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1) Kelly destroys ASP winning 9th world championship.

Photo: Quicksilver

I’m not sure there’s anything that needs to said here. He blew away the field, winning 6 contests and 5 of the first 7 contests. It was never a contest, there was no race in points, it was just a matter of when he would close the deal, which he did in Mundaka, Spain. Unless the top 10 on the tour step up huge next year, there doesn’t look like anything is getting in the way of Kelly winning his 10th world title next year. Final ASP Rankings.

2) AI implodes on tour, takes 2009 off.

Photo: ASP/Cestari

Andy Irons put up a disappointing performance on WCT tour in 2008. He highest finish was 5th place. He failed to show up for his heat at the Quicksilver Pro France and skipped the Brazil contest leading to speculation about his troubles. Andy announced that he was taking 2009 off from the tour, and may be following the path of free surfer of his brother, Bruce Irons.While I respect any athletes decision to do what he pleases with his career, A.I. has shown to be the best competitor to Kelly Slater (no disrepect to Taj, Mick, Parko, Bede, and others in the top 10). When he’s on top form, he’s one of the most exciting surfers to watch on tour. So while a year free surfing the best barrels of the world will no doubt be the time of his life, he will be missed on the 2009 WCT tour and his absence removes one more hurdle to Kelly Slater clinching his 10th world title.

3) Kelly wins 6th pipeline masters (on 5’11” board).

Photo: Channel Islands Surfboards

Kelly looked unstoppable all year and the Pipeline Masters was no exception. He beat Chris Ward in the final heat while riding a 5’11” in 8-10 ft Pipeline. Adding a final flourish to his epic year. Well done, Kelly. Looking forward to see what you can do next year.

4) Year of the shark.

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Photo: Andrew Buckley

25 year old Australian, Kerby Brown, rode the wave of his life on this 40 ft. monster in Western Australia (Times UK), followed shortly afterwards by the beating of his life. In spite of the fact that the wave was dry reefing, Kerby survived the wave with only a torn shoulder muscle.

The 25-year-old surfed the enormous break at an offshore reef in the Southern Ocean “somewhere between Margaret River and South Australia” on the southwest coast of Western Australia (WA) last August. Seems like there’s been a lot more big wave searching and a lot more discoveries out in Western Australia. Funny how they keep the location of this macker a secret, I can’t imagine that 20 tow teams are going to show up for this beast on the next swell.

Kerby on the wipe-out and hold down (Australia’s Surfing Life) “I was lucky to get to where I got, I went straight over in the lip and did about 10 backflips and then pulled a muscle in my shoulder. It felt like I ripped my arm out of it’s socket, my leggie snapped and then I felt like I was the deepest I’d ever been (underwater). I took about 10 huge big strokes to get up and I was seriously struggling. I finally got to the surface and I was ready to pass out, luckily my brother was there on the ski.”

Not surprisingly, the wave is being submitted to the Oakley Australia Surfing Life Big Wave Awards. It’s being touted as the largest wave surfed in Australia this year. Photo credit: Andrew Buckley (profile on Club of the Waves). Slideshow below, click here for full-frame slideshow.

Vimeo Slideshow

Kerby Brown Big Wave Awards Entry from Australia's Surfing Life on Vimeo.