HISTORY

Adam Mac was one of the standout bodyboarders from Queensland throughout the 90′s. A regular barrel master when the Gold Coast Points were firing or a air specialist in the D Bah A Frames. Adam had a respectable contest portfolio but kept it mostly amateur level and never chased the  Pro Tour dream. Photo Stroh surfing D Bah mid 90′s.

Apart from being one of Shark Islands longest standouts Christian Ricco also known as Rissole first came to attention as one of the Skid Kids from Cronulla. His scene in Underground Tapes 1 where he reveals what its like to be apart of the Island crew is legendary. Here Rissole gets up to some mischief in 1990 with a bit of body art. Photo Stroh

 

Around the late 80′s Josh Murphy was the standout bodyboarder in Victoria. He was winning countless local events, State titles and made his presence felt in the Aussie Titles. The pic below of Josh was taken in ’89 competing in the  Pro Am at Manly by Chris Stroh.

Every now and then The Northshore can become a little hectic so some of the boys like to jet off  to one of the outer islands for a quick escape. This day the waves were firing all along the beach in a series of  A Frames. The crew consists of Hubb, Maligs, Eppo, Burkes and a few local friends. The current was ridiculous so they used a car as a shuttle to take the boys back up to beach drop them off then pick them up once they drifted way down the line and then start over. It was impossible to paddle against the rip this day. Photo Stroh late 90s.

 

In the mid to late 90′s Manny Vargas was a familiar face at Off The Wall during the winter months. The colourful Manny with fis fluro hair and clothes had his DK routine down to a fine art and would have the cameras blazing every time he took off. These days Manny has toned down his ego and is now the mouth of IBA Pro Surfing running the commentary at all the Worlds Tour events. This shot Backdoor hack late 90′s photo Stroh.

 

FJ’s was a closeout shore-break barrel a lot like I Don’t Knows in Hawaii that became popular with Northside bodyboarders and photographers for its photogenic qualities. Dave Appleby from Narrrabeen was one of the first to capitalise on FJ’s. It was  named after a nightclub situated across the road at South Narrabeen. Ridtide and Aussie Bodyboarder Mag were litterally filled with FJ”s barrel shots in the 90′s as it was more like a photo studio setup than it was a make-able wave. This day I lost my camera when the housing sprung a leak and it flooded. Photo of Dave Appleby early 90′s by Stroh

 Chris Cunningham From Huntington Beach C.A. USA was a team rider for 6 years with  Morey Boogie USA .In the late 80′s Chris was one of the mainlands most consistent contest performers. He placed first in the ISA World Amateur Champions (1988) and was Ranked 8th on bud pro tour three years . Clip below features Chris DKing back in the day.

Eppo , Youngy and Macca check out the lineup at St Pierre in Reunion Island. Reunion was one of the fun spots of the tour and the waves always seemed to co operate for the touring pro’s during their stay. Photo Stroh ’96

Fordy along with Nugget was the driving force in getting the Shark Island Challenge to become a reality. Mark was a longtime Island local and was well respected in the lineup for his quiet nature,casual style and go for it tube charging. Here Fordy almost cops Tim Jones camera in the noggin as he sails by photo CSP

Heres Eppo, Adam and Ash Murray returning from a Nth Wall session in Eppos beetle on the ferry. The years 1990 photo Chris Stroh