Josh Kerr is an Australian professional surfer who competes on the World Surf League Championship Tour. He and his family also happen to live in nearby Carlsbad, and have been friends of Alliance and fans of wakesurfing for a long time. That interest got a big boost recently, when Josh became a member of Team Tige.

Tell us a little bit about the Kerr family. Who’s who? Josh Kerr: There are four of us: me and Nikki (parents), our son Colin (17) and daughter Sierra (10).

Growing up in Australia did you do much boating as a grommet? I did a little bit more on little fishing tinnies (aluminum boats) but sometimes we threw the rope out and Skurfed, too. We used Jet skis to whip into waves also.

I remember getting the phone call from you saying you were interested in getting a boat, who’s idea was it to add a boat to the family’s toy box? Nikki grew up boating with her dad and heading out to all the amazing lakes here in the States so we wanted our family to have similar memories.

Now that you live in California and are a member of team Tige, where do you mostly take the family and boat out for a surf? We head to the Carlsbad Lagoon quite a bit because it’s very close, but we do trips out to Lake Havasu, Lake Powell and Lake Tahoe, also.

Where has the family explored since you got your first Tige and is there somewhere you really want to take the family on a boating trip? The spots mentioned above and a few Texas lakes with the Tige crew, but we for sure want to go to Lake Powell more – it’s like the Holy Grail!

You travel the world solo most of the year surfing, what does it mean to be with your family on the boat together? A day on the boat together is always amazing; you can never have a bad one. It’s a great bonding experience and to enjoy it with close friends is always epic too!

How competitive is the Kerr family? Is there comradery or heckling coming from the boat?
We are very competitive but we’re also very supportive of everything that goes down (laughs)!

It’s apparent that wakesurfing is far different from actually surfing but there are definitely some similarities. What similarities do you see in wakesurfing? Do the Kerr’s use wakesurfing as a form of training for surfing? For me it’s great for keeping my “pop” with my surfing and getting a good leg workout. For Nikki and Colin it’s just good fun and for Sierra, as she’s little and can ride her regular surfboard, it does help her regular surfing technique, for sure.

Boards seem to be one thing that is overlooked in wakesurfing, especially at the beginning stages. What boards do you and your family use behind the boat and what do you feel makes a board work better on a boat wave? We ride a bit of everything from normal ocean “fish” surfboards to wakesurf-specific boards and wake skimboards. The main thing is I ride twin fin or twin with tiny stabilizer fins to reduce drag. Sierra rides her regular ocean boards.

Paint us the perfect boating trip with the Kerr family. Houseboat on Lake Powell, head out for a week with the full family and some friends a few boats and skis. Wakesurf in the morning, go exploring and fishing during the day. 

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