Josh Kerr Committing To The Twin
In two weeks the first Challenger Series event will begin in Newcastle, and Josh Kerr will join daughter Sierra on the five-stop tour.
It seems only a matter of time till Sierra breaks through to the CT, and considering the recent form of CT-retirees, no-one would be surprised if Josh made it back there too.
Since retiring from top-level competition at the end of 2017, Kerr has become a twin fin disciple. It's not an unexpected turn. Many freshly-retired surfers say they felt hidebound by a surfing criteria that corralled them onto Thrusters. Once off tour and free to ride different equipment, they blossom in ways the tour wouldn't allow.
Mikey February is the most recent example of that phenomenon.
While the conformity is understandable, it's been a long-held hope of mine that someone would force the issue and begin riding something other than a 6'0" rounded-square Thruster in competition. Perhaps they could serve up something different, force the judges to look at surfing a different way, and set themselves apart in the process.
Noting that Kelly has ridden Akila Aipa and Mike Woo twins when the surf was small, yet hoping the behaviour would become more common.
Well, Josh Kerr is making a start on that.
Twin versatility: Josh charging over the lip and under it (Draft Surf)
In Newcastle and at all other stops on the Challenger Series he'll be riding twin fins. "I'm planning on riding twinnys mainly through the Challenger Series," Josh told Swellnet.
He won't be riding them exclusively, adding that, "there might be the rare time I jump on a quad for certain conditions."
No Thrusters, though.
He's unfazed by the chance of sub-par surf, times when a Thruster might seem a better choice. "It should be pretty fun," says Josh, "especially if we get some good waves along the way."
Comments
Has there ever been a dad daughter combo on the CT ? Gotta be a first surely
If it happens sorry
A Twinzer for Certain Conditions.... ?
Slight drift, but has anyone tried or seen Draft boards in the wild?
And good on him. Will be interesting to follow.
A serendipitous location for the return of the twinny to contest surfing!
Classic. I didn't even think about that.
And if Kerrsy can emulate Julian's performance and make it to the final...he could don the classic MR front zip vest and a pair of Quicksilver micro boardies, scalloped sided and just tight enough to guess his religious leanings.
Surely the sight of such a homage to unabashed Novacastrian masculinity would silence any Brazilian horde on the beach
Champagne.
Ahem..magic undies?
I would’ve thought in marginal conditions that the twin will
Give a really good point of difference to the standard thrussy
If the judges high scores are based on two critical turns & spray in sloppy waves, the squashtail thruster gives stability.
Good luck with the waves Josh.
Experienced surfers can ride a plank .... in perfect waves.
Hawaiians surfed a wood plank, with no fins for a 1000 yrs.... scored great waves..... before the 'missionaries' dropped in on them.
In a bunch of other sports, the equipment used is regulated & bound by certain criteria, think tennis racquets, cricket bats or even F1 cars which are very strict. Surfing doesn't have these rules, it will be interesting to see if the judges pay Kerzy riding a twinny which is outside the bounds of what pros ride in competition. I hope they do, his surfing is freer & looser since he last wore a comp rashie.
TBH, I think we'll see the limitations of the twin fin as a high performance tool pretty quickly.
No way you can carve back into the pocket or bowl as hard on a twinny- there's just too much rotational force on the hull to hold the tail in.
That third fin anchors a turn in ways a twin just cannot.
He might end up going to quads quicker than he thought.
I cant see it either - twins look fun in great waves, but am not sure the performance level will be there in onshore beachies compared to the mob.
The scoring isnt based on who looks like they're having the most fun.
(Mason Ho would win every comp)
Yeah I think so too, I think he talked about wishing he rode a quad in his losing heat at Nias last year, either way it will be fun to watch.
Early eighties I had a trailer fin on my twin. A noticeable change to the normal twin, took away a bit of the skatey & tracky feel. The pivot of the trailer didn't take over the feel of riding a twin. I'm amazed they're still not a thing?
I pretty much only ride quads, i like the theory of the little nubster centre fin, but when ive tried it, it just feels like im losing quad speed without any other benefit.
Both my twinnies have that set up with small modern keel type fins. Love them. I don't surf shitty on shore done enough of that in my life. I haven't seen any one rip on the back hand mind you, you have to nurse them a bit more (anyone got vids of Kerr on his backhand at somewhere serious like Cloudy?).
Maybe you’ve been living under a rock, but Twins+trailers are a massive thing all over the world. MR’s Super Twin is designed to be ridden this way and he’s sold thousands of them over the past 30 years, from Japan to France and Newcastle to San Diego.
But they Are.
As a twin fin and alternative shape enjoyer, this pleases me greatly and I hope he wins.