This Is Why We Do It — Stab High Japan x Monster Energy 2025, Dissected

Watch finals day of Stab High Japan 2025 here.

All photo by Nate Lawrence.

Had a bad night last night.

Found myself drunk and alone, watching my ex-girlfriend’s Instagram stories. I woke this morning marinating in gloom, pity, and self-inflicted defeat.

Such is life, though, I guess.

One minute, you’re on top of the world—basking in freedom, brimming with hope, ready to slay anything in your path.

The next minute, you’re… well, here.

Surfing is something of a microcosm of that emotional rollercoaster, as some of our Stab High competitors experienced today. Some danced a sweet hot jazz; others struggled just to ride out of a ramp.

Still, are there really any losers in what looks like one of the most fun events in surfing?

TL;DR

• Hughie Vaughan doesn’t wait for judges to decide—takes out Stab High with a huge victory lap.
  
• Mikey Wright wins Monster Air, spear-tackles Hughie Vaughan into the pool.
  
• Loci Cullen and Arthur Vilar go back-to-back in the Bottle Rockets; Loci takes the cake.
  
• Sierra Kerr dominates.
  
• Danny from the booth brings a rare voice of reason.
  

Men’s Semifinals

“You could’ve walked into the Shizunami PerfectSwell sauna this morning and got drunk,” Stace Galbraith told us. Liquid aloha oozing from the pores of some competitors. You could almost feel the fog in the airwaves this morning.

Coco Ho gave us a great euphemism: most competitors were looking to leave a little gas in the tank for the final. But first, they had to start the engine.

Cam Richards did exactly what his dad told him not to, going three from three—his highest-scoring air a frontside stale grab full-rote for 40 points. Albee trumped his consistency with a tail grab full-rote for 46 to take first place.

In Heat Two, Hughie Vaughan showed no signs of the e-bike he apparently fell off last night—riding clean out of a huge corked Indy for a round-high 47 points.

Meanwhile, Julian Wilson went full comp-mode—not quite storming the judges’ tower, but still making his presence felt as he asked what he needed to do to improve.

“You’re Julian fucking Wilson. The pro of all pros,” one of the judges was heard telling him.

He didn’t apply that feedback immediately, but still found his way into the final with a 39-point backside slob reverse.

Rasta Robb went huge but fell uncharacteristically—making only one of his six attempts. Mikey Wright came close to pulling an air that defied the laws of physics. Would’ve had Isaac Newton turning in his grave. Still, neither of them progressed, with no one riding out of any of the final 18 air attempts. The wind was no good into the rights. 

Ladybirds

Patti “The Baddie” Zhou put her year on the snow slopes to good use, making two of her first three airs.

But it wasn’t enough to get past a rampaging Eden Walla, who pulled a clean backside air reverse—an air Stace Galbraith said “woke up a coupla busted lids from the Quiksilver fraternity.”

Eden later said it was the biggest air she had ever pulled, the pressure cooker of a wave pool contest pushing her to some of her best aerial surfing.

It also earned her a cool $5K USD and a spot in the women’s final.

Women’s Final

I was surprised to see only four surfers in the one and only women’s heat at Stab High. The men’s field was stacked with 36 surfers. Was this really surfing moving toward equality?

Even those four spots weren’t easy to fill, Mikey C told me. This was a new division—a progression of last year’s grown-up Ladybirds—and almost all of the best female aerial surfers are already on the CT before they can legally drink a cold tin.

“The short of it is, there just really aren’t that many women in the world doing airs. The best women make the tour around 17 or 18—and then we don’t have access to them to compete in stuff like this. So we’re extremely lucky to have a group like Sierra, Sky and Milla Coco that aren’t locked into the Woz world as of yet.”

Sierra Kerr proved just how much she’s doing to progress the sport, landing back-to-back backside air reverses—for 45 and 48 points. Coco Ho said she was the sole reason she chose not to compete.

Today makes Sierra a 3x Stab High champ, for anyone counting. 

