Gavin Sutherland flys thu an alley oop to win in Florida

Billabong Boost Mobile Airshow,

Vans Surfing Magazine Airshow Series.

Gavin Sutherland victorious at Airshow with $4,000 aerial

Sebastian Inlet, Florida (Sunday, March 3, 2002). A confident Gavin Sutherland from Hawaii flew his way through an alley oop to claim the Airshow title today.

Sutherland traveled to Australia to compete last month to compete in a world championship airshow final, in which he took 4th place. The experience gained at the hands of the fiercely competitive Aussies paid off with a victory for him in his first competition since returning.

Sebastian Inlet proved a perfect arena for surfers to showcase the wide variety of aerial and futuristic maneuvers in current air competitions. After a trials round, all main event competitors surfed twice, where the best air from either heat counted towards a berth in the 6 man final.

Earlier in the week, Sutherland had made his intention to win the Billabong Boost Mobile Airshow known, being a standout in both free surfs and in the competition. He consistently made more airs during the event than any other competitor, but it was a critical move on a set wave that got him the nod.

With partly sunny weather and firm offshore winds prevailing at first peak, Sutherland boosted a clean alley oop going left on his forehand, landing perfectly in the most critical part of the wave.

Getting the loudest crowd reaction and highest point total, Sutherland was happy to claim his first Vans SMAS Airshow win from Randy ´Goose´ Welsh, who leads the 2002 Airshow Series ratings.

Results of the Billabong Boost Mobile Airshow

1 Gavin Sutherland (Oahu, Hawaii) : $4,000
2 Randy Welsh (Kauai, Hawaii) : $2,000
3 Aaron Cormican (New Symrna Beach, Florida) : $1,2000
4 Nate Yoemans (San Clemente, California) : $800
5 Phillip Watters (Melbourne, Florida) : $600
6 Eric McHenry (Poway, San Diego) : $400

Billabong Boost Mobile sponsor three events on the Vans SMAS Airshow Series.

Check the full Surfingthemag.com Report.

Tim Williams - Billabong.

Air-Shows - Surfersvillage.