The World Surf League can purchase Titans of Mavericks assets, including a five-year permit essential to organizing a big wave surf contest at the Maverick’s surf break, a bankruptcy judge ruled Friday.
United States Bankruptcy Judge Deborah Saltzman ruled that Cartel Management, Inc., which owns Titans of Mavericks LLC, could go ahead with the sale of Titans assets for $525,000 to help assuage some of the debt that caused the two entities to jointly file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in February.
The decision clears the way for the WSL to add Maverick’s to its Big Wave Tour calendar, possibly as soon as this winter. The WSL produces most of the world’s best-known surf contests, including the Championship Tour that made Kelly Slater a household name.
The WSL has expressed interest in running a contest at Maverick’s, located near Half Moon Bay, since at least 2013. Once in possession of the San Mateo County Harbor District’s five-year permit, it should face few barriers to making that a reality.
The harbor district’s permit runs through the 2020-21 season and excludes anyone else from holding a contest at the site. It is one of more than a dozen permits needed to hold the contest.
“We’re delighted to have the opportunity to work with the big wave community in bringing the Mavericks event to life on the international stage,” WSL chief executive Sophie Goldschmidt said in a statement when the agreement was first announced in late August. “The league has always held a huge amount of respect for both the venue and its community as one of the pillars of big wave surfing.”
WSL staff did not return calls seeking comment Friday.
The transaction also leaves up in the air Jeff Clark’s role in the future of the contest. Clark is one of the pioneers of the unruly reef break that has claimed two lives and can produce waves upwards of 40 feet. He had a hand in organizing the first contest there in 1999 and has played a significant role in subsequent contests, including at times hand-picking contestants.
Clark, his wife Cassandra and Brian Overfelt, who make up Mavericks International, Inc., had contracted with Cartel in 2014 to revamp the surf contest. Mavericks International has asserted that it actually owns the permits and filed an objection to the sale Wednesday.
Cartel filed a counter calling Mavericks Invitational’s claim to the permits “frivolous,” and much of Friday’s hearing centered around permit ownership. The harbor district expressed that the permits had been issued to Cartel. The judge made no formal ruling on who owns the permits.
Segler Holdings, one of Cartel’s largest creditors, also filed an objection to the sale. It said the sale of the permits, the most valuable part of Cartel’s estate, would not generate enough money to come close to covering its nearly $3 million in debt.
Ultimately, neither objection was enough to sway the court, however.
Stewart Schmella, lawyer for Segler Holdings, said he is disappointed.
“I look forward to the Debtors moving forward with an objection to (Mavericks Invitational’s) claim, which they have characterized as ‘frivolous,’” he wrote in an email. “I also look forward to learning how Cartel intends to proceed as a going concern and repay its creditors.”
Contact Julie Jag at 831-706-3257.
