HISTORY

Before Towouts ,Towins,reverse airs and all the air punts the humble cutback was one of the most important moves of a bodyboarders repertoire. Done properly like Ross below this basic turn can become a super powerful statement in the hands of the right rider. The more spray the better the visual result and contest points.These days not as much emphasis is put on the cutty. Photo Stroh late 80′s.

Riley was the king of creating maximum spray on his turns. With just the right hand placement he could carve a beautiful fan of water. Here’s Chopper in action making it look easy and stylish when he was riding for Quiky, Sports Skins and Morey Boogie. Photo Stroh Circa early 90′s.

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

Classic vid from the late 90′s by Super Hero Productions. Funny skits and killer action worth getting your hands on if your a collector. Featuring all the stars ,for a first time vid it nailed it.

This is what happens when you get a bunch of guys in a hotel room after a long day of waves and a few beers. This South Coast trip consisted of Mike Stewart, Hauoli Reeves, Ross Hawke, Macca and George K. It ended up in a house wrecker. Thats Hauoli wrestling with an illegal hold on the Hellman…Circa 90′s pic Stroh

This Dougy Robson Island shot was used in a Morey Boogie advertisement that came out in ’88.  Dougs profile was on the rise due to his rushing the Islands warping barrels, he was the most talked about rider in Australia around this time. photo by Greg Button.

Shawnee was one of the hottest girl bodyboarders from Hawaii in the 80′s. While the sheer numbers of Brazillian girls dominated the womens events, Shawnee still was a major threat and represented Hawaii well. From Sandy Beach she had a clean smooth style and was a gutsy standout on the North Shore. These days Shawnee is married to Aka Lyman of DK fame and are bringing up a family on the South Shore. This pic South Coast carve late 80′s by Stroh.

Jay Reale was mainland USA’s most visible and successful rider in the 80′s. Talented at both prone and Dropknee , Jay would work with photographers at every given opportunity creating a hard working clean profile that sponsors warmed to. This shot on the cover of Bodyboarding magazine was one of the first using a pole camera  pioneered and shot by Aaron Lloyd.

This pic of super grommet Guilherme Tamega was taken in the late 80′s at Manly Beach riding a Mach 7-7. In the coming years Tamega would dominate the competition side of the sport for many years. Even back then he was winning and competing against much older rivals and was destined to put Brazillian Bodyboarding on the world map.  Photo Stroh.

In 1984 surf brand Lightning Bolt jumped on the bodyboard craze and pumped out a line of boards. Wonder if Jerry Lopez and Rory Russel ever tried them out at Pipe.