“There are actually some waves out there, as opposed to what we’ve had here in California for a little while now,” says Josh Kerr, just days before the Hurley Pro at Lower Trestles, the annual Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) competition that takes place each fall at San Onofre State Beach. After a month of flat surf in Southern California, there’s finally swell in the water. So Kerr and 35 other pro surfers are back in town competing through Wednesday, September 18, near the border of Orange and San Diego counties. Born on Australia’s Gold Coast, Kerr, a 29-year-old two-time airshow champion, is known for eye-catching flips and spins. And although current and perpetual ASP champion Kelly Slater won the event last year and has topped the leader board at Trestles six times, Kerr, who lives in Carlsbad, is a top contender.

But over the past month, Kerr has had to get creative to hone his skills. The waves in Southern California have been so flat that Kerr headed to Tasmania for five days, then got a wakeboard and drove to Lake Havasu with his wife Nikki and their two children. “It’s something I just took up,” says Kerr. “It’s a good way to pass the time with family and get them on the boat and surfing.” And, added the Tweed Heads native who was surfing by age 9, the warm lake water proved to be a welcome alternative to the cold Pacific Ocean.

Over the past year, Kerr has also been logging time off his board designing pants, shirts and briefs for VNDA, a new clothing line he’s launching in November. The idea took root out of necessity. Kerr couldn’t find the sort of separates he wanted to wear to lounge, sleep and travel. “No one was doing it right,” he says. So Kerr is sifting through fabric swatches and trying his hand at apparel production, marketing and fundraising for the new company. But he’s not wearing the samples this week in San Onofre, “we only have a couple of them and have to keep them clean for showing,” he says.

As the competition’s second day gets underway, Kerr expects smaller waves and softer conditions at Lower Trestles. “You can’t control what’s going to happen in your heat, you’re just going out there and surfing really well on two waves. That’s the way I look at it. You’ve got to be able to catch two,” he says. Anything can happen as the waves roll in and being able to adapt is critical—an ability Kerr demonstrates in the 2011 film, The Kerrazy Kronicles (see full film below). “Staying open in your approach is definitely key, that’s probably why Kelly [Slater] has done so well for so many years; he’s the best at doing that,” says Kerr. “For freestyle competitions you can’t go out there with one mindset.” The waves don’t shift and change much. “You know there will be waist-to-head-high waves. It’s almost predictable like a skate park or a wave pool.”

Though Kerr lives relatively close to Trestles, he finds the crowds in the water to be “pretty hectic” on most days and regularly paddles out in Oceanside, Carlsbad, and Encinitas. Still, he’ll have hometown support. “I live in a tight-knit community. A bunch of my neighbors will have a little fan base screaming right in front of the judges.”

The Hurley Pro also forces the field back into a competitive mindset as the 2013 ASP World Championship Tour picks up. “I’ve had a little break, next we have two contests back to back in Europe,” notes Kerr. “This week sets up how we finish the year.” The final leg of the tour, Pipeline on Oahu’s North Shore, happens to be Kerr’s favorite. “It’s a pretty intense battle.”

By Elizabeth Varnell

 

Pictured: Josh Kerr
Photo Courtesy of ASP International

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