging conditions, some much bigger than forecasted."
"The surfers that stuck around waiting for the wind to die or switch direction were rewarded with some magical windows of surf... I wish we could give all of them trophies."
After the video segments came the main event - crowning the Mavericks Awards 2024 champions and awarding the $25,000 prize purse amongst the top surfers and videographers.
The prize money was split 60% to the athletes and 40% to the cameramen and women who captured their winning rides.
In the Mens categories, defending champion Alo Slebir, from Santa Cruz, defended his title as "Performer of the Year" with back-to-back wins.
San Diego"s Jojo Roper was awarded "Biggest Wave" for his widely seen ride on March 11, 2024.
Santa Cruz surfer Wilem Banks claimed the "Ride of the Year" after making a highly technical airdrop at Mavericks look easy, riding out of an explosion of whitewash.
In the Women's categories, the reign of San Francisco's Bianca Valenti lives on.
Highly regarded as "the woman to watch at Mavericks" and a pioneer of women's big wave surfing, Valenti took to the stage three times as she was awarded: Women's "Performer of the Year", "Biggest Wave", and the "Ride of the Year."
In her acceptance speech for the honors, Valenti spoke highly of runner up, Zoe Chait from Half Moon Bay, and how the 18-year-old is catching up fast.
She also mentioned that their all-female tow team (a first-ever at Mavericks) is in the works, and she is sure that they will soon be "a force to reckon with, a force of fun."
Valenti was joined on stage by a local 9-year-old who told the audience that she wanted to be like Bianca when she grew up.
The inspiration was contagious, and the empowerment of female athletes was clearly noted as a conversation unfolded about how the community can support the growth of women's surfing.
During the finale of the show, Mavericks Surf Awards co-founders Jeff Clark and Chris Cuvelier thanked all the videographers and photographers who submitted content, the volunteer Mavericks Rescue Team who put their lives on the line to keep the surfers safe, and all the event sponsors and organizers.
2024 Mavericks Surf Awards | Winners
Men
Performer of the Year: Alo Slebir
Ride of the Year: Wilem Banks
Biggest Wave: Jojo Roper
Women
Performer of the Year: Bianca Valenti
Ride of the Year: Bianca Valenti
Biggest Wave: Bianca Valenti
Full story:
www.surfertoday.com/surfing/t...
8 май 2024
