HISTORY

Jack Lindholm taking on big Pipe Second Reef mid 80′s.

This Morey Boogie advertisement of Newcastle bodyboarder Mark Sutton was taken at Blackrock around ’85.

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

This photo was taken of the Morey World Title Competitors getting ready for the Annual Pipeline Competition. Some of those in the gathering are Tom Boyle,Hauoli Reeves,Brett Young,Claudia Ferrari,Eppo,Jay Reale, Buckwheat,Keith Sasaki, Matt Riley,Alex De Pontes, Fabio, Mark Fordham, Chris Burkhart, Tim Jones, Dave Appelby, Carol Phillips to name just a few. Photo courtessy of Claudia Ferrari.

Its November ’82 when Evan Penglis and Julie Rowbotham blitzed their divisions to win the first official Australian titles and a ticket to Hawaii. Julie described in the article as a attractive Kiwi beat a determined Christine O’Keefe from Victoria in messy 1.5 metre conditions at Dee Why while Evan beat standup surfing champion Mark Warren for top honors and a place in the first World Title Championships at Pipe.The article was written by Mark Sutton.

This is some of the earliest footage available of the original pioneers like Jack,Pat and Stewart taken from a How To Bodyboard video sometime around the mid 80′. We recomend you turn the music off.

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.

Before he won the World Title in 83, Eppo rode for Paipo Bodyboards  who later changed there name to Rheopaipo due to copyright infringement. Paipo was run by John Holmes on the Central Coast. Heres one of his well used vehicles from the Stroh collection.

Doug Robson from Cronulla in Australia was the hottest rising star of Aussie bodyboarding around the late 80′s. Dougy had taken over from Chaz McCall at the Island freefalling and pulling into some incredible liquid caves plus he was making a name for himself in the contest scene making the finals of the Int. Pro Comp held at Cronulla Point. Doug had a unique big air launching style that all the kids labelled Doug Airs, including Eppo who took them even further in the coming years. At Suckrock in particular Robson would bust high and float well above the lip. The pic below is Dougy in full flight late 80s by Chris Stroh. 

Since Bodyboarding magazine arrived in 1985 more and more titles have surfaced. Some have survived the test of time while others are now just a memory. The Internet has definitely had an effect but like everything else the strong always survive. Sure the net is instant but  ‘theres nothing quite like having the feel of a new magazine in your hands to scan over the latest images. The following mags are just a few that have graced us from around the Globe. Bodyboarder International Mag from the USA had longtime media identity Patti Serano behind the wheel. Flipper is from Japan with a large slice of the editorial dedicated to fashion and the girls.Vert  is the long running mag from Portugal. Pit mag from the USA was the badboy of publications with its often contreversial coverage thanks to Cameron Steele and Co. Tres 60 Bodyboard mag is from Spain while Spin Air from France kept the Euro bodyboarders well informed.