One of the world’s premiere non-WSL big-wave events, the dramatically named Titans of Mavericks, is due to begin its waiting period on November 1 and has just announced a list of 56 nominees. Set to take place whenever a swell big enough brings the infamous right-hander to its meatiest and most intimidating, the nominees list features a host of familiar big-wave names alongside one or two surfers that are definitely familiar, but not necessarily in the big-wave realm.
Last year’s winner Nic Lamb (main shot above) is joined by the likes of big-wave legends such as Shane Dorian, Greg Long and Grant ‘Twiggy’ Baker, with young Hawaiian upstarts John John Florence, Albee Layer and Kai Lenny also in the mix. Impressively, four prominent female chargers have been nominated, with Hawaiian hellwomen Paige Alms and Emily Erickson being joined by Brazilians Maya Gabeira and Andrea Moller. CT veteran and winner of the 2016 Todos Santos Big Wave World Tour (BWWT) event, Josh Kerr, has made the list alongside former CT surfer and Californian local, Pat Gudauskas. But it’s the inclusion of Dane Reynolds, a guy more closely associated with generation-defining high performance surfing than big waves, that is arguably the most exciting name to emerge.
Since severing ties with Quiksilver and becoming a dad, Dane has been painfully absent from the surfing spotlight, with online sightings of him becoming increasingly rare and his once legendary web offerings seeming more and more like a thing of the past. But maybe this nomination will bring the iconic natural-footer out of hiding and into a whole new aspect of his career? Sure, this is only a preliminary list and in all truth it’s unlikely Dane will accept the offer, but it’s a nice thought. Imagine the guy decked head-to-toe in rubber, tackling 15-20’ Mavs on a monstrous board alongside all the other maniacs. How would he go? Who knows? Probably pretty good.
As mentioned, however, this list is only a preliminary offering, and the nominees still have to be chopped down to just twenty-four surfers before the event can begin. Unfortunately, despite the exciting prospect of seeing some of these guys compete, it’s likely that the WSL’s bullshit sanctions on both its World Tour and BWWT athletes will see a lot of the list’s most exciting names pull the pin in order to avoid copping a fine.
Still, considering the chaos that went down earlier this year when the last Titans of Mavericks event ran, it’ll ultimately be the wave that decides just how compelling a spectacle the contest will be. And with the right conditions marching into Half Moon Bay on the right day, Mavericks is more than capable of delivering the heavy mince.
Full List of Nominees: (Eventually whittled down to just 24 competitors)
Nic Lamb
Kai Lenny
Jamie Mitchell
Travis Payne
Derek Dunfee
Mark Healey
Greg Long
Tyler Fox
Kohl Christensen
Anthony Tashnick
Danilo Couto
Zach Wormhoudt
Ken Collins
Colin Dwyer
Nathan Fletcher
Carlos Burle
Garrett McNamara
Paige Alms
Albee Layer
Frank Solomon
Koa Rothman
Matt Becker
Pat Gudauskas
Dane Reynolds
Grant Baker
Will Skudin
Francisco Porcella
Tom Lowe
Andrea Moller
Alex Botelho
Kealii Mamala
Maya Gabeira
Manny Resano
Nic Vaughan
Patrick Shaughnessy
Emily Erickson
Ben Wilkinson
Ian Walsh
Ryan Seelbach
Shane Desmond
Rusty Long
Alex Martins
Ryan Augenstein
Shane Dorian
Grant Washburn
Jamie Sterling
Makua Rothman
Dave Wassel
Aaron Gold
Alex Gray
Chris Bertish
Ramon Navarro
Josh Kerr
John Florence
Kyle Thiermann
Mason Ho
Honourable Mention:
Shawn Dollar
Savannah Shaughnessy