Chances are he may not even remember the wave that he rode on the North Shore of O‘ahu in December, not in any sanctioned contest but just free surfing, that gave Maui’s Dusty Payne, 20, a $50,000 prize. Chances are
Chances are he may not even remember the wave that he rode on the North Shore of O‘ahu in December, not in any sanctioned contest but just free surfing, that gave Maui’s Dusty Payne, 20, a $50,000 prize.
Chances are even better that he doesn’t remember much of what happened on the night he received notice that he had won the Kustom Airstrike top prize for the best wave of 2008, when he was also awarded the first 10 percent of that prize.
No telling what he’s feeling today, the day after the remaining $45,000 was scheduled to appear in one of his bank accounts.
Still, Payne is lucidly clear when talking about what he’ll do with the unexpected prize money for coming up with the best ride after an eight-month, global search for the best single aerial surfing maneuver.
He’ll use it for a downpayment on an apartment in Western Australia, making good on a deal he struck with fellow competitor and fellow finalist Jay Davies, to look into buying an apartment there if either of them should win the prize.
Payne won the world’s richest single-maneuver surfing competition: the Kustom Airstrike, for executing an impressive, frontside full rotation air 360, according to a Kustom Airstrike press release.
Regarded as a leader of the next generation of futuristic surf stars, Payne edged out entries from fellow Hawaiian Clay Marzo, Queensland surfer Mitchell Coleborn, and the West Australian duo of Jay Davies and Ry Craike.
The aim of the competition is to produce surfing so innovative that it forever changes the face of the sport, outside of the normal World Championship Tour schedule.
The Kustom Airstrike was presented by Kustom Shoes, a brand owned by GSM, who also own Billabong.
The Kustom Airstrike judging panel was headed by current world #1 pro surfer Joel Parkinson (Australia) and included emerging US surfer Kolohe Andino and Surfing magazine’s Travis Ferre, both representing the USA; Kustom’s Harry Truscott and Stab magazine’s Sam McIntosh, representing the Australasian region; and Kustom’s Julian Vergnes and Bruce Boal from Surfersvillage and The Surfing Yearbook representing Europe.
Check out all of the entries, including Payne’s winning entry, on the official event website, www.kustomairstrike.com.
