Josh Kerr, beer in hand
In 2007, surfer Josh Kerr was competing on the against the top names in the surfing world: Kelly Slater, Mick Fanning, Joel Parkinson, and 41 other hungry surfers. He didn鈥檛 enjoy that first year and dropped off the tour to pursue surfing his own way. Now he freesurfs, takes photos and works on his movie , due out in January. And, yes, he also surfs the occasional contest. The approach seems to have worked out for him: he won the earlier this year and just won the . I caught a shivering Kerr on the beach after his win.
You鈥檝e been on a roll since beating previous winner Peter Devries this morning.
I knew I had a tough heat this morning. It gives you a lot of confidence when you take down one of the big guns for the competition and just kept the momentum going.
What do you think of the whole event?
It鈥檚 a great event. The community is all behind it. This morning against Pete was awesome. Nine this morning there was 300 people on the beach, everyone clapping and hooting. It was a really good one.
What distinguishes this contest from others you鈥檝e done?
Just look around. I鈥檝e never been anywhere like this, where you where gloves and boots in summertime to go surfing. It鈥檚 definitely a trip. The only thing I could compare it to is like going to Mammoth except you鈥檙e in the ocean surfing, not snowboarding. The town is awesome and the people are really happy. I鈥檓 definitely coming back.
What was it like out in the water?
I was nervous cold and tired. Cramping up on the paddle out going, 鈥淚鈥檓 not going to let these cramps get to me鈥. Four heats in a day, I can鈥檛 believe my body held up to it all.
Are you pushing hard for the World Tour next year?
Not really. If I鈥檇 have done some more comps I already would鈥檝e been on the 鈥楥T right now. My whole focus was going to free surf more than anything. It just kind of panned out, especially after winning earlier in the year. I鈥檝e been doing good in every contest I do.
Are you taking a laid-back approach to surfing comps?
Bottom line is I know I鈥檓 not a world title contender. I just want to be a good freesurfer and get people stoked. That鈥檚 my whole goal in life, to get the grommets all stoked and get 鈥榚m psyched to go for a surf.
Did you do anything beside surf while you were here?
We went to see the bears, but all we saw were salmon trying to get up the stream. It was pretty funny, though.
What are you going to do with all this money?
I don鈥檛 know. . .drink it away.
Big party tonight?
Yeah, stoked. It鈥檚 awesome and hopefully everyone will be partying with me, eh?
Yeah, you should go get something warm in the belly.
For sure, I need to get out of here right now, I鈥檓 freezing.
–Will Taylor