Surf Sho Gives Bondi Beach A Boost

By Dan Hutton on March 15, 2011 in Sport

With the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast coming to a close on Wednesday last week, unlucky runner-up Taj Burrow and a whole troupe of his World Championship Tour hombres jumped on the first flight to Sydney to meet up with a bunch of non-WCT aerial surfing specialists for the Boost Mobile Surf Sho at Bondi Beach.

Now in it’s second year at Bondi, the Surf Sho is a chance for the Tour professionals to let their hair down a little and show off some of the moves that they generally reserve for free surfs and don’t often unleash when surfing for to stay alive on the oft-conservative World Tour.

While the waves didn’t really turn it on for the weekend of March 11 to 13, the weather was sensational, particularly on the final day when clear skies and temperatures nudging thirty degrees ensured that the sand was packed with excited spectators, many of them young girls hoping to catch a glimpse of Julian Wilson and Jordy Smith.

In contrast to a traditional surfing competition, the event followed a unique format in which a wheel was spun at the start of each heat, dictating which aerial tricks the surfers had to perform. Surfers received points out of ten for their best trick in each heat and the top six ranked surfers went into the final.

At the end of the event, it was Aussie WCT surfer Josh Kerr who took home the $25,000 in prize money, beating out Burrow, Smith, Wilson, Owen Wright, Chippa Wilson and World Junior champ Jack Freestone in the final.

When receiving his trophy on the Boost Mobile SurfSho podium, Kerr said: “I’ve had an awesome time down at Bondi these past few days. My film premiere last night and now this title along with $25k, it’s as good as a weekend gets. Great location, great crowd, great day!

On the competition he added: “I thought Jack Freestone had the title there for a while but I lucked out with that winning wave and in tough conditions did just enough to take the title. These young kids are coming up through the ranks and all gunning for you so it challenges me to keep things fresh and come up with new tricks. The win helps keep my name out there and is a real confidence boost for the rest of the year.”

You can check out some photos from the Boost Mobile Surf Sho final right here or jump on to the event website at www.boostsurfsho.com.au.

Final Placings:
1st – Josh Kerr
2nd – Jack Freestone
3rd – Julian Wilson
4th – Chippa Wilson
5th – Jordy Smith and Owen Wright