HISTORY

When Mike Stewart was towed into Jaws in Maui it was at the time the biggest waves ever ridden by a bodyboarder. The session was featured in the Hollywood flick “In Gods Hands” in ’98 in which Mike had an acting role.It inspired a whole new generation of bodyboarders to start experimenting with towins and it opened up a whole new realm of big wave possibilities.

When Scotty Carters break through video The Inside came out in the mid 90′s it featured the mysterious Chad Barba the Californian underground soul man at his peak surfing The Wedge, south of the border in Mexico and other mysto spots.

Around ’96 Mike Stewart and the Morey Team embarked on a massive Summer Coaching tour up the East Coast of Australia. It pulled together a large crew of Morey team riders including Jay Reale, Bullet, Matt Percy, Nugget,Barney, Adrian “Slug” Hybner, Matt Riley, Tully Beevor and Mike to name just a few to teach bodyboarding to the masses. It was a large operation and the kids turned up in huge numbers from town to town to meet and get instructions, advice and tips from the Worlds best. Below Slug and Nigel Bollack teach a group at Wanda Beach.

Around 1989 Mike Stewart came to Australia to promote his Turbo signature board on the Goldy and Sunny Coast. Kids turned up in the hundreds treating Mike like a Surf God. The crowds were chock a block full of stoked kids. The following summer Mike’s model was the best seller of the high end market. Preaching to the kids, Stewbag  at the Brothers Neilsen store pic Chris Stroh

In the early 80′s France Hazar and Andrea Ferreira from Brazil were two of the first girl bodyboarders to charge large Pipe. They had to battle for waves against the guys but their gutsy performances soon earnt them a place in the lineup. Coming from Brazil’s smaller waves they were forced to  adapt to the more powerful Northshore conditions. France  inspired other Brazil girls like Stephanie Petterson, Mariana and Isabella Noueira, Glenda Kozlowski,Daniela Freitas, Leila Ali , Carla Costa and Neymara Carvelho to name just a few to follow in her path and dominate Girls bodyboarding in the coming years. Below France charging in Hawaii.

The eastern side of Waikiki Beach is separated by the protruding cement pier known as “The Wall” this is where some of the first bodyboarders like Kainoa, Dean Marzol, Keith Sasaki, Kavan Okimura and Parker Tom learnt there competitiveness and tricks by surfing right up to the pier, and sometimes making it clear over the wall. The Wall is a man made structure to help protect sand erosion and the beach here is officially called Kuhio Beach.The Wall was where small wave high performance bodyboarding first evolved. Pic courtesy Surfer Magazine.

When Steve Mackenzie first began dominating the local comp scene it was his dropknee moves that was winning events. In the early days Macca rarely proned. It was only when he wrenched his knee so bad that he had to change to prone and learn how to spin and roll again.This pic was taken on the Central Coast at Forresters Beach. Bullet wearing his Sports Skin wettie and riding for Morey, he was blazing and massacred this poor wave. Photo by Chris Stroh Circa ’90.

Prior to bodyboarders taking over in the later part of the 70′s the alternative prone riders back in the day used pumped up air Mats to ride waves. At reef breaks like Lil Avalon, Dee Why, Cronulla Point and Shark Island the Mat brigade were a common sight in almost every the lineup. Even on the huge days they would rush the biggest sets. At Cronulla  Steve Downy was one of the best, charging hard at Shark Island. Others included Chaz McCall, The Hulme Bros and Dave Shaw. The humble Mat became superseded to the more manoeuvrable and sturdy Boogie but it was the Mat boys who laid the foundations.Steve Downy below at Shark Island pic by Bruce Channon from pages of Surfing World in ’75.

Wazza first came to our attention in the early Underground Tapes videos where he became known for his crazy free-falling takeoffs and pulling into mutant closeouts at Shark Island with his unique canoe helmet. He was fearless and gained a reputation as a total wave nutter. He would take off left into an Island death pit just too see what would happen. “If I don’t hit rock at least once, I havent had a good session” he was once quoted. Around the mid 90′s Wazza’s luck ran out and he suffered an almost  crippling wipeout to his back at Shark Island. Within months he was back out there but taking off on more makeable waves. Wazza still charges today but his wave choice is more selective than in his early gunho days.  Sequence below typical Wazza air drop by Stroh

JP Patterson began bodyboarding in 1975 and soon rose to the top of the early competitors list by winning in 82 the first Scott sponsored Comp ever held at Pipeline. In Jan 1985 JP entered the history books when he survived a 50ft closeout wave at Waimea Bay. JP on his boogie and surfer James Jones paddled out at 3pm. Waimea was the only wave ride-able at 20ft plus. JP caught a few waves on the shoulder.Surfers Alec Cooke and Mark Foo were next to paddle out.  Around 4.30pm a monster set approached. The first wave estimated to be 50ft broke left and closed out The Bay. JP dove deep and his leash snapped on impact.He almost drowned before he was rescued by helicopter.Eye witnesses at the time said it was the biggest wave that anyone had been faced with and survived.Pic below from a Tracks article in ’88 describing the day.