Officials discuss safety measures in wake of spectator injuries at Mavericks Surf Contest

PRINCETON-BY-THE-SEA — Public safety officials held a private meeting Monday morning to discuss how well they reacted to the injuries and other issues that arose at the Mavericks Surf Contest earlier this month, amid concerns that it could have been better organized.

The media was not allowed in to the meeting, which was attended by officials representing over a dozen county, state and federal agencies. Those who attended were instructed not to talk to the press, but to refer all questions to county Sheriff’s Office spokesman Ray Lunny.

Lunny issued a news release at 5 p.m. that made only passing mention of what happened on the morning of Feb. 13, when at least 15 surf spectators on Mavericks Beach were injured by a series of heavy waves that ripped across the beach. Three of the spectators were taken to the hospital with fractures, according to public safety officials.

“The general consensus was that the event was well coordinated and with one big exception, went well. The obvious exception was the so-called ‘rogue wave’ which unexpectedly washed ashore and created a brief havoc when several onlookers as well as Maverick’s crew were swept up and pushed backward,” stated the release, which did not elaborate on how the public safety response could have been better coordinated.

Not one, but several ‘rogue waves’ overwhelmed the surging crowd that morning, causing a stampede that trampled a number of victims and left many people covered in sand, cuts and bruises. Several booths and tents were swept away. The waves shorted out the PA system on the announcer’s booth, preventing contest organizers from warning people that the tide was rising and the waves were coming in.

Many spectators had ventured well beyond a protective sea wall to try to get a view of the big-wave surfers. They ignored a large warning sign erected by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which reads, “Danger: extremely hazardous waves. Hazardous wave conditions exist even on calm days. Waves can wash over structure and sweep people into ocean.”

Medics were on hand to treat the injured, and the event was staffed by more than 70 law enforcement personnel and dozens more fire department personnel, Coast Guard, county parks officials and volunteers.

Many spectators wandered back out onto the beach after a wave would recede, only to be felled by the next heavy swell. Yet public safety officers waited until 10:15 a.m. to cordon off the beach with a crowd-control fence, after the tide had started to go out.

Some observers said event organizer Mavericks Surf Ventures fell short of its responsibility to protect spectators, especially considering the National Weather Service had issued a high surf advisory for the day of the contest.

“I just think that Mavericks Surf Ventures was very derelict in their planning of this event and did not take all the necessary precautions. If they had somebody who knew Mavericks inside and out, I think the things that happened on the beach could have been avoided,” said Half Moon Bay surfer Jeff Clark, who founded the surf contest in the late 1990s. He was ousted as co-director of Mavericks Surf Ventures last year and has filed suit against the company in San Francisco Superior Court. Clark did not say what precautions he would have taken.

The incident ignited a debate over who bears responsibility for spectators’ injuries if people put themselves in harm’s way, and whether anyone could have predicted the waves’ ferocity that day.

Mavericks Surf Ventures urged surf fans to stay away from the beach during the contest. Not only did 20,000 people come, but hundreds of people risked their lives by climbing steep, eroding cliffs to try to get a view of the action. No public safety officials were on hand to deter them.

“Wherever you go, you have to be careful when you’re at the water’s edge,” said San Mateo County Harbormaster Robert Johnson. While it may not have been possible to predict the monster waves that swept across the beach during the contest, Johnson said they are “not an irregular occurrence.”

Mavericks Surf Ventures spokeswoman Katherine Clark said the media hoopla about the injuries at Mavericks was unwarranted.

“I’m so sad that this has overshadowed the performance of the boys out in the water,” she said.

The county will organize a public meeting about the incident in the coming weeks. The county’s news release said officials would consider future restrictions on beach viewing areas, although Clark dismissed the notion of closing Mavericks Beach completely.

Inside Bay Area

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