Is Joel Vaughan The Future Of Australian Surfing?
At 20 years old, the upcoming WSL World Junior Championships in Oceanside are Australia’s Joel Vaughan’s last chance to capture a much sought after junior world title. With designs on eventually stepping onto the Championship Tour, the young Shelly Beach local finds himself on an upward trajectory. Long considered a rising star in the highly competitive New South Wales surf scene, we caught up with Joel this week to talk World Junior Championships and what 2024 holds in store for him:
FanNation: How’s it going down there today?
Joel Vaughan: Good. I just got out of the water at Straddle (South Stradbroke Island). The waves were fun, not too big, but clean and fun. I’m staying on the Goldie right now and it’s been great to surf all around and do some training. I’ve been working with Surfing Australia a bit.
And you’ve got the World Juniors coming up in less than a month, how are you feeling?
Good, really good. I can’t wait. I’m on my way to work on some boards with Darren Handley at the DHD factory. The boards have been feeling great and we’re getting things really dialed. Working with him is great, there’s so much knowledge there and he’s a competitive guy.
How you feeling about Oceanside?
Really good. Like I said, I’ve been on the Goldie training, getting ready, getting by boards ready, so I’m feeling really good about that. I think the preparation is there. I’ll fly over a couple days before the comp, have a couple surfers and get after it.
You don’t want to get there earlier and adjust?
I’ve found that for me, if I get there a couple days early it’s enough to have a couple surfs and get used to the jet lag. I feel a little more fresh that way. Sometime when you’re somewhere too early and you’re surfing and surfing, you can kind of over think things. I’ve spent a lot of time in California the last couple years, so I’m not too worried about getting used to the waves.
Oceanside is about as user-friendly a beachbreak as you’re going to find.
Yeah, it’s fun. Lefts and rights with a lot of sections for turns and airs and stuff. I’m excited, this is my last change to win the Juniors before I age out. Hopefully it goes good.
How about coaching. Who have you been working with?
Jay “Bottle” Thompson has been helping. He’s great. I still talk to my dad a lot. He’s really honest with him and knows how to tell me what I need to hear without it being too harsh or anything like that. He knows my surfing better than anyone and always seems to have the right things to say.
You’ve got the full-on surf family, right?
Yeah, my younger brother Hughie and I push each other constantly. Then I’ve got too older brothers that surf and my dad surfs, so yeah, pretty full on.
And what about other plans for 2024, what are the goals?
I’ll be doing the Qualifying Series and hopefully get onto the Challenger Series. The goal is to get to the Championship Tour someday. I’d also like to do some traveling and see what’s out there. New Zealand and Ireland are on my list. I don’t necessarily like cold water, but the waves there and the way those places look, I’d love to go check them out.
Sky Brown, Erin Brooks, Sierra Kerr Headline 2023 WSL World Junior Championships
With more than 25 years of writing about surfing, the ocean and action sports, Jake Howard continues to share stories, profiles and issues that shape the surfing world. One of the premier subject-matter experts in the field today, he's savvy in the ways of print, digital and social media, his breadth of work is expansive. Getting his start writing Surfline surf reports and recording the phone reports for 976-SURF in the late '90s, Jake served as the managing editor for Surfer Magazine in the early 2000s before moving on to launch RedBullSurfing.com and cover surfing for ESPN and the X Games. Over the years, Jake has also enjoyed time behind the edit desk at The Surfer's Journal, as well as the World Surf League, where he worked as the Senior Editor for a number of years. Beyond producing editorial content, Jake has served as a digital marketer and copywriter for iconic surf brands such as Quiksilver, Roxy and Rip Curl. Writing thousands of pages of copy for Surfline, he has deep SEO experience as well. The surf columnist for the San Clemente Times, Jake continues to dedicate himself to the culture and history of the sport through his involvement with the Surfing Heritage and Culture Center in San Clemente.