1986 Hawaiian Billabong Pro: Sunset Beach, HI (Mark Richards)

[@davidetomsu]

Awesome to see how far surfing has come since those days, in the performance, the format and the commentary

[@0warami_7oo]

The surfing regressed at sunset nowadays due to shorter boards?

[@davidetomsu]

@@0warami_7oo I feel the surfing has gone to new levels these days. The boards do play a role. Some surfers still ride longer boards, but they're different. What a pleasure to see big carves at sunset

[@richardjones2006]

MR in full "wounded seagull" mode.

[@matthewj9832]

That’s all my dad would say lol

[@0warami_7oo]

This is epic thanks, never seen this before and i always wondered about this and finally the footage decades later

[@springfieldbearpatrol2937]

Love all the styles from back then. If only we could send some modern boards back through a time portal! But for its time this was great surfing.

[@gregorymceaddy8884]

Getting tubed once at Sunset is rare, but twice on the same wave...that was epic

[@chrisculley3756]

It's crazy I used to just be so happy as a kid when ABC would put this on. It was like there Wild World of Sports or some s*** I don't know it was just one of those things that you got to see as a kid on the mainland. But it was so cool it was like whatever these guys are doing I want to do that and I want to be where they're at . If Mark Richardson isn't the epitome of Australian I don't know what would be. RLTW 3/75

[@randyvaughn4046]

This was my life. This was my time.

[@overheadunlimited]

the best time

[@SurfLife4me]

Livin the dream in So Cal back then…surf, skate, and ska.

[@padthai411]

I used to use webbed gloves for a good 10-15 years. It helped so much, My paddling was smoother, using less strenght, just slowly pushing my hands through the water instead of pumping through the water with bicep use. And also great for a boost on take off. Definitely advise groms to try out a pair you wont regret it. Make sure they are not too tight, as they also need to be wet, so if you're trying them on in a shop, if they fit too tight in the shop they are too tight. And then when you use them for the first time, just stroke slowly through the water, dont force or you will burn up your energy.

[@JulienSorelEatsSabras]

Hmm. But don't you think you would have been better served by better positioning and a slightly longer board? Or were you surfing mushy waves that you had to paddle for every time?

They caught waves at the peak. Today they all catch waves at the shoulders. Hahaha

[@michaelfarar4232]

Mark fooled the rest of us by surfing big powerful waves on a twinny. Thanks to Simon Andersen who brought us the Thruster, and a renewed confidence

[@SuperAwesomeMicro]

Great surfing

[@bobross5079]

Brock Little R.I.P

[@chrisculley3756]

Oh my God I was wondering if I was going to see one of those freaking gloves I used to sell back in the day Body Glove. I tell you what if the 80s wasn't the most commercialized decade ever. RLTW 3/75

[@Bryan-jd7os]

How about MR's mullet!!?? Epic!

[@byronbass5485]

RB!!

[@andrewmarshall360]

Mark had style

[@gophukyurselvs3621]

I think the wave as far as the surfing industry peaked in the late 90s. These riders used to get huge paychecks from sponsors. Put up in million dollar houses right on the beach of north shore. Now you'll be lucky to get a couple grand from some of the biggest sponsors. Surfing became too corporate

[@overheadunlimited]

the more expensive it became to live near the ocean, the less of a "surfing lifestyle" there was to sell to middle America...

[@Soul-Taker]

That's an insane format, not good insane just insane. Waiting periods yes, going from Sunset to Waimea and then back to Sunset WTF?

[@matthewj9832]

I had no clue the did it at Waimea . That would be epic now but small wave guys are over valued now a days

[@overheadunlimited]

"Pros" used to be held to a different peer standard. As Shaun used to say, "two feet to twenty feet", and you HAD TO RIP IN HAWAII.

[@BarbarraBay]

the event was mobile. I had all of the magazines at the time about that event. The best surfers that day at Waimea were MR, Cheyne Horan, Richard Schmidt & a young Ross Clarke Jones. Barton Lynch commented in Tracks that "Cheyne surfed Waimea like it was 6 foot". Two guys Gary Green & Bryce Ellis chose not to surf. Rob Bain nearly drowned. Curren got some nice medium sized waves.

[@TheArts19]

Kong got robbed

[@0warami_7oo]

Yeah his highest scoring waves maybe but did he lack 4 solid scores?

[@BarbarraBay]

I think MR won. Kong certainly had the best wave by far but MR has more good waves. It was scored out of four waves.

[@TheArts19]

Ok! Thank you. Kong was God for a minute there. Inspired millions all over the world.

[@BarbarraBay]

@@TheArts19 Kong killed it. Next year and the year after he would win three in a row at Sunset (over two years), if my memory serves me right. Then won Pipe in 1989.

[@TheArts19]

@@BarbarraBay yeah that level of courage I will never attain in my surfing life more than likely. Kong's Island was a massive statement too! Power Broker