Bankruptcy may wipe out Mavericks competition this year
HALF MOON BAY, Calif. (KGO) -- The window for the popular Titans of Mavericks surf competition in Half Moon Bay is open, but this year the event could already be wiped out.
The event organizers have filed for bankruptcy.
"I just can't see any way of there being an event at all. I can't see it happening at all. Because the people that are supposed to pay for the event just filed for bankruptcy," Mavericks board member Brian Overfelt said.
Overfelt is one of the three board members of Mavericks Invitational. He says the board brought on Los Angeles-based Cartel Management four years ago to handle branding, sponsors, TV and marketing. But late Tuesday night, Cartel filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
LINK: Bankruptcy documents filed by Mavericks organizers
"We knew absolutely nothing about this at all, so it's like a shot in the heart," he said.
"It's certainly a disappointment. It's hard to really find other words for it," surfer Colin Dwyer said. He is one of 24 surfers in the men's heat invited to compete in the competition this year.
He grew up surfing Mavericks and says there are usually only one or two days a season with weather and surf appropriate for the big wave contest. He says last Thursday was that day but a source close to the competition says top management at Cartel wasn't going to run the contest then because of the conditions.
Dwyer says he was in the water for six hours. "Surfed all day Thursday. It was really good, would have been a fantastic contest for sure," he said.
RELATED: Titans of Mavericks organizers file for bankruptcy
When asked if he was surprised the contest wasn't called for Thursday, he said, "Yeah, I was definitely one of the competitors pushing to run it."
The good news is the waves aren't likely to file for bankruptcy and the surfers out there will tell you they're going to keep surfing while they wait for the competition to get back in the water.
PHOTOS: Mavericks big wave surf competition 2016
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