Surfer: Jacob Turner Photo: Josh Tabone This striking image earned Josh Tabone the prestigious award for Surfing Australia’s 2025, Surf Photo of the Year. Josh has been submitting beguiling imagery to surf and bodyboard publications over the past two decades. He has also been a finalist in the Surfing Australia competition before, but it was a solo run to Tahiti that finally sealed him the prize. “I stayed with a local family close to the point. It was all really last minute,” explains Josh, who grew gills during the trip. “I was in the water for about eight hours each day – three days in a row – just ducking back to the boat to change batteries/memory cards and have a snack. My feet and ankles were covered in ulcers by the end of the swell. It wasn’t pretty.” On tow days at Teahupoo there is often a few, brazen opportunists looking for the left-over lumps that can be paddled. Enter Jacob Turner into the fray; an 18-year-old from Kauai with a rep for heavy wave lunacy and a dizzying air-game. “He was out there paddling on those monsters that would slip through the cracks,” explains Josh. “Jacob was a standout from the swell, swinging on some of the wildest west bowls, trying to get as deep as possible. I hadn’t met Jacob until this trip, but when I showed him this image, later on this day, you couldn’t wipe the smile off his face with a cricket bat, haha.” The same could be said for Josh when he stood up on stage at the 2025, Surfing Australia Awards to receive his prize for Surf Photo of the Year.   Surfer: Steven Sleep, aka Tubz Photo: Andrew Shields When the swell is up and the wind from the west, Gold Coast Pros and rogue chargers will turn their attention to a coiling right, which spins enticingly between two well-known islands. The wave breaks a few hundred metres offshore and is exposed to volatile currents. A few determined souls have tried to paddle it, but a Jet Ski step-off is the preferred means of entry. If you line one up right, a throaty barrel with raw ocean energy is often the reward. The surfer enjoying the hollow vision on this occasion is underground Byron Bay charger Steven Sleep aka Tubz. Curiously, Tubz’s tow partner for this round-room performance was Parkway Drive guitarist, … Read more