Getting some air paid off big time for rising surfing star Hughie Vaughan, who beat a strong field in Japan to win $20,000 in a flight-based surfing competition.
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“If there’s anywhere I’m comfortable, it’s in the air”.
Those are the defiant words from teen Aussie surfing sensation, Hughie Vaughan, who over the weekend took out the Stab High Japan, a contest focused on flight with the board.
It’s what you do while in the air — not on the wave — that counts in the Stab High, and at Japan’s man-made wave pool, Shizunami Surf Stadium, Vaughan excelled.
Having picked up professional junior tournaments — as recently as earlier this month in Newcastle — this international victory picked Vaughan $20k in prize money.
But, the victory didn’t come easy, Vaughan saying it “was going doing to the wire”.
“I wanted to really lay it for the last wave (and) I’d been having some luck with the backside indys, so I went for it,” he told The Daily Telegraph.
“As soon as I saw the crowd react, I felt like I’d done enough. Then Mikey (Wright) came and tackled me into the water. It was all pretty surreal to be honest.”
Vaughan knew the finish wasn’t going to be easy, but backed himself to prevail despite the pressure.
“If there’s anywhere, I’m comfortable, it’s in the air,” he said.
As for what’s in store for the future, Vaughan is determined to pick up a “few more pro junior comps” in the next few months, before looking at cracking the World Tour.
What he’ll need to avoid though are the “niggling injuries” which have set him back “at certain points” of his short, but successful career.
“Having been able to string a few comps together this month and show off what I’ve been working on has been unreal,” he said.
“(It’s) all I could ask for.”
STORY BY – AYMON BERTAH