Jay Quinn has won almost everything there is to win in New Zealand including two national open titles, the national longboard title and the NZ Under 18, U16 and U14 titles.
But the 27-year-old surfer from Wainui Beach, Gisborne has yet to crack it on the world stage with the same dominance.
Before he hit the road in 2010 Jay’s best international results were fifth in the Rip Curl Boardmasters at Newquay and ninth in the O’Neill contest in Scotland.
But that’s all about to change.
Jay has set his sights on earning a spot in the top 10 on the WQS and nothing is going to stop him.
“I want to prove to myself that I am a good competitor internationally.”
To achieve this goal he’s going to have to pull some good result on a regular basis in 2012.
Over the season Jay, alongside his kiwi travelling companions, will put the NZ winter behind him and tackle some WQS events in all around the world.
“The kiwi boys are going to bring it this year!”
“I’m most looking forward to the Azores Prime event, because it is a prime rating and I would like to do well and collect some well needed points.”
Jay claims to surf best in bigger open faced waves and the cold water destinations.
“I seem to get results wearing a wetsuit.”
He’s just started riding for Aloha and is taking six Aloha sticks for the trip.
Like the good kiwi boy he is, Jay’s also packed a rugby ball.
“It is gold when you are travelling and provides a good warm up where you can take your mind off things for a while.”
Jay’s plan is simple – to surf each heat like he would on any other day.
Here’s his philosophy:
“If you can surf to your potential you should make it quite far through the event.
“If you don’t make it far and you surfed as good as you think you could have, then you were beaten by a better surfer.”