LOST TEAM was the strongest on STAB HIGH Day 1!
How do we decide who is best in the air?
STAB has been working on this question since 2018 and has come up with various answers over the years.
The approach for 2024 is as follows:
The World's Best Air List is divided into three categories:
– Professional (36 surfers)
– Ladybird (10 girls, 15 and under)
– Bottle Rocket (10 boys, 15 and under)
Day 1: Pro Qualifier (36 surfers)
– 6 heats of 6 with a "leaderboard format"*
– Each surfer does two right and two left
– Each surfer's best single air counts
– The top 10 surfers will advance directly to the semi-finals
* Leaderboard format: Surfers compete against the entire field, not just the surfers in their "heat."
Day 1: Pro Sudden Death Round (26 surfers)
- All previous scores of the remaining surfers will be erased
– Each surfer can ride one wave in any direction they wish
– The top two players from the sudden death round will advance to the semi-finals
– The bottom 24 players will be eliminated
Day 2: Semi-finals — Pro (12 surfers), Ladybirds (10 surfers), Bottle Rocket (10 surfers)
– Leaderboard format is also adopted
– Pro: 2 heats of 6 riders
– Ladybirds: 2 heats of 5
– Bottle Rocket: 2 heats of 5 people
– Each surfer can earn two rights and two lefts
– Each surfer's top single air counts
– The top four surfers advance to the finals
Day 2: Finals — Pro (4 surfers), Ladybirds (4 surfers), Bottle Rocket (4 surfers)
– Each surfer can earn 3 rights and 3 lefts
– Each surfer can earn one bonus wave in any direction they wish
– The scores in the top right and top left corners are added to the surfer's total score
– The surfer with the highest combined right and left score wins
Day 1 results
Mason is number one!
Here are the heats from day two.
