Top Big-Wave Surfers Asking, ‘Dude, Where’s My Tuxedo?’

Billabong’s XXL big-wave party at the Grove of Anaheim offers a night when wetsuits give way to tuxedos as the sport’s elite surfers gather to learn who wins bragging rights and a cash award.

Tonight’s winner gets a maximum prize of $66,000 unless the record wave is less than 66 feet, in which case the award is $1,000 per linear foot. While that’s a considerable sum in the sometimes low-rent world of surfers, competitors say they’re not in it for the money.

Take Greg Long. At 20, the San Clemente surfer already has made a name for himself surfing Mexico’s Todos Santos Island. “No, it’s not the money,” he said. “It’s putting yourself in the most extreme conditions the ocean can give you.”

Long’s ride last winter at Cortes Bank -- a monstrous surf break off a reef 105 miles offshore from San Diego, has been stirring attention. He could win the top honor for conquering a green behemoth so large he looks like a gnat in photographs.

Also in the running are Pete Cabrinha of Hawaii; Brazilian Danilo Couto; Archie Kalepa, a Hawaiian lifeguard; and Ian Walsh, who lives in Hawaii.

Last year, the top prize was $66,000. The year before, the winning wave was 68 feet, considered the biggest ever ridden, said Bill Sharp, the event’s director. But Sharp said the record might fall this year.

“I think we may be seeing a new world’s record,” said Sharp, a Newport Beach promoter who began promoting big-wave contests and events in 1997.

It was Carlsbad’s Taylor Knox riding a 52-foot wave off the Baja Coast six years ago -- and the photograph that recorded the feat -- that pushed big-wave surfing from the back pages of surf magazines into the mainstream as a big-money event with a growing audience.

At tonight’s ceremony, a total of $100,000 will be presented to surfers in a variety of categories -- biggest, gnarliest, even the ride by a surfer who paddles into a wave as opposed to being towed by personal watercraft.

Part of the explosive growth revolves around the “tow-surfing” phenomenon. Surfers are towed behind jet skis to catch waves at locales such as Jaws in Hawaii, Maverick’s off Half Moon Bay south of San Francisco, Todos Santos and in recent years, Cortes Bank.

But critics say the promotion exploits surfers and puts lives at risk.

Sharp argues that only an elite group of surfers is invited to participate and many, like Long, take safety seriously by taking first-aid kits that include a defibrillator and oxygen tanks and wear flotation vests.

Still others wonder when a wave is too high.

“It’s a little hard for a guy my age, beyond 50, who’s happy on a long board sliding around on a head-high wave to imagine,” said Steve Pezman, co-publisher of the Surfer’s Journal. “The endorphin rush these guys are getting is just incredible.

“They’re wearing flotation vests, but you just wonder at what stage is a 100-foot wave going to rag doll you to death,” he said.

XXL judges also have simplified what was once a contentious battle involving how to measure these large waves. They blow up photographs and use calipers. The only debate left is “where the bottom of the wave is,” Sharp said.

Though this winter offered few major swells, it did provide several memorable days, especially Jan. 10, when four of the five finalists rode their top wave.

For Long, it could be a nice payout if he wins. He’s the only surfer eligible in two categories -- biggest wave and biggest paddle-in wave -- which could earn him an additional $5,000. A third category will award $5,000 for the top tube ride.

During an interview, he recalled the day of his big ride, including his nervous anticipation. Having both his father, Steve Long, a state lifeguard, and brother, Rusty, 22, along calmed him and gave him an emotional boost, he said.

“It’s hard to put into words,” Long said. “There’s a lot of noise, but you’re so focused, you don’t really hear it. It’s kind of your intuition taking over and once you step into that realm, it’s another world.”