Bottle Rockets

Arthur Villar and Loci Cullen pushed each other higher and higher. Arthur stomped a huge full-rote, which Loci topped with a massive stalefish full-rote into the flats—huge pop and a clean landing. Stace said it would’ve won the men’s heat.

Harry made another classic cameo, lungs raspy from karaoke the night before. He said he’d been hanging with the mayor of Shizunami, comparing the Bottle Rockets to the men’s division:

“They’re like stubbies and longnecks. They’re like 40kg wringing wet—so light on their feet. They just get so much pop and go so high. And yeah, I think one of them could take out the men’s division for sure.”

Men’s Final

Loci seemed determined to fulfill Haz’s beer-glazed prophecy, nearly stomping a huge air on the first wave of the final. The others backed it up—but it seemed like everyone was going too big.

Most looked a little confused, as if their entire arsenals were exhausted. They scrambled for something new to pull out.

Cam Richards took an early lead with a double-grab reverse passion pop that could’ve been the winning wave—if it weren’t for Lee Wilson dropping a six. The South Carolinian was the only one to make a wave on the downwind rights, and stacked his old man’s arsenal with an extra $20K of prize money — for the time being.

Everyone but JW went back-to-back on the first wave of the lefts. Hughie set the standard with a huge Indy rev for 41 points. Albee—one of the few who can match Dooma’s massive frame—spun his stub-nosed wakeboard on a tail-grab rev, just under Cam’s score at 38.

On the final wave, it came down to Hughie and Cam. Cam stomped a massive frontside stalefish. The judges held off scoring until Hughie had surfed—but it didn’t matter. Hughie launched a comp-winning backside Indy on his victory lap. Forty-four points and a Stab High win for the 18-year-old.

His Quiksilver stablemate Mikey Wright helped him celebrate by spear-tackling him into the pool—grazing all the skin off his knuckles. Mikey would later go on to win the Monster Air Award and the $10k that follows — benefits of his corked lien rotation yesterday. 

Meanwhile Haz, in typical Haz fashion, poured a beer over Hughie’s head.

“He’s been to a few grom comps before. He knows the drill,” Stace said.

While Hughie may have won Stab High, Mikey reckons he’ll lose the hangover contest.

“I’ve got a few more years of preparation than him. So yeah. He’ll definitely be feeling it.”

Come-Ups

• Peak performance: Sierra Kerr stomping back-to-back backside reverses to take out the women’s division.
  
• Hit replay: Arthur Villar and Loci Cullen pushing each other into the stratosphere in the Bottle Rockets final.
  
• Monster maneuver: Loci Cullen’s 48-point air. Would’ve won the men’s comp, probably.
  
• Quote of the day: “That’s what happens when your mentor’s a bogan.” —Dooma
  

Let-Downs

• Caught behind: Julian Wilson, failing to capitalize on his Burleigh momentum in the final.
• Blind mice: Cam Richards called out the other surfers in the final, saying they were being rewarded for tricks they’d already pulled. Questionable?
• Say what?: “She’s got style—just like every single Japanese surfer who was born onto a surfboard.” —Stace Galbraith

Results

Men’s final ($20,000)
1. Hughie Vaughan (44)
2. Can Richards (40)
3. Albee Layer (38)
4. Loci Cullen (31)
5. Julian Wilson (0)

Women’s final ($5,000)
1. Sierra Kerr (48)
2. Sky Brown (41)
3. Milla Coco Brown / Eden Walla / Nanaho Tsuzuki (0)

Bottle Rockets final ($5,000)
1. Loci Cullen (48)
2. Arthur Villar (42)
3. Yosuke Iha (41)
4. Ryji Masuda (0)

Ladybirds final ($5,000)
1. Eden Walla (42)
2. Leihani Zoric (37)
3. Mali Adam (33)
4. Patti Zhou (27)

Monster Air ($10,000)
Mikey Wright’s inverted lien from Day 1 (49)

Special thanks to our Stab High Japan 2025 Presented By Monster Energy sponsors: Monster, Sun Bum, YETI, Skullcandy, Kona Big Wave, Oakley, PerfectSwell, Xcel, and FU Wax.