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Nominees announced for the 2011 Billabong XXL Global Big Wave Awards
Author: SurferToday.com
The Monster Paddle Award has taken its place as one of the most prestigious honors in all of surfing as it acknowledges those surfers who caught the greatest waves the old-fashioned way, with simple arm power and no jet-ski assist.
Included in the list of nominees are: Danilo Couto, again for his breathtaking late drop at Jaws; Hawaiian legend, Shane Dorian, for his own mind-bending effort to catch a giant at Jaws and pull into the tube; Hawaiian Mark Healey's steep and chilly plunge over the ledge at Maverick's in Northern California; Sion Milosky's charge down an immense peak at Outer Reef, Oahu; and Australia's Mark Yazbeck on a wave at Waimea Bay, Oahu which ultimately closed out The Bay, a very rare occurrence.
Sion Milosky is the first surfer to be nominated for an XXL Award posthumously. The humble waterman, originally from Kauai and more recently living on Oahu's North Shore, drowned on March 16, 2011. Milosky was 35 years old and leaves a wife and two young daughters. Contributions may be made to the Sion Milosky Family fund at www.Volcom.com
All the surfers, photographers and videographers are listed below:
The nominees for 2011, in alphabetical order:
FIVE BILLABONG XXL RIDE OF THE YEAR AWARD NOMINEES
(Surfer prize $50,000 plus a year lease on a 2012 Toyota Tacoma truck - Video prize $5,000)
Michael Brennan (Hobart, Tasmania, Australia) at Shipstern Bluff, Tasmania on April 10, 2010. (Video by Tim Bonython.)
Danilo Couto (Bahia, Brazil) at Jaws, Maui, Hawaii on February 8, 2011. (Video by Elliot Leboe.)