HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif., April 1, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- After a season of countless memorable waves, local professional surfer Jamie O'Brien received the 2015 Oakley Wave of the Winter award. The $25,000 prize honors the surfer who catches and successfully rides the single best wave of the contest period on the North Shore.
"I knew it was a real walled up wave," O'Brien said. "At Pipe, when you know you're deep you usually don't make the wave. I was so amazed I made the wave. It's real humbling [to win]."
Wave of the Winter head judge Gerry Lopez said the decision to award O'Brien required "more consideration than in years past." The winning wave double-spit O'Brien through multiple sections, depositing the surfer on the Ehukai sandbar.
The judging panel of Lopez, Pancho Sullivan, Ross Williams and Shawn Briley ultimately selected O'Brien's memorable wave from hundreds of entries submitted during the four-month contest period.
O'Brien's winning wave was narrowly chosen over a ride submitted by another North Shore local, Mason Ho. Ho received the Clif Bar Overall Performance Award for demonstrating outstanding skill, commitment to both the sport and community, courage and style while consistently riding the most challenging waves on the North Shore. Ho won $10,000, a year supply of Clif products and also a $10,000 charitable donation which he gave to Sunset Beach Elementary School.
"Jamie O'Brien and Mason Ho each rode waves this season that were so great, so well-ridden and so critical that we really agonized over which one should get the nod," Lopez said. "We went back and forth and, finally, after more consideration than ever in years past, we agreed that Jamie's ride had a bit more time in the tube than Mason's and that's what ultimately tipped the scales."
For O'Brien, the award adds yet another accolade to his already impressive Pipeline surfing resume, which includes a Pipe Masters championship, Backdoor Shootout and a pair of Volcom Pipe Pro titles.
An additional $5,000 was awarded to videographer Taitane Araujo for capturing O'Brien's memorable ride.
Stay tuned to Surfline for a full-length film about Jamie's remarkable performances as well as the bevy of other standouts from an action-packed winter on the North Shore.
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