The Quiksilver Ceremonial Big Wave Invitational went off in some very solid surf at Punta de Lobos this week. The country's most renowned lefthander on the outskirts of Pichilemu dished out some solid 15-foot surf for the occasion, which was attended by a healthy dose of the world's best big-wave stars, indluding Greg Long, Grant "Twiggy" Baker, Mark Healey and Jamie Sterling.


Yet it was local boy Cristian Merello used his home field advantage to take the win. And while we've certainly seen heavier waves for a big-wave surfing contest, the magnitude of Merello's win can't be measured given the emotional roller coaster he and his neighbors have been on in recent months. Not only is Pichilemu still crawling out of the dust of the huge Chilean earthquake that struck earlier this year, but Merello's mother is enduring some brutal treatments in an ongoing battle with cancer.

The impact of his victory on the surrounding community was palpable. "This is really, really special," said Merello. "We've all been through lot."

After taking down world champion Mick Fanning yesterday in come-from-behind fashion, Josh Kerr repeated the feat today against current world tour leader Taj Burrow and won the ASP Prime Drug Aware Pro at Margaret River in front of a healthy crowd.

Kerr unleashed a furious aerial assault in the closing moments of the final, one minute after he'd conceded to Burrow. With under five minutes to go Kerr was in a combo situation. "I thought it was well and truly over," he explained afterward. "I even said to Taj out in the water that he'd won and how amazing it was for him to win four events in a row!"

Shortly after he conceded, however, Kerr decided to put on a show when a wave came his way. "I said I'm going in on this wave and as I rode the wave I thought I'd try and put on a show for the crowd and pull a big air - I landed it, saw another section and landed again and all of a sudden I have a perfect 10 point ride and I'm in with a chance!"

"I grabbed another smaller one on the way back out, knew that on a smaller wave I'd have to again go big with an aerial and I landed again! - It all happened so fast that I'm still shocked - It's easily the biggest win of my career and I can't believe it."

Kerr ended up winning with 17.03 points, to Burrow's 16.5.

Taj was philosophical about the loss.

"Surfing against a guy like Josh Kerr you always know he's capable of massive scores but that was amazing...he deserves the win, those aerials he pulled were massive - there was nothing I could do to stop him today."

Burrow remains the number one rated surfer in the world and feels confident leading into his next major event at Bells Beach in just over a weeks time. "I feel great about my surfing, my boards are going well and I'm on good roll at present and I'm really looking forward to the next event - Hat's off to Kerr today, he surfed amazing!"

Kerr heads to Tasmania next week and the determined Queenslander is now positioned to again requalify for the elite ASP world tour.


Josh Kerr (above) took the high road to claim victory in Margaret River, winning the ASP Prime event. Meanwhile, Taj Burrow (below) kept his solid run going with another final's appearance on his home turf. Photos: ASP/Woolocott

The waves are bombing in West Oz, and so too are a few of the ASP's top seeds, as world champion Mick Fanning lost to Josh Kerr Friday afternoon in some solid conditions. It's the first time ever Kerr has beat Fanning in a man-on-man heat.

From the press release...

Trailing for most of the heat, Kerr found a late wave in the dying minutes after Fanning had taken a wipe out holding priority. Needing a 4.57 to progress to the quarter-finals, Kerr took off right and hit three nice moves, landing his final manoeuvre surrounded in foam. The big crowd at Surfer's Point were on edge as most thought it too close to call but the judges liked what they saw awarding him a 6.93 and sending Fanning out of the contest.

Earlier in the day, local favorite and current World Number 1 Taj Burrow charged through to the quarter finals, winning his Round of 16 heat by a wide margin over Spain's Aritz Aranburu. Burrow handled the huge conditions with ease riding seven waves in his heat for a combined score of 15.33. "It was great fun surfing big waves. I got some great waves and really opened up a couple of times on my backhand," said Burrow.

The large crowd at Surfers' Point cheered every wave and Burrow's sixth wave of the heat got the loudest response. Dropping into a very large left, Burrow nailed a big backhand sweep off the top on his way to scoring an 8.50 for that ride. After the heat Burrow was content, "Being relaxed is my only strategy and I am not concerned about the result. I am on the best roll in my career and I just want to keep doing what I am doing as it seems to be working."


Mick Fanning's last minute wipeout (above) cost him the heat victory. Meanwhile, local boy Taj Burrow (left) continued his roll.

Here's my first trailer for whoisJOB? Starting to edit soonish... Fall release. Hope you like it, hope it inspires you to surf.