Created: 02/16/2010 3:42 PM KSTC45.com | Print Story By: Jeff Fett

Dozens Injured at California Wave Contest

HALF MOON BAY, Calif. (AP) - South African Chris Bertish has won Northern California's Mavericks surfing contest, on a day that saw several people injured by powerful waves. Dozens of spectators were swept from a man-made jetty yesterday when the waves struck. Three people were hospitalized with broken bones and others had to be pulled from the Pacific. Firefighters had been on their way to clear the beach when the wave hit the spectators. Authorities spent the rest of the day warning the thousands attending the event to be careful and closed off sections of the beach. Bertish, who takes home the $50,000 purse, says "It's hard to explain how much water was moving around out there." He says he took the "worst beating" of his life in the ocean. Competitors voted to schedule the contest, which is only held when conditions are prime, because forecasts called for record-breaking waves.