Margaret River firebrand Jacob Willcox claims Challenger Series win at Newcastle

Margaret River surfing mainstay Jacob Willcox has earnt his first win on the Challenger Series to top the World Surf League rankings.

Sunday’s contest at Newcastle’s Surfest followed Willcox’s impressive run as a local qualifier all the way to the quarterfinals at last month’s Margaret River Pro.

Willcox and women’s competitor Francisca Veselko from Portugal overcame a massive crowd of contestants all eager to use the series as a launch pad back to the top-rated Championship Tour.

“This has been a long time coming,” Willcox said.

“I’ve had a lot of losses to get this win and it feels incredible to finally get it. It’s taken a lot of hard work to get here, and that was the best moment of my life on the beach just then.

“Coming in and having my crew tell me that I probably had it and share that moment with them was so special.”

In the final, Willcox traded mid-range scores with Tahiti’s Kauli Vaast, taking a small lead, before the ocean began to slow.

Both were left waiting for more than 10 minutes for a wave until a quick flurry in the dying seconds gave Vaast one more chance.

But he couldn’t convert, leaving Willcox to take the win with a two-wave total of 12.30 to Vaast’s 11.56.

“The final was pretty slow in the end, but I was just telling myself that sometimes the ocean just gets on your side and gives you some luck, and you find some rhythm, and I feel like this week I found some rhythm and some luck,” Willcox said.

“That’s the thing with our sport, you just never know when you’re going to get your moment. My moment was today, so I was stoked.”

Willcox was a championship tour rookie in 2024 after years of near-misses in qualification, but he lasted only a few months before missing the mid-season cut and failing to re-qualify for 2025.

The goofy-footer has been pegged as a title threat since his junior years, beating Kelly Slater as a teenage wildcard in Portugal, but has struggled to make a huge impact in the competitive arena.