Spectators Hurt By Big Wave At Mavericks Surf Contest In Half Moon Bay

HALF MOON BAY – Despite big wave warnings, two 20-foot walls of water caught dozens of spectators off-guard and knocked them to a rocky beach as they watched a Northern California surfing contest, leaving some with broken bones.

Battalion Chief Scott Jalbert of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said 13 people swept from a seawall Saturday had significant injuries, including broken legs and hands.

At least three of the injured were taken to hospitals.

Jalbert estimated “a couple hundred” people were on the seawall at the southern tip of Mavericks Beach when the waves struck, upstaging the surfing competition that draws some of the world’s top surfers.

Chris Bertish, who traveled 21 hours from his South Africa home, won the contest. He had just 48 hours’ notice that huge waves were breaking off the coast and the Mavericks Surf Contest was on.

Second place went to Shane Desmond of Santa Cruz.

The surfing contest offers a $150,000 purse, making it the most lucrative big-wave contest in the world.