HISTORY

Eppo unleashed the Air Roll Spin move a few months after winning the World Title at Pipe in ’93. I t was the biggest advancement in the sport since the el rollo. Riptide used  frame by frames taken from the Underground Tapes video Ballistic to explain the new gymnastic move.

Power Trips was the first video by Chris Stroh Productions that wasn’t part of the Underground Tapes series even though it followed the same formula. This clip is of the young Aussies and Dre on the Northshore Hawaii around January 97. Taken from an original VHS copy so the quality is not great.

 

 

 

This pic from a Riptide story in the early 90′s was taken at Rebounds in Tassy. The Manta pro mo trip included Ross, Wingnut and myself. It was the first time any pro bodyboarders had ventured that far south as well as featuring the first story on the wave drenched Island. The water was icy and the boys were frozen blue with ice cream headaches while some of the locals surfed in boardies ha ha. Words and pic Stroh

 

These photos were from an article in Tracks in  ’86 called “Bodyboarding For the Record” by Evan Penglis. It was one of the first articles on the sport and featured the Maroubra boys who were tearing up the local contest scene. Top photo was Ross Hawke, Middle Evan Penglis and bottom left was Bullet all shot at Suckrock by Butto except the free-fall.

Hawaiian for “Bulging Eyes”,  Makapuu beach on the eastside is located just below Makapu’u Point which  marks Hawaii’s easternmost tip. Rabbit Island sits just offshore and makes it very picturesque. This is a very popular beach for bodysurfing and bodyboarding large waves. Back in the early days of the sport it was along his stretch of coast that bodyboarding had its first hardcore crew including Jack The Ripper who was a familiar sight catching all the set waves out the back. Like Sandy’s grinding barrels, Makapuu has a ferocious shore break that is well suited to bodyboarding. This pic of local hotshot negotiating a pit was taken early 90′s by Stroh

Sunshine Coast in Queensland has long been a hotbed of bodyboarding talent. Around the start of the 90′s riders like Michael Moles, Marcus Lane and John Bull (pictured) were strong influences for the local crew. This pic of Bully was shot at an off shore bommy we named Kongs Reef. It was a long swim out and during the photo session my camera housing got knocked out of my grip and it wedged in the reef still attached to my wrist rope. So here I am way out at sea getting pounded in the impact zone underwater by the sets unable to get free and running out of breath. If I take the leash off I loose the camera  and housing. Eventually the waves backed off and I managed to dive deeper and free it and luckily it was unharmed except for a few scratches and still in one piece. Words and photos Chris Stroh from a Riptide story.

Youngy was one of the early Cronulla crew whose charging at Shark Island  in the late 80′s  gave Bodyboarding  some well needed exposure for heavy wave surfing. At the time the sport in Aus. was based mostly on small wave competitions but thanks to Youngy , Dougy, Wazza and the rest of the Island boys the balance of focus would soon change. Photo Chris Stroh Circa early 90′s. 

The first installment of The Underground Tapes video series by Chris Stroh came out in Nov ’91 and in total produced 10 titles under the UT name.This November the iconic video series turns twenty. At the time in Aus the sport only had overseas videos so when the UTs came out featuring Ozzie riders showing they had the skills to match the Hawaiians the local kids were amped. Here’s the first adv. that appeared in Riptide. Stay tuned for some clips featuring unseen footage from back in the day.

 

This day was classic, Eppo , Bullet and myself were cruising the mid north coast on a photo/video mission when a cyclone swell hit in the early 90′s. Forster area is not renown for big waves and was closing out except for this one reef that was pretty much all time. Eppo  and Bullet charged it and the  word got out at the local school and before we knew it the headland was full of kids, the teachers let classes out so the pupils could watch 2 of Aus greats tear up their local spot..photo and words Stroh.

Some of the sports first pioneers and stars from the pages of Bodyboard Mag.