Maya: Welcome to Surfing, the week in surf. I am Maya, this is Devon, and it is Sunday, October fourth. Big week in the surf world, so let us get into it.
Devon: We start at home, or close to it. Mavericks. Half Moon Bay. This was the week the beast reminded everyone it is still there.
Maya: Thirty to forty foot waves. Buoys reading thirty-five feet, something that has not happened in a decade. The world's best big-wave surfers dropping in a mile off Pillar Point Harbor on what witnesses called a heroic, victory-at-sea day.
Devon: And the timing could not be better, because this Saturday, October tenth, the Mavericks Surf Festival takes over Pillar Point Harbor. Eleven to five, free, family friendly. Meet the big-wave surfers, live music, food trucks, a surf swap, and the ocean safety crews who make it all possible. It is the official kickoff to the twenty twenty-six winter season at one of the most iconic big-wave spots on Earth.
Maya: If you go, and you should, remember what you are watching. Mavericks breaks over a reef a mile offshore. The wave was first surfed in nineteen seventy-five by Jeff Clark, alone, for fifteen years before anyone believed him. Now it draws the best in the world every winter. Respect the ocean, thank a safety crew.
Devon: From Mavericks to the awards circuit. The twenty twenty-six Big Wave Challenge nominees are out, and they tell a fascinating story about last winter.
Maya: Ride of the Year, men: Matahi Drollet with a tow-in bomb at Teahupo'o in Tahiti, Natxo Gonzalez, and Tom Lowe. Wipeout of the Year: Lucas Chianca at Nazaré, Eric Nicholson at Maverick's, and Alberto Truncer, also at Nazaré.
Devon: Here is the story inside the story. Not a single Ride of the Year nomination came from Pe'ahi, Waimea, Maverick's, or Todos Santos. The traditional Pacific big-wave spots were, in the organizer's words, eerily quiet last winter. The worst output for Hawaii and the West Coast since the event began.
Maya: What carried the awards: Mullaghmore in Ireland, Teahupo'o in Tahiti, and of course Nazaré in Portugal, which swept the biggest-wave categories for men and women. But there is talk of a monster El Niño coming this winter, so the Pacific may get its revenge.
Devon: To the Championship Tour. The twenty twenty-six qualifying class is set, and there are some names to know. Fourteen-year-old Tya Zebrowski won the Challenger Series and becomes the youngest woman ever to qualify for the CT. Fourteen.
Maya: Olympic gold medalist Kauli Vaast finally takes his shot at the world's best. Morgan Cibilic requalifies. And Sally Fitzgibbons, a legend of the sport, returns to the CT once more.
Devon: The Challenger Series just wrapped its Brazil stop, the São Sebastião Pro, with Alister Reginato taking finals day. Now the qualification race heads to Portugal.
Maya: And looking at the CT calendar: the MEO Rip Curl Pro Portugal runs October sixteenth through twenty-fifth at Supertubos in Peniche. Then the Philippines Pro, October thirty-first through November tenth at Cloud Nine in Siargao. And then, the one circled on every calendar: the Lexus Pipe Masters, December eighth through twentieth at Banzai Pipeline.
Devon: One more note for the future file: the WSL confirmed the Championship Tour returns to Raglan, New Zealand, in twenty twenty-seven. Manu Bay hosted its first CT event this year, Carissa Moore and Italo Ferreira took the wins, and the crowds and community made such an impression the tour is coming back.
Maya: That is the week in surf. Mavericks roaring back to life, the festival this Saturday, awards season telling the story of a strange winter, and the road to Pipe getting shorter every day.
Devon: We will be back next week. Until then, wax up and get out there.