Quiksilver Airshow World Series

ASP Australasian Specialty Event
Scarborough Beach, W.A
July 17th, 2004

Josh Kerr Wins Quiksilver Airshow World Series In Perth

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, Scarborough, Western Australia (Sunday July 18th, 2004) - - Twenty year old Josh Kerr cemented his reputation as the world´s best aerial surfer by wining the nail biting final of the Quiksilver Airshow World Series at Scarborough Beach, W.A. The former world aerial champion has now posted two wins and a second placing from the three events staged so far on the Series.

The Coolangatta surfer is in an unbeatable position to qualify as top seed for the four man final of the Quiksilver Airshow Series - which will be staged for the first time in conjunction with the 2005 Quiksilver Pro in his home breaks of the Gold Coast.

Perfect sunshine and clean 2-3ft (1 metre) waves set the backdrop at Scarborough Beach for the third of the four event series. Moderate offshore winds and high tide back wash made conditions difficult at times, but the world´s best put on a dazzling display of progressive surfing in front of a strong crowd of over two thousand surfing fans.

Wade Goodall : photo Robertson/SurfingAustralia.com

The 25 minute final saw Wade Goodall (Sunshine Coast, QLD), Asher Pacey (Gold Coast, QLD), Dion Agius (Gold Coast, QLD) Dave Neilson (Umina, NSW), Dru Adler (Palm Beach, QLD) fill the respective minor places.

Hot on the heels of winning an Airshow event in the USA last month, Josh Kerr let his winning intentions be known early in the final with a massive front side air 360 rotation. Waiting till the final to pull his best trick out of the bag, Kerr said he was lucky to find the right waves to suit his style of surfing,

"Asher and Wade had been the ones to watch all day. I was just doing straight airs on my way to the final because I couldn´t find the right sections on the waves out there." Kerr said clutching the $10,000 winner´s cheque,

Dion Agius : photo Robertson/SurfingAustralia.com

"In the first few minutes of the final I got a decent wave that walled up allowing me to do an air reverse and that was enough to put me in the lead. I got a 8.83 for that and backed it up with a 7.67 which was enough to hold off Wade so I´m stoked."

With the highest single wave score of the event, Wade Goodall scored a 9.98 out of a possible 10 points, making a late charge in the dying seconds of the final, but failing to have a decent second scoring wave to make up his two-wave tally. Goodall stomped super technical and self-named "Passion Pop" moves throughout the day with flawless precision. His trademark manoeuvre saw him boosting the front side air, taking his feet off the board and spinning the board into a rotation 360.

"I didn´t have a good first score and was paddling up the beach starting to panic a bit but then I settled down and got a good right hander that came that through and I knew I needed a big score and even though it was a 9.98, it wasn´t quite enough. My goal was to get a good result to qualify for the final next March and have a shot at taking out the Series." Goodall added.

Dave Neilsen : photo Robertson/SurfingAustralia.com

Goodall pocketed $5,000 for the runner-up placing, along with an addition $500 Quiksilver Eyewear Best Air Award for his "Passion Pops"

Fellow Queenslander Asher Pacey was also in range of the winning score at the final siren but the time clock got the better of him and he settled for 3rd place. Pacey stomped several "Pop Shove It´s" throughout the day. Gold Coaster Dion Agius also surfed a great tournament but failed to find the right waves in the final and settled for fourth with Dave Neilson and Dru Adler in fifth and sixth

The highest placed West Australian was James Catto (Margaret River, WA) in 7th place, narrowly missing out on the final. Catto won an additional $500 Torquay Time Tunnel award for a long tube ride that sent the crowd screaming. WA´s highest ranked surfer Ry Craike (Kalbarri, WA) was a surprise round one elimination.

Josh Kerr : photo Robertson/SurfingAustralia.com

Other West Australians who put on great displays of futuristic surfing included Yallingup´s Simon Barrat and Jay Davies, Luke Campbell and Mark Richards from Trigg´s Beach.

Each event now shares a prize purse of $25,000 with a winner´s cheque of $10,000. Airshows have created a sub-culture for the worlds most innovative and futuristic surfers and have attracted a strong cult following around the world.

In this specialised series of Airshow surfing contests, competitors attempt to launch themselves as high as possible off a wave into the air, completing a technical aerial ´move´ at the same time. Judges only score manoeuvres performed in the air, as opposed to the more traditional approach of judging surfing manoeuvres on a wave.

The next Quiksilver Airshow Series event will be held in Tasmania on November 13th, 2004

Official results of Quiksilver Airshow World Series in Perth WA.

1st Josh Kerr $10,000 - 25.3 points out of 30.
2nd Wade Goodall $5,000 - 24.8 pts
3rd Asher Pacey $2,500 - 23.3 pts
4th Dion Agius $2,000 - 22.1 pts
5th Dave Neilson $1,500 - 16.8 pts
6th Dru Adler $1,000 - 11.6 pts

Previous reports:
Quiksilver Airshow relocated to Scarborough Beach WA

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Mark Rayner
Mark.rayner@qsilver.com.au

Airshows - Surfersvillage

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