HISTORY

 Check out 3 of Eppos bodyboards that he has in his collection. Morey Boogie 137,138,139. These are just some of the vintage boards he has accumulated over the years.

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.

Ross “Hellman” Hawke got his knick name from Kavan Okamura after the young skinny Hawkey paddled out at huge Waimea in the mid 80′s on his first trip to Hawaii. The name has stuck ever since.This Morey Boogie adv. came out mid 80s featuring the young looking Maroubra  Hellman and the new Mach 7-7. Tom Boyle took the pic.

Its November ’82 when Evan Penglis and Julie Rowbotham blitzed their divisions to win the first official Australian titles and a ticket to Hawaii. Julie described in the article as a attractive Kiwi beat a determined Christine O’Keefe from Victoria in messy 1.5 metre conditions at Dee Why while Evan beat standup surfing champion Mark Warren for top honors and a place in the first World Title Championships at Pipe.The article was written by Mark Sutton.

This advertisement was doing the rounds in mags around ’82 when Scott Bodyboards were Morey Boogies main rival. JP Patterson one of the main stars of the time and Scotts main man who was known for his unique riding approach with his reverse hand placement style. He was often refered to as the Wounded Duck. This adv. Rider unknown.

Alistair Taylor from Durban South Africa honed his big wave repertoire at the heavy ledging barrel called Cave Rock. He dominated the local South African contest scene and went Pro in the early 90′s. Stories of Alistairs hard times on the Northsore were legendary. His church back home raised the money for his ticket due to a lack of sponsorship support and of surviving on bags of potatoes for weeks at a time. AT soon gained a rep as a big wave go for it who was out charging on all the biggest days at Pipe. In the 97 Pipe Comp in the final he was drilled by a monster set  during the final. In 2001 he took the worst wipeout award at The Shark Island Challenge and went to hospital. Throughout his career he has notched up 9 South African Titles. Today he is married to fellow bodyboarder and World Womens Champ Carla Costa and together they have a baby girl. photo below Alistair rolling off the death section at Pipe Circa 90′s, pic by Stroh.

Featured below is the first No Friends T’shirt with the same pic that was used on the cover of the first No Friends Video. The image was of clay models of each of the 5 team riders and film guy Stoker. It was the start of a clothing revolution in the late 90′s that hammered home that Bodyboarders should support bodyboard brands only.

Winter on the Rock was Tom Boyles second video installment. Featuring all Hawaiian action and riders it captured the state of the art riding and characters of winter 88/89. Jack The Ripper is at his best, There’s How To, Pro Tips, Soul surfing and lots of Northshore ripping by the likes of Seamus Mercado, Keith Sasaki, Mike Stewart ,Ben Severson and the rest of the crew and includes Toms distinctive soundtrack.

In 1984 a group headed by Claudio Marques, Marcus Cal “Kung” and Marcos Salgado set up the Rio De Janeiro Bodyboard Association also known as ABBERJ. The group ran the first State Title competitions. The clip below was filmed in ’85 as Boogie Fever hits South American Beaches.

 Born in 1980 in South Africa, Dre was a local grom from North Durban Beach. He left school to go Pro by the age of 15 and planned his assault up the bodyboard ranks with his first season on the Northshore of Oahu. His performance in his first Pipe Comp was outstanding and his debut was the most impressive of any grommet to date. He surfed fearlessly and with a mop of blond hair and a mouth full of braces in one heat he scored a 10 out of 10 ride. By the time he was 17 he had won his first World Title then backed it up the next year winning two crowns back to back. Dre created history as the youngest World Champion ever . As the years passed Andre  built up a reputation as a big wave specialist. His wipeout at Teahupo was  legendary during the 2000 Tahiti Skins.Today Dre still travels the world bodyboarding hard and still pushing the limits   Pipe carve late 90′s photo Stroh