HISTORY

This advertisement came out around 87/88. Young Nick Gibbs from Manly was making a name for himself along with Brother Alex. The pair were being called the Wonder Kids of Aussie bodyboarding and were winning their share of small wave comps. Nick scored as well around this time the cover of the Milo Tin Can as well.

            Danny Kim was not the first to standup bodyboard but he was definitely one of the best. With specially made  BZ custom bodyboards he pulled amazing carving , floating and 360 moves and during the 80′s competed successfully on the Pro Tour. Danny from the Westside was a regular at Sandy Beach in the early days and his image graced many pages of  Bodyboarding magazine. His high performance riding inspired the next generation of standups including Chris Won and Kavan Yap. Today standup is a dying art but riders like Danny can still surf better than most fiberglas surfers.  pic Manly Beach late 80′s Danny was there competing and signing autographs  photo Stroh

Bodyrider Magazine appeared on European beaches in 1990. The French magazine served up a heavy helping of bodyboard coverage from all parts of the world as well as local content. Issue 1 features Nicolas Capdeville bottom turning at Hossegor on the cover and a profile inside.Theres  Portugal, Spain features as well as Australia and Canaries coverage.It was the start of a long magazine history as well as a popular and  well read publication.

      Kainoa was just a kid from Waikiki when he started making a name for himself . He began competing age 10 and won the first contest he entered. Using prone and Dropknee he was sponsored by Morey by the time he was 12. Numerous National titles later he went Pro. In 86 he surfed Pipe for the first time and the pair seemed made for one another. He was being claimed as the next big thing in Pro Bodyboarding and ended up 4 times World Title runner up. Uncle Kai survived a life threatening virus which kept him out of the surf for a time.Where Kainoa really excelled  was at 2nd Reef Pipe . He took Dropknee to a new level of big wave riding. Kainoa is still a standout at Pipe whether riding prone, DK or a surfboard he commands respect and is one of Pipelines most dynamic and fearless big wave performers today. This pic shows Kainoa sharing a Pipe barrel.   photo Chris Stroh

    Kavan Okamura was one of the sports pioneers and one of early Sandy Beach crew. Mike Stewart credits Kavan with inventing the invert air and the no hand spin. He was also one of the first rider shapers as well as pushing new design concepts. While surfing D Bah in Australia in ’87 he badly dislocated his shoulder in a wipeout and the injury which refused to heal fully eventually slowed down his career. Mike names  Kavan one of his earliest influences who was ahead of his time. After a rocky personal life today Kavan now lives with his family on the Westside and still bodyboarders.

         This shot was taken at Manly Beach late 80′s during one of the Pro Comps. Mike was in his prime, he was winning everything and was dominating every aspect of the sport. From media, to contests to new moves and  pushing the limits at Pipe, Mike was bodyboardings number one asset.   You’d be smiling too photo Stroh

        As bodyboarding began to take off in Australia in the late 80’s Youngy was one of the infamous Cronulla crew who dominated the Aussie media scene. He was a fearless Island charger and in the early days of Riptide his image was plastered across its pages. On land BY was a character who always loved a laugh and liked to shock people. As a member of the Skid Kids his outlaw antics were often looked down on by b/b heirachy. Youngy didn’t care too much and despised the local comp scene that frothed over contests in 1ft waves at Manly. Youngy was all about pulling into gnarly pits and had the same head pumping style as Pat Caldwell. Brett had tongues wagging when he performed a pop song in the video nasty Rip The Pit. He was highly criticized for his role and eventually packed his bags to move to Japan where he worked promoting his sponsor Manta. It was in Japan that BY was killed when the car he was driving on a express lane highway crashed. Today he is remembered with the annual Brett Young Trials part of The Shark Island Challenge. Below A very young Brett pulling in at The Point in the 80s pic Stroh

The Wedge  at Newport Harbor  is California’s best known bodyboarding wave. A longtime haven for bodysurfers in the sixties the first  local bodyboarders were Dan Taylor, Ron Romanosky,Mike Rovetto, Scott Scholton and  James Sowell.The Wedge sits directly North of Newport Harbour and is best on a extremely big south swell. The waves bounce off the harbour jetty forming a side wave which meets up with the next wave to form a peak. This peak throws out into shallow water creating a very hollow tube.Wedge veterans include Matt Allen and Chad Barba.This photo was taken in the very early seventies long before bodyboarders filled the lineup.

At waves like Pipeline bodyboarders can sit deeper and takeoff later. This extra late drop was photographed around Jan 1986. With his fingers still in contact with his board theres still a chance he can pull it off. Did he make it ,your guess is as good as mine but if he doent he’s in for a hell flogging. It was crazy moves and photos like this that proved to the surfing world that the humble bodyboard was a serious wave riding tool and not just a pool toy in the early days.

When Keith Sasaki was touring Australia in the late 80′s a small crew including Pat Caldwell, Jay Reale, Shawnee Oide  along with some Aussies like Ross Hawke , PJ Hyland  and Wingnut hit the South Coast. One day when the waves wernt co operating Keith decided to liven up the lineup by going nude. It gives a whole new meaning to bottom turn. Photo Stroh