Luke Weinert

Luke  Weinert is one of the Elouera Dunny Hanger crew who is best known for his aerial  antics and general cutting edge moves. This shot taken around early 2000 is  typical of a Weinert surf session , turning average waves into big photographic moments, he definitely makes the camera mans job that much easier.      photo Craig Stroh

Herbie

Richard Herbert alias Dick Bent was one of Cronullas true characters. A longtime Point and Island regular Herbie was always pulling in and coming out with his crazy grin on his face. Herbie was a shaper with G&S and Emerald and produced Huzza Wuzza boards at one time in his career. Richard once had a double page shot in Tracks back in the late 70’s in an article titled Veruna. He later gained a cult like following in The Shire with his band Death by Bunta and then Dick Bent and The Bentnicks. A while back Herbie died from natural causes, his wild lifestyle finnaly caught up to him. This is shot 1 from a 6 shot sequence of Richard lining up and pulling into the hellpit at The Point    photo Stroh

Ratso

Iain “Ratso” Buchanan got his knickname after the hobo character played by Dustin Hoffman in the Hollywood movie Midnight Cowboy. Kiwi Ratso moved into Cronulla and soon became an integral part of The Alley scene surfing for Cronulla Boardriders, shaping boards for Hot Buttered and trying his luck on the World Tour. This photo was taken during a session behind the Rockpools between Northies and Southies on a clean northeast day. Ratso eventually moved back to NZ where he still resides today.   photo Stroh  circa mid 80’s.

Martin Potter

Early in his career Martin Potter the South African super kid  who was the hottest newcomer in the sport at the time due to his aerial assaults moved into Cronulla with the Darcy family for a time to get experience in Australia. It was around the mid 80’s and he was soon turning up at all the local breaks pulling huge airs and throwing plenty of tail. No matter whether it was KP, The Point or the Beachies he was going off and a huge inspiration for the local crew to see such talent ripping up their spots. It was also while staying in the Nulla the boys taught him how to party and by the time he moved on he had plenty of worldly experiences.This shot, heavy gouging carve by Potts was taken up the beach mid 80s by Chris Stroh

Surfboard Manufacturers

Cronulla has a long history of surfboard manufacturers. In the 80’s the following 4 surfboard builders  were just a few of the brands that kept the local crew well equiped….. This 1988 adv. for Jim Banks appeared in Tracks, Banksy worked out of his Cronulla Original Clothing Shop, the photo was by Chris Stroh….. Geoff Solness was the driving force behind Shark Island Design Surfboards located just across the road from the train station his adv.appeared in Tracks in 87…… Rod Baldwin appeared in this Emerald advert in 84  the photo was by Stroh……while the Graham King Surfboards logo turned up in Tracks in 79.

Unknown Soldiers

         This shot was taken on a pumping mutant southeast day at Shark Island around the mid to late 90’s.  A lot of the usual Island faces were caught napping this day. There were quite a few unknown surfers out having a go , making some and paying the penalty on others. This chunky wave was one of the ones made.   photo Chris Stroh

Sean Charters

So many good surfers have emerged out of the  The Alley Rip bowl over the years. The competitive nature of the wave hungry pack ensures that if you dont prove yourself and standout by ripping you just dont get any waves. Its dog eat dog and only the best survive. In the 80’s one of those who stood out  was a natural foot called Sean Charters. Sean had a clean style with cutting edge moves and was one of the first of the local crew to start busting aerials consistently after Martin Potter moved into town for a while and turned him onto them.This pic of Sean was taken outside Joes Milkbar around the mid 80’s   photo Stroh

Richard Maurer

Richard was another one of those Kurnel kids who in there Grom days would trudge over the Wanda sand dunes to have a surf. Along with his best mate Occy the pair would trade of heavy gouging front and backhand snaps wave for wave. Over the years Richard was a devoted Cronulla Boardriders Club  member surfing in there winning Surf League teams and at one stage a few years back he was even president of the club. This back hand blast was taken at The Alley sometime in the 80’s.  photo Chris Stroh

Dog Cover

Richard “Dog” Marsh has had his fair share of covers over the years.This one generated from a Blackrock