HALF MOON BAY -- South African Grant Baker scored perfect 10s on two of his rides Tuesday, topping a field of local favorites and the world's best big wave surfers to capture the title at the annual Mavericks contest -- an event many refer to as "the Super Bowl of surfing."

"That's the best I've ever surfed," said Baker, who lives in Durban and carries the nickname Tiggy. "There were 20-foot waves out there -- big bombs. I had a hideous wipeout. I made a couple rides that I shouldn't have -- what a day."

Baker said it wasn't until the final tallies were announced that he knew he had won.

"I had two really good waves in the finals -- two steep faces, two big walls," said Baker, who arrived in the Bay Area a month ago and has been riding at Mavericks every day. "But I thought I had to catch that last wave. When I didn't, I was disppointed. Obviously, it didn't matter."

Baker overcame a field that included defending champion, Anthony Tashnick, and three-time winner Darryl "Flea" Virostko. Other contestants included Eraldo Gueiros and Danilo Couto, both of Brazil, and Ryan Seelbach, of San Francisco.

Out-of-town surfers are often viewed as long shots at Mavericks because many locals practice surfing the rough and cold waves year-round.

Tyler Smith of Santa Cruz won second place and $10,000, while Brock Little won $5,000 for third place.

Little, a California-born surfer now living in Hawaii, was in serious contention throughout the day. In the first semifinal he carved his way down an extremely steep wave face, and finally shot clear of the powerful wind and whitewater that can come back to bite a surfer who lingers too long near the base of the wave without moving to the side.

Little pumped his fist to "claim" that ride, surfer parlance for a physical gesture at the end of a good ride that told the others he had won that small battle with nature.

But in the end, it was Baker sticking to wave faces like a magnet in the finals, brushing aside any hesitation as he propelled himself down wave after wave. The locals simply couldn't keep up on this day.

"On the final I kind of took off too deep, but I managed to skate along, just kind of turn a bit before I had to hit the bottom," Baker said.

Baker remained impressed at the power of Mavericks on this sunny day with cloudless skies.

"It's a powerful wave. It's a crazy wave," he said.

The hardscrabble Santa Cruz contingent usually fares well, having logged more practice time at Mavericks than others. They're also accustomed to the frigid waters and occasional sharks that Mavericks has to offer.

Santa Cruz is located about 60 miles south of Mavericks, and the contest offers the closest thing to glory for many locals who grew up surfing the smaller waves at Steamers Lane in their coastal tourist town.

Santa Cruz has produced the only champions the event has ever known in the four years it was held. And while the money is one thing, laying claim to being the boss of Mavericks for a year carries strong prestige as well.

"It's a culmination of your life of surfing when you turn and paddle in at Mavericks," said Jeff Clark, the man who discovered the quirky and powerful break in 1975.

Whether out of fear or respect for the waves, other surfers let him have it to himself and Clark surfed Mavericks alone for 15 years.

If riders time everything right, they'll survive a two-story drop onto the face of the world's most feared waves on the planet and ride away unscathed. Play it wrong, and Mavericks will dunk the best of them, and pin them on the shallow sea floor until they can muster the strength to surface.

Clark said that Mavericks' appeal comes from its accessibility. Surfers can paddle out, sit on the edge of the break in relative safety and admire a 40-foot wave even if they decide not to paddle into it.

During past contests, surfers have been bloodied and their boards snapped in half by the powerful churning waters. Experienced big wave surfer Mark Foo died surfing Mavericks in 1994.

"Every wave at Mavericks is a challenge," Clark said.

Mavericks is located one-half mile off the coast of Half Moon Bay, about 20 miles south of San Francisco.

On contest day, crowds of thousands form on the cliffs and shoreline, squinting through binoculars for a glimpse at surfers riding waves that are normally to be avoided by seafarers at all costs.

It is just one of several big wave hot spots around the globe ridden regularly by the sport's elite. Other well-known big wave breaks include Todos Santos, the island break in the bay near Ensenada, Mexico; Waimea Bay at Oahu's notorious north shore; Jaws at Maui's north shore; and Cortes Banks, a tow-in monster wave generating zone about 100 miles off the Southern California coast that boasts some of the largest waves ever ridden -- or attempted.