Jeff Clark

From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia Jeff Clark born March 26 1957 Redwood City California is one of the most noteworthy and respected bigwave surfers famous for surfing Mavericks alone for 15 years before it was widely discovered by the bigwave surfing community Born in Redwood City Clark moved with his family to Miramar Beach in Half Moon Bay when he was a young boy He soon began surfing and seeking out bigger stronger waves along the rugged Northern California coast In the winter Clark and his friends could see the large waves off Pillar Point breaking from the hillside of Half Moon Bay High School After carefully studying the conditions Clark paddled out at Mavericks at the age of 17 leaving behind his high school friend who declined the adventure and instead told Clark he would call the Coast Guard and tell them where I last saw you He surfed Mavericks alone for the next 15 years before he could get others to surf it with him although several would paddle out none would take on the massive waves Since then his name has become linked to Mavericks for his dedication to the spot without wave models or water patrol Additionally Clark shaped his boards specifically for the conditions at Mavericks Clark is among the few ambidextrous big wave surfers in the world Others in this category include Todd Smith and Andy Littenstall who both also surf at Mavericks A natural goofyfooter Jeff spent ten years learning to ride regularfoot This allowed him to ride frontside facing the wave when he started taking on the more dangerous rightbreaking waves at Mavericks Labeled one of the worlds best bigwave riders by Surfer Magazine in 1994 Clark along with Mavericks and the Half Moon Bay surf scene has been featured in such films as Riding Giants and Adventures in Wild California He is the only surfer in the San Mateo County Sports Hall of Fame Clark founded the annual Mavericks Surf Contest with surf clothing manufacturer Quiksilver in 1998 and later joined forces with Evolve Sports a San Franciscobased sports marketing group to form Mavericks Surf Ventures MSV In 2009 MSV took over the contest and Clark later resigned from the Board of Directors thus cutting ties with MSV Clark is recognized as one of the premier big wave surfboard shapers in the country and shapes a full line of custom boards He owns Mavericks Surf Shop in the Princeton Harbor neighborhood of Half Moon Bay not far from the break He sells his own line of clothing and surfboards at his shop Description above from the Wikipedia article Jeff Clark surfer licensed under CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia