HISTORY

Throuhout the 80′s and early 90′s Mike Stewarts Turbo model was the highest selling board on the market.This shot was taken on the Sunshine Coast around 89. Mike was in Australia promoting and competing and his East Coast pro mo tour was crazy with hundreds of kids turning up to each meet and geet.    pic Stroh

It was November 89 when Riptide first hit the bodyboard magazine market. On the cover was a young Dave Ballard popping a air at Suckrock on his Turbo. The pic was taken by Chris Stroh. The mag featured an article on Suckrock, Stewarts view and a Evan Penglis profile. It was the start of big things for Australian riders who now had there own voice. Riptide has stood the test of time and still continues to pump out quality issues year after year.

This article appeared in Tracks Magazine around 1983 and was written by Evan Penglis. It was a run down of the World Title showdown at Pipeline sponsored by Morey Boogie.After a week of Kona winds the event was moved to stormy conditions at Haleiwa. All the Aussies were knocked out first round. Pat Caldwell introduced a new move , a sliding cutback 360. Sasiki unleashed a DK roll. Stewart caught 12 waves in 45 minutes unleashing Rolls, Aerials and tube rides and won $4000 for his trouble it was to be his first of many World titles. 1st Mike Stewart 2nd Pat Caldwell, 3rd Ben Severson 4th Jack Lindholm 5th Daniel Kaimi 6th Keith Sasaki. 

Ross Hawkes Pro Model bodyboard with Manta circa early 90′s was one of the most popular signature models for many seasons in Australia. The picture below was the official poster that accompanied each board.The shot was taken on a classic Island day in the early 90′s. It was crowded as usual and Hawkey wasn’t getting anything when he lucked into this one beast that hit Surge and went mutant. When he saw the sequence later he was blown away as he didn’t know what the wave was doing behind him. Ross even admitted at the time the poster was so popular that some kids bought the board just to get a copy of it.

This shot was taken early 80′s showing a very young Mike Stewart in Tom Moreys backyard factory in Hawaii admiring the very first air lubricated hull concept.

The Emerald Bodyboard Club started in Cronulla in the mid 80′s and was run by The Hulme Bros and Mark Sorenson. Members included Doug Robson, Dave Ballard,Brett Young, Wingnut, Tim Jones, Matt Percy, Nugget , Rissole and Andrew Lester to name just a few. This article about the Cronulla Club appeared in Waves magazine in the late 80′s. The shot was of Doug Robson launching at Red House at Cronulla by Chris Stroh it was the first of many photo sessions the pair would collabrate on. The Emerald Club is still going strong today and it is the longest running Bodyboard Club in the World today.

Nathan Purcell appeared on the Bodyboard scene in Australia in the early 90′s when he started ripping at Shark Island. He soon gained a reputation as a no holds barred charger as well as a real funny bastard.As part of the Skid Kids, Nugget and his mates ran amok and broke away from the sports clean cut image. It caused a riff in the bodyboard ranks but Nuggets riding ability soon over shadowed all the negativity on land. It was along with his mate Mark Fordham that the pair got up and running The Shark Island Challenge which is still one of the sports favourite events today. Nugget these days lives in West Oz and still getting up to mischief.  Below  Nugget at the Cronulla Pinny Parlour late 80′s  pic Stroh

It was around 1990 when the worlds best bodyboarders decended on Maroubra Beach for part of the Aussie Pro Tour. Hawaiian legend Kainoa McGee was part of the strong Hawaiian and USA contingent along with Stewart, Sevo, Roach, Reale and the rest. This was the era when Kainoa was Stewarts main competitive adversary and the pair were constantly competing for top honours. The waves were only small and Kainoa pulled his Wave Rebel bodyboard out and busted all the right DK moves to win in the shorey.   pic Stroh

The first issue of Bodyboarding Magazine  with Pat Caldwell on the cover was released in 1985. Tom Boyle was the driving force at the time and it was his dedication and persistence that got the people behind Surfing Mag to follow his dream. Tom was the sports first dedicated photographer and it was his unique camera angles at Sandy Beach of the sports first stars like Sevo, Stewart, Pat and Jack that gave the sport its own individual look. At first it was a Bi-Annual but by ’87 it was coming out Bi-monthly.

Pat was responsible for inventing the el rollo move, one of the standard performance tricks of todays bodyboarder, back in ”78 it was futuristic. Pat was also one of the original Sandy Beach bodyboard crew along with Ben Severson, JP Patterson, Tom Boyle, Mike Stewart and Keith Sasaki, they were the first recognised professional riders in the sport. He appeared on the first cover of Bodyboarding Magazine. In the early to mid 90′s Pat found a new passion when he began charging Waimea Shorey on those truly classic days. This shot features a big gnarly pit and the photo also appeared on the cover of Underground Tapes video Fuel. pic Stroh