Aerial surfing is coming to Sydney, and Hughie Vaughan will be in full flight

The World Surf League’s cooler, younger sibling is coming to Sydney, and all eyes will be on an 18-year-old local who pulled off the “best aerial ever done” earlier this year.

Stab High, a surf contest “focused on flight”, will take place at Sydney’s Urbnsurf park in October.

While traditional surf competitions, like those contested by the pros in the World Surf League, focus on perfect technique, Stab High is all about landing one “explosive aerial manoeuvre”.

Hughie Vaughan did just that at an event in Waco, Texas, in June, performing a trick that drew the praise of legends of surfing – and skateboarding – alike.

Hailing from the Central Coast, Vaughan comes from a family of surfers (his brother Joel competes in the WSL). The trick he performed, the “stale fish backflip” – using one hand to hold his board in place as he backflipped through the air, landing perfectly on top of the wave – originated in skating. Vaughan’s attempt may be the first time it has been pulled off on a surfboard.

A video of the trick posted by surf photographer Rob Henson – captioned the “BEST AIR ever done” – went viral, racking up more than 7000 likes.

“Wowsers” was former Australian world champion Mick Fanning’s reaction.

“Had to watch it 50 times just to figure out what happened. Amazing,” Fanning commented on Instagram.

Every high-profile surfer and their dog weighed in, from Brazilian Olympic gold medallist and former world champion Italo Ferreira to US Championship tour surfer Jesse Mendes, who described it as the “best air ever done”.

Other fans included legendary skater Tony Hawk, who shared the video to his 9.6 million followers. DJ Diplo asked if the footage was AI.

Speaking at Urbnsurf ahead of the competition, Vaughan said the attention had been “crazy”.

“I felt thrilled because in the moment, I didn’t really know how good it was … I thought it was a normal air … so it definitely surprised me.”

Also competing at Stab High is 17-year-old Milla Brown, who grew up on Sydney’s northern beaches surfing with her sisters.

But like Vaughan, skating was her first love, which is why Brown enjoys the pool competition’s consistent waves.

“It’s almost like a skate ramp because you get the exact same section every time,” said Brown, who has already featured in highlight reels from Stab, the surf magazine which runs the competition.

“You have the freedom to be able to do tricks that a lot of people do in skating … that are really hard to do in the ocean.”

Vaughan agrees: “There’s just so many different people out there … and they’re not competitive at all, all they want to do is see good surfing and good airs.”

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