South African Grant 'Twiggy' Baker Wins 2014 Mavericks Invitational Surf Contest

At NBC Bay Area:

With the best of conditions under sunny skies, the Mavericks Invitational, the so-called Super Bowl of surfing, was won by South African Grant "Twiggy" Baker.

Baker also won the title in 2006 and reclaimed the title on Friday afternoon, with Hawaiian Shane Dorian coming in second in  his first Mavericks contest and Ryan Augenstein of Santa Cruz coming in third.

Fellow Californians Tyler Fox of Aptos, Greg Long of San Clemente  and Anthony Tashnick of Santa Cruz rounded out the six surfers who made the finals.

“I got lucky today. I didn't get bucked off," Baker said.

Now Baker takes home the $12,000 -- and a lot of respect from fellow surfers.

"Mavericks is a one-of-a-kind wave that you've got to prepare for, for life and for years,” competitor Rich Peters said. “So it's not something to take lightly. I really respect these guys. They're athletes just like any other athlete."

The competition kicked off Friday morning off the coast of Pillar Point north of Half Moon Bay, Calif.

As predicted, the big waves reach astounding heights of between 40 and 50 feet...