HISTORY

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 The humble Mat became superseded to the more manoeuvrable and sturdy Boogie but it was the Mat boys who laid the foundations.Steve Downy below at Shark Island pic by Bruce Channon from pages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.

The limited edition BZ Pro 88 came out in Aus around ’88. Pictured is team rider Chris Demajo.

This is young Aka back in ’91 pre tatts. Aka is best known for his Dropknee backside attack. Throughout the 90′s it was Paul Roach , Dave Ballard and Aka who were regarded as the leading edge of DK. Aka’s backside snaps and floats were honed at Waimea and later Euhaki Beach Park. With his frontside just as deadly, Aka earned himself a legion of fans worldwide and theres still debate even today as who was actually the best.

Heres an early Turbo order form style advertisement that appeared in Surfer Magazine back in ’84 featuring the Boogieman Daniel Kaimi.

Bob Thomas and his wife Jan back in 1975 owned one of the first Morey Kit boards complete with glue and charged Pipe Littles and Sandy Beach. In the early 80s Bob was approached by Patti Serano from Morey to run contests in Hawaii. From that day on Bob was the driving force of competitive bodyboarding in Hawaii. Bobs early events allowed Mike Stewart, Ben Severson and Kainoa to get there first taste of competition.Bob went on to run the World B/B comps at Pipeline  and was the main man behind the Global Organisation of Bodyboarding (GOB). Today Bob and Jan are still the driving force in Hawaii turning young kids into champions. Pic by Hotshots

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

 Bobby Szabad was one of Tom Morey’s first backyard factory workers in the very early days as well as one of the first Morey Boogie team riders. After competing for a short time Bobby concentrated more and more on the manufacturing side of things. While head of production at the Morey’s Kransco plant, Bobby left to start his own company, named BZ. He eventually sold the brand name but still works for BZ today. Pic below was taken of Bobby in ’89 outside BZ headquarters.

This Morey Boogie advertisement featuring Dave Appleby from Narrabeen in Sydney Aus appeared in mags around ’88. Dave grew up at the famous North Narrabeen left and was one of the only bodyboarders allowed to surf out there without being harassed.

Carol first started b/b around  ’89 at the age of 18. She soon gravitated to the Northshore when her family moved to Hawaii. Before long she was one of the first girl bodyboarders to start charging at big Pipe and one of the sports first female stars. Carol was joined in the lineup by other female b/b like Jen Mar,  Robin Cardoza, Guin Allen, Daina Pang and  Gloria, and Harima  making  the women bodyboarders hard to miss.  Carol was becoming well known for her role behind the scenes running and organising comps as well as some gutsy performances.It was one wave in particular that comes to mind, the  rag doll wipeout as it became known. Carol takes up the story.”I was straightening out on the wave, because it was closing out. It was one of those days when you couldn’t get a lot of waves, and you want a wave. I don’t know what happened. The lip like hit me, and blasted me in the air. And then it somehow sucked me back over the falls, and then tossed me out again. And, I was in the air most of the time so I didn’t get hurt, I didn’t hit the bottom or anything”. Below is a clip of Carol doing her thing on the Northshore.

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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.