North shore local Flynn Novak has been anounced as the winner of this year's Kustom Airstrike $50,000. Novak submitted 3 different clips of him landing his patented "Flynnstone Flip", which is basically a frontside double-grab backflip. The contenders included several clips by Josh Kerr, Chippa Wilson, Mitch Coleborn, and others. The win could not have come at a better time for Novak, as he had just been disqualified from Taylor Steele's Innersection contest under suspicious circumstances, and without a major sponsor, has been funding his career by himself. When Novak got the call from last year's winner, Dusty Payne, he was more than happy.

"Pretty much the best thing that's happened in my career. F-ing psyched right now!"

Well done Flynn!



Untitled from Kustom Airstrike on Vimeo.

With tomorrow being the August 31st deadline for the contest period, Kustom put together this little video with the top 9 contenders for this year's prize. Last year it was Dusty Payne winning the 50 geees after much debate about the numerous mind-blowing entries, and this year it looks like the judges will have some debating to do as well. The technical brilliance of Chippa's big spin, the innovation of Novak's backflip, or the sheer amplitude of Kerr, Mitch, Craike and Carlson.. Or maybe someone has another clip in the bag that they are sending in just before the wire...This one should be interesting... The winner gets announced in the first 2 weeks of September.



KUSTOM'S TOP 9 AIRSTRIKE ENTRIES from Kustom Airstrike on Vimeo.

Oh and heres another backflip that Flynn Novak just landed in Bali....



Flynn Novak from Kustom Airstrike on Vimeo.

Last year, it ended with a full rotation, a jacket draped in $100 bills, a check for $50,000 and a smiling Dusty Payne. One of the most unique and progressive events in surfing, Kustom's Airstrike's beauty lies in its simplicity: $50,000 for one crazy air. Simple enough, yet oh so enticing. This year, recession be damned, Kustom is continuing in its tradition and is once again offering up a cool 50K.

So there's some good news and bad news. The good news is that anyone, even you, can enter if you can get lofty and have a friend film you. The bad news is that to win, you've got to be good...damn good. Judging by the entries submitted last year, to win, you're gonna need to be legit. But who knows, anything's possible, right?

"Kustom's mission with the Air Strike is simple. We want to produce surfing so inspired and revolutionary that it breaks all the rules, forever changing the face of surfing as we know it," said the event's director, Harry Truscott.

Ready to get lofty? We thought so. But before you go punting, give the rules below a quick read:

"In 2008 Kustom put a stake in the ground, letting the global surfing community know what we were all about. In short, our mission was, and still is, to produce surfing so inspired and revolutionary that it changes the face of surfing as we know it. The Kustom Air Strike is the worlds richest aerial surfing event, putting up a USD$50, 000 incentive for one crazy air. It's been won in the past by such innovators as Dion Agius, Julian Wilson and Dusty Payne and It's On Again in 2010. The online shootout begins at kustomairstrike.com on 01.01.2010 and runs until end of August 2010. Clips will be posted as we receive them, so jump on and cast your votes. The top rated clips will be judged by a panel of 5 judges, and fifty gees will be rained on the surfer that produces the craziest air. It's our green, but with one special approach on a wave, it wont be for long."