HISTORY

Chris Burkhart comes from the Island of Kaua’i. He was one of the Kaui Classic Team and was a strong pro competitor throughout the late 80′s and most of the 90′s winning his share of events. Chris is your typical Hawaiian. With a huge smile, he had a big frame and plenty of ability in big or small waves. One of Burke’s main assets was his flexibillity, for an XL  man he was a freak. Burkes starred in the video “Fuel” and was full of aloha. He ripped hard no matter the conditions or whether he was on the crowded Northshore or the perfect secret spots back home on Kaua’i. This photo Backdoor in Hawaii taken by Chris Stroh

Scott Hawaii “Silver Bullet” Circa mid 80′s

Karl was the first bodyboarder to make a name for himself from the South Coast of Sydney. Karl from Kiama Beach was an early competitor during the mid 80′s but preferred the luxury of free surfing the ample hot spots around his area. Fjelsted influenced a whole crew of South Coasters to take up the sport and follow in his footsteps. This  shot shows Karl launching at his local wedge. Photo Stroh early 90′s.

Raffi was from California and when he first popped up on the radar around the mid 90′s. Riders  like Paul Roach were calling him the next big thing in DK and he was all over the US mags. When he hit the Northshore in Hawaii for the first time he  quickly enforced his rep with some solid DK ripping and proved all the hype that surrounded him was true. By the end of the decade Raffi went underground and seemed to be burned out of the bodyboard scene .This pic was taken at Gums around this time. Photo Chris Stroh

This was the first Australian advertisement for Morey Boogie . it appeared in the Novemer Tracks 1975.

Early shot of Mike, check out the white gloves, photo by Chris Stroh late 80s.

Here’s an autographed  poster of Paul Roach when he was riding for Toobs around the mid 90′s.

One of the early Maroubra crew Bob hanged out with Evan , Macca and Hawkey and was a top competitor in the early days of the sport in Oz. This pic of Bob at one of his favourite haunts, Suckrock. Bob had the placed wired. Photo Stroh late 80′s.

By the late 90′s Roach, Aka and Ballard the three goofy footed kings of DK  combined interest in the sport was starting to wane. All of a sudden there was a huge void of DK talent and photos. Matt Lackey from the Gold Coast soon filled the space. Lackey a natural foot was super keen and worked with photographers and in a short period of time magazines were full of double page spreads of his stylish carving. Lackey was soon sponsored by Billabong and his mass exposure in there adv introduced his riding ability to the world. Today Matt continues to push Dropknee to a dying market. Once regarded as cool, DK has definitely had a drop in popularity and participants of late. Matt remains unfazed and continues to stay loyal to the cause. The Lackey heavy gouge at OTW  below photo Chris Stroh

Keith Sasaki ripping it up on the Mach 20RS featuring the push button retractable skegs. Circa mid 80′s