"You're The Man Now Dog"
By Jake Howard

Everything about the whole night seemed mysteriously in order. With a black pirate flag flying overhead, the gothic Oakley Headquarters set the back-drop for Swell.com's $60,000 XXL Big Wave Awards. The past met the present and seemed to settle upon what direction the future of big wave riding shall go. Just a few years back tow-in surfing was a novelty, only actively pursued by a few brave souls. On March 29th, other tow-in surfing officially secured its spot as a viable and extraordinary method of wave riding. Out of the 80 waves entered into the contest only 20 of them were paddled into (and one kite surfer from Point Reyes). Wave runners have given any surfer crazy enough to gamble an all access pass to a realm once believed to be suicide. Places like Mavericks, Cortes Banks and Jaws are where rolling hills of water become turbulent avalanches and tempt man's fate.

The atmosphere was thick. Original big wave riders like Greg Noll, Mickey Munoz, Timmy "the Krab" Doresy and Flippy Hoffman rubbed shoulders with modern-day heros like Tom Carroll and Brad Gerlach. Sam George and Steve Pezman are sure to scribe their own version of the night's events. Of course the Santa Cruz contingent made a strong showing. Something in the big, cold northwests of Northern California has created an extraordinary new species. Industry insiders and outsiders slapped one another on the back. The Hawaiian showing was a bit sparse, but who would want to leave paradise to come to Irvine anyway. There was an edge in the air. Everybody wondered who would be the proud recipient of surfing's largest single purse ever, a cool $60,000.

After a couple of hours of cocktails, food and mingling the large wooden doors that led into the auditorium swung open. The room filled up fast. In the matter of minutes one of five hard-charging surfers would be able to afford a couple of new wave runners. There were a few photographers on edge as well; they had $10,000 of their own to worry about. This is not to say the mood in the room was tense. With super balls bouncing all over the theater and a relentless Westside Crew, Swell.com's Evan Slater did his best to keep a straight face and present the night's five nominees.

An enormous part of surfing is the stories that accompany the experience. Each of the five finalist's waves had a story of its own. Flea's wave was just a bomb from hell. There is no other way to describe it. December 22nd was a groundbreaking day in Half Moon Bay. Jay Moriarty and Noah Johnson got their waves that day too, but their stories are different. After his infamous Surfer Magazine cover Jay Moriarty has proved to the world that he can stay on his feet. He proved that from beginning to end the wave at Mavericks continues to bowl, and bowl, and bowl a little bit more. Noah was stuck sitting in the channel with his board until Adam Repogle offered to tow him into a couple. After a long flight from Hawaii Noah arrived at Mavericks in the early morning hours. Skindog offered to give him a ride out, but Flea and him going to be working together for the day. The number one rule in tow surfing has got to be always bring a tow partner. Noah was left for shark bait until Repogle picked him up. He then was whipped into an enormous beast of a wave. Mavericks and the people that ride there have helped push the performance bar too never before seen heights.

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