// Justin Healey

Justin Healey

- Logs & Quads -
Justin Healey’s on the up-and-up. He may not be the most heavily publicised surfer on the East coast, but a swathe of recent contest results have raised heads and focussed eyes his way. People are starting to take notice, and it’s little wonder. The Caloundra local scored a third in last year’s Noosa Festival Old Mal division, matching the result this year and raising the bar with a win in the Open Amateurs.
As if that wasn’t enough, the following week he headed over the New South Wales border to the Malfunction where he mustered a second and a fourth in the Old Mal and Open Ams respectively.
Whether on a performance quad or a pre-’67 log, Justin is a spectacular surfer to watch.
Caloundra spawned and grown, Justin has been surfing longer than he can remember. His Dad pushed him onto his first waves as a micro-grom, on a beaten-up Ron longboard and Justin has been ripping it up ever since.
The first board he owned was an old twin-fin, salvaged from his local dump and that shortboard persuasion, despite his prowess as a logger, has never left him. He still rides a disparate quiver, from high-performance thrusters, through old-school single and twin fins, to longer boards in performance, quad and three-fin templates and, of course, the pre-’66 old mals.
Justin has been surfing competitively for only the last few years, the 28-year-old starting the circuit late in his career, but has already had some impressive amateur results. The big leagues of the WQS eluded him, rarely escaping the first round in the two seasons of events he entered. But the amateurs have proved much more fruitful.
Trips overseas have seen the Sunny-Coaster scoring waves in Fiji and Bali, but there’re still many pages left to be stamped in his passport and he’s continually looking to the horizon for more visits to foreign breaks.
Although he views his prospects on the amateur series with enthusiasm, hoping to head over the Tasman to New Zealand to compete, Justin’s future is looking to take him on a different path. In June, the Caloundra surfer is heading inland, donning fatigues and signing up as a digger. Joining the Light Armoured Vehicle Army division will take Justin first to Wagga Wagga, followed by a stint in Victoria, before returning to home turf around Brisbane.
“Everyone’s asking me if I’m going to give up surfing,” he comments. “‘Come on,’ I tell them, ‘that’s never going to happen!’”