Joel Vaughan & Sierra Kerr Just Beat The World Champs At Stab High Sydney
Loci Cullen and Skai Suitt win Bottle Rockets and Ladybirds, all presented by Monster Energy.
Ever been to Western Sydney before?
Nah, me neither. Would say it’s the first time too for almost all of today’s Stab High finalists. It’s not exactly a surfing destination, to understate things a little.
If you’re a surfer in Sydney — one of Australia’s, and possibly the world’s, most naturally beautiful, expensive, and appearance-based cities — you’re more likely to head to the Eastern Beaches.
Here, there’s a scene that Stab commenter ‘Jahma’ described a few months back as: “Bunch of gold-medallist Australian thoroughbred types doing full Tour de France sessions in the morning, paddling prone to Winkipop and back, smashing flat whites while overlooking a hyper-protected two-foot beachy in the arvo, then having rampant sex with female gold medal lookalikes until 5am.”
Very apt.
Out here, it’s a different world. There’s no beach, for a start. TNs and Nike fit caps classify as formalwear, and it’s all pomegranate and cherry-flavoured vapes, Bundy rum and Winfield Reds, and old mate whipping doughies in a HSV Clubsport at 3am in the Westfield carpark.
Still, surfing — and more specifically, this wave pool (same place an American fella was busted trying to buy a quarter-tonne of meth a few months back) — is a strange kind of bridge between the two. Monster Energy, a fitting sponsor for today’s sold-out final, I guess.
TL;DR
– Zeke tries to acid drop over Yago’s head, only for the world champ to respond with the biggest punt of the comp — aka the Monster Air — and wins $10k.
– Skai Suitt boosts an AI tribute straighty, wins her first Ladybirds title.
– Loci Cullen proves untouchable, becomes your first back-to-back Bottle Rockets winner.
– Sierra Kerr goes full clutch, wins second consecutive women’s on her final wave.
– Men go skitz in the final, Joel Vaughan stomping a backflip on his last wave to take the win.
FCS Mystery Challenge
Three surfers, two waves, one advances. The conceit here was the mystery surfboards they were forced to ride — two from Stab in the Dark (Kolohe and Mick), one from EAST (Mason Ho). Against Lennix Smith and Makana Franzmann, local Grayson Hinrichs was the only one to land an air, stomping two to secure his spot in the semis.
Men’s Semis
Skate phenom Ryji Masuda stomped an acid-drop-to-lien air on his first wave yesterday. After setting the bar, he tried the acid drop on every attempt today, succeeding only in stomping his board into two pieces. Dooma dwarfed the event’s smallest surfer post-heat, leaving him looking like a micro anime cartoon character.
Zeke expressed his gratitude in his grating tone, saying how stoked he was to be alive, let alone here in Sydney at the Stab High finals after his dad died and he went off the rails, only to find his way again through surfing. He came close to stomping a highly technical double-grab finger flip — an air Vaughan Blakey said villain judge Lee Wilson would have picked a booger and wiped it on.
Shaun Manners found himself with a bit of a head start — the guy’s sponsored by half the judging booth. But there was no favouritism today. The judges knew they weren’t just flipping up paddles with numbers on them; guys’ livelihoods depended on this, and this “Olympics of aerial surfing, only punker,” as Lee Wilson called it, can make or break careers.
After Joel Vaughan fulfilled Zeke’s dare to try an acid drop, Zeke found himself forced to try and acid drop over Yago Dora — on the world champ’s turn. Still, the guy is a world champ for a reason. Nothing could disrupt his laser focus. Yago glided straight past the floundering Zeke and went so high time seemed to stop — launching a huge straight air that he eventually spun back around to a reverse.
Rasta inserted himself into the chat, stomping a full-rote that cleared the entire section and landing like a Chinese diver — not a splash.
Meanwhile, Hughie Vaughan brought his own rent-a-crowd, buying $600 worth of tickets for the North Shelley Boardriders, some of whom appeared poolside with placards. Still, he couldn’t land his trademark lean flip to take his brother’s place in the final.
Ladybirds
While the Ladybirds couldn’t match the men in make rates yesterday, they more than made up for today. Four out of five airs stomped on the rights, all of them going mid to high 30s.
With the Land of the Rising Sun spray on the bottom of her board, Skai Suitt looked very AI-esque as she stomped a huge straight air for a 42, then backed it up with two more makes to assert her dominance.
Skai “couldn’t breathe” watching Zoey Kaina take off on her last wave. The goofyfoot nearly stomped an air reverse that would have turned the final, but gravity declined her request, and Skai is now a Ladybirds champ.
Bottle Rockets
The wind ruffled up a little for the final of the Bottle Rockets, carrying with it faint whiffs of petrol fumes and Bunnings snags over in Parramatta.
Jaggar Phillips came out strong and set the bar with a big stocky rotation, while we saw Tommy Carroll poolside, looking every bit the wizened Bottle Rocket beside the big man Dooma. Even the featherweight Hughie Vaughan towered over him as Tommy talked about the amount of energy in the crowd and the spontaneity of surfing.
Still, Loci never really looked like losing the whole event. Kid is untouchable — boosting airs that would’ve competed in the men’s event. A huge backside stalefish rote put the result beyond doubt — an air that Craig Ando threw a 10 at. With Sydney school holidays ending next week, the back-to-back champ will have plenty to brag about at school.
What is the kid — Year 9?
Women’s Final
Kinda strange that the women are outnumbered by the Ladybirds, but such is the progression of surfing. It’s bottom-heavy, and the only way it’ll keep going is up.
The women took a different approach to the other divisions too, with all of them gathering in the pool and waiting for waves together in a show of camaraderie.
Sierra got things going with a huge slob-air full-rote, which there was no way Lee Wilson was giving a one or a two.
Milla threw something real similar, which the judges gave a 34, then upscaled to match. “They’re the same,” Nate Fletcher said when the broadcast team put up a revealing side-by-side.
On her last right, Milla upped the level with a frontside full rote, giving her the outright lead heading into the left.
After a flurry of near-makes from Molly and co, Milla looked primed to take her first Stab High win. Then Sierra took off on her final wave and stomped a huge backside reverse for a Hollywood finish. The result was written all over Milla’s face even before the judges had given it the winning score.
That’s 2x Ladybirds and 2x Pro Women’s victories for Sierra Kerr in Stab High.
Men’s Final
Joel Vaughan was the first to make a wave in the second round of the men’s final. He was also, admittedly, the first to not make it to the section of the wave after flubbing an acid drop on his first attempt.
Zeke dropped the first major score, stomping a huge full-rote that made his three-quarter-length boardshorts look like a parachute.
You can’t envy being in the judges’ booth in the next five minutes. Joel Vaughan stomped a lofty backside stalefish full rote. Rasta Robb did the same but slightly lower and more corked. After great deliberation, the judges deemed them separate but equal.
Jump ahead to the right, Harley Walters lands a giant backside lien rotation and Rasta sticks a slob flip. The judges were in a scoring sudoku, and ended up leaving Rasta and Joel tied at the top of the leaderboard.
In the booth, TB couldn’t believe it — saying that what he thought were the two best airs (Harley and Rasta’s flip) came in under what Joel and Rasta were awarded the best score for. On the broadcast, Harley was visibly discombobulated but came out and equally massive air that said, “what else do you want?”
Joel Vaughan had nothing to lose and everything to gain on his final wave. He launched into a fully corked-out lien backflip — one Hughie had given him tips for — and stomped it to put the result beyond any question. After Zeke failed to land a finger flip on his final wave, Yago was the only one who could beat him.
Dooma got Joel on the mic, commentating in live action as he watched the future unfold before him. Yago fell on a double-rotation, and that was it.
Joel’s flip did the entire competition a favour — rising well above the clusterfuck and making very clear who was the Stab High champ.
Come-Ups
• Peak Performance: Joel Vaughan going out-of-body backflip to win on his final wave, Sierra Kerr doing the same.
• Hit Replay: Men’s final, with a crazy clusterfuck of airs trumped by a clear winner.
• Monster Maneuver: Yago Dora’s Monster Air winner.
• One-Liner: “I’ve done an acid drop to Japan, just not in the pool.” – Vaughan Blakey
Let-Downs
• Caught Behind: Ryji Masuda not giving up on the acid drop.
• Blind Mice: Judges trying to sort through the clusterfuck in the final — unenviable position.
• Say What?: “Why think anything?” – Jack Robbo on how to surf a heat.
