Koby Abberton, moving on : photo courtesy ABC

Past propels Abberton to new surfing limits

Every time Koby Abberton steps into the water he is pushing new frontiers.

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 4 November, 2005 : - - His fearlessness is well documented, with his big wave rides appearing on more surfing magazine covers than any other Australian surfer in the past decade. "The level of surfing we're at now is just, surfing the new frontier, you know, in front of the rocks, on the driest reefs, with no water on the reefs. The most dangerous waves," he said.

"And that's why we're the new frontier, all these dangerous waves are now being discovered as the best waves."

At just 26, his rise to the top of international big wave surfing competition has been extraordinary. It takes most until their mid-30s to muster the kind of courage to surf "waves that aren't supposed to be surfed". But Abberton is fuelled by a desire to escape the poverty and petty crime of his childhood.

Raised in the backstreets of the southern Sydney suburb of Maroubra with an absent father, an addict mother, and on a diet of breakfast cereal, Abberton sought solace in the surf and refuge at his grandmother's house. He channelled his anger and resentment into mastering his sport.

Without a connection to his parents, Abberton and his three brothers banded with the close-knit and somewhat infamous surfing fraternity in Maroubra, the Bra Boys. His 'my brother's keeper' tattoo serving as more than just a biblical reference; it's a badge that connects him to the brotherhood.

Ironically, the tribal instinct to be his brother's keeper could be Abberton's undoing.

In 2003, Abberton became entangled in a court case following the shooting death of standover man Anthony Hines. His older brother Jai was charged with murdering Hines and dumping his body over cliffs at Maroubra. But in May this year, a jury found Jai Abberton not guilty on the grounds of self defence. Although in no way implicated in the murder, Koby was charged with hindering a police investigation after he admitted to giving a false police statement.

"Some of my statement was false," he said. "I said that I never seen Jai that night [of Hines' death], but I said that because I just wanted to keep myself away from Jai." While he awaits the verdict of a judge in the New South Wales District Court on November 24, Abberton has resolved to make good. "This should have been the best years of my life with the amount of good surf that I've had, but it's been the worst two years of my life," he said.

"When this is over I am not going to be in this situation ever again, I am not going to put myself in this position again that's for sure. I am not going to be in trouble again." The possibility of a conviction could have extraordinary consequences for everything Abberton has worked for. "It's in my contract that if I get any conviction for anything, I lose everything.

"Everything is at stake, because I brang (sic) myself out of such a hard situation when I was a kid. I thought I might go back to it, even worse I'd go to jail. I'd lose my sponsorship, my grandma, I would lose the house, my little brother would be stuck with nothing, you know, we'd just lose everything," he said.

In and out of court since 2003 with these charges hanging over him, Abberton has once again channelled his frustrations back into surfing. "It makes me more fearless in a way that I have to come home to court and I really don't want to come home to court, so I kinda start thinking to myself who cares if I don't come home," he said.

"It's a bad way to think, but it takes me to the next level of madness in the water." So much so that in the next year he has plans to ride the biggest wave in the world. The biggest wave on record this year was a 68-foot monster, but Abberton is happy to go bigger and push through that next frontier.

"I don't care how big it is, if it's 168 foot, that'd just make me happier."

-Koby Abberton's story, Sons of Beaches, will screen on ABC TV's Australian Story on Monday November 7 at 8pm.

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Source: Jessica Daly ABC.Net

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