HISTORY

This is what happens when you get a bunch of guys in a hotel room after a long day of waves and a few beers. This South Coast trip consisted of Mike Stewart, Hauoli Reeves, Ross Hawke, Macca and George K. It ended up in a house wrecker. Thats Hauoli wrestling with an illegal hold on the Hellman…Circa 90′s pic Stroh

This Dougy Robson Island shot was used in a Morey Boogie advertisement that came out in ’88.  Dougs profile was on the rise due to his rushing the Islands warping barrels, he was the most talked about rider in Australia around this time. photo by Greg Button.

Shawnee was one of the hottest girl bodyboarders from Hawaii in the 80′s. While the sheer numbers of Brazillian girls dominated the womens events, Shawnee still was a major threat and represented Hawaii well. From Sandy Beach she had a clean smooth style and was a gutsy standout on the North Shore. These days Shawnee is married to Aka Lyman of DK fame and are bringing up a family on the South Shore. This pic South Coast carve late 80′s by Stroh.

Jay Reale was mainland USA’s most visible and successful rider in the 80′s. Talented at both prone and Dropknee , Jay would work with photographers at every given opportunity creating a hard working clean profile that sponsors warmed to. This shot on the cover of Bodyboarding magazine was one of the first using a pole camera  pioneered and shot by Aaron Lloyd.

This pic of super grommet Guilherme Tamega was taken in the late 80′s at Manly Beach riding a Mach 7-7. In the coming years Tamega would dominate the competition side of the sport for many years. Even back then he was winning and competing against much older rivals and was destined to put Brazillian Bodyboarding on the world map.  Photo Stroh.

In 1984 surf brand Lightning Bolt jumped on the bodyboard craze and pumped out a line of boards. Wonder if Jerry Lopez and Rory Russel ever tried them out at Pipe.

Here the official Australian Bodyboard Association logo from the late ’90s.

Heres a few rides from the past from left to right ; The Morey Gripper, the Mach 11-x,Stewart Turbo 3, Mike Stewart Mach 7-7, Challenger Kaui Classic and Mach 7-x

 

Muzza was one of the most stylish and talented bodyboarders to come out of the Port MacQuarie area in the early 90′s. DK or prone Adam was outstanding and was regarded as a small wave maestro who won his share of State and Aus Titles. Muzza is a talented artist and gifted musician. Check out the pic below showing some of his early scribbles , thats Eppos VW beetle as well. Pic Stroh ’90.

One of the Sandy Beach standouts in the second half of the 80′s ‘The Pulsator” is best remembered for his classic Tom Boyle camera board shot on the cover of Bodyboarding Magazine. In the late 80′s he visited Australia for the first time, fell in love with the place and a girl and has lived here pretty much ever since. For a while he managed the OZ division of Elemenophhee and was a regular out the Island and the rest of the surrounding  reef breaks. This pic late 80′s at Cronulla by Chris Stroh.