HISTORY

In November 82  Australia’s best gathered at Dee Why Beach for the first official Aussie Title. It was Evan Penglis who stole the show and won the first prize of a ticket to Hawaii to compete in the first Morey Boogie World Championship at Pipeline in a few weeks time. Queenslands queen of the waves Julie Rowbotham won the Womans division and also a ticket to Pipe. The only thing was there was no Womens division in the Hawaiian event so Julie was forced to surf against the men.

In the 80′s if one of these invites ended up in your letter box you were stoked. This is the official invite to the Morey Boogie 6th Annual International Bodyboarding Championship to be held at Pipeline. Only the best of the best got invites. Its dated October 1987 and signed by Morey promotions manager Mary Lee Christensen.

Held in mid December the infamous Pipeline churned out waves in the 4ft to 8ft range with clean conditions early but turning cross shore. The Hawaiians dominated from the outset. Jack The Ripper getting deep Dropknee tubes and  Stewart pulling state of the art barrel rolls. Sevo, JP Patterson and Pat Caldwell were also outstanding. When it got down to the finals 3 Aussies made the cut with Evan Penglis, Mark Sutton and Tony Sykes reaching the semis. Evan went on to place 6th the highest for a non Hawaiian in the event so far. The final was close but Mike shone brightest with his consistent rolls and deep tubes and walked away with $4000. Pat was 2nd and Jack Lindholm was 3rd. Photo below Mike Charging from a Morey Advertisement in 84.Check out the link below of footage from the event on youtube.

In January ’93 a little known bodyboarder from the mid north coast town of Port Macquarie ventured to Hawaii to try his luck in the World Title competition. Heat after heat he advanced by using a combination of turns and aerial moves. On the final day of competition the waves had all but vanished. During his semi final heat Eppo pulled a Double Roll the first time this move had ever been seen in a contest or public for that matter. He advanced to the final to battle it out in the half metre swells with Tamega, Stewart and Aka Lyman. While the others sat at Pipe waiting for the miracle ride Eppo notched a couple of long waves at Backdoor allowing him to launch a huge air rollo and room to pull a series of combo moves all the way to the beach. The country kid who only saw the ocean for the first time a few years early had done the unthinkable. Not only had he won The World  Chamionship Trophy but he ended Mike Stewarts stranglehold over the title as well.The photo below shows Eppo reaping the benifits of his victory by signing a lucrative contract with Mantas Terry Fleming a short time later. Photo Chris Stroh

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. 

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.

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

1990 at Manly Beach, Steve “Macca “Mackenzie blitzed the best riders in the land of Oz to win Mens Australian Title in tiny waves. This was Bullets stepping stone into the big league . He beat Karl Fjelsted 2nd, Eppo 3rd and Tim Jones 4th in the final. NSW ruled the finals series with only 4 of the total 24 finalists not coming from NSW. pic Stroh