Watch: Big Wave Hero Peter Mel Scores Minute-Long Ride At Maverick's
When it comes to surfing Maverick's in Half Moon Bay, Peter Mel is the undisputed GOAT. From his formative years as a young Santa Cruz frother, screaming up Highway 1 in the 1990s to break new ground at the place, to ascending to the tribal elder he is today, he continues to find a way to put himself on the biggest, most jaw-dropping waves of any given swell.
And while Mel has ridden some of the most fearsome waves ever out at Maverick's, it's his nuanced understanding of the big-wave break, its bathymetry and how it changes on different swell angles and periods that provides him with the foundation for success. Case in point, on March 11, Mel was towed into a sizable set wave at Maverick's and managed to ride it for over a minute, eventually straightening out somewhere halfway to Santa Cruz.
Most big waves in the world involve a steep, challenging drop before eventually either closing out or moving into deep water. Not the case at Maverick's. It has multiple bowl sections, and on the right swell, can offer a long, open wall.
Case in point, Mel takes on Maverick's on this ride as if it was a supersized day at pointbreak. Because he's on a shorter, more maneuverable tow board, he's able to wrap turns and link sections together. Mel properly rips the wave all the way to the inside until there's nothing left. It would be fascinating to see the statistics on the wave, on the conservative side, he has to have covered at least 500 yards.
Peter Mel Makes A Strong Case For Wave Of The Year At Maverick’s
With more than 25 years of writing about surfing, the ocean and action sports, Jake Howard continues to share stories, profiles and issues that shape the surfing world. One of the premier subject-matter experts in the field today, he's savvy in the ways of print, digital and social media, his breadth of work is expansive. Getting his start writing Surfline surf reports and recording the phone reports for 976-SURF in the late '90s, Jake served as the managing editor for Surfer Magazine in the early 2000s before moving on to launch RedBullSurfing.com and cover surfing for ESPN and the X Games. Over the years, Jake has also enjoyed time behind the edit desk at The Surfer's Journal, as well as the World Surf League, where he worked as the Senior Editor for a number of years. Beyond producing editorial content, Jake has served as a digital marketer and copywriter for iconic surf brands such as Quiksilver, Roxy and Rip Curl. Writing thousands of pages of copy for Surfline, he has deep SEO experience as well. The surf columnist for the San Clemente Times, Jake continues to dedicate himself to the culture and history of the sport through his involvement with the Surfing Heritage and Culture Center in San Clemente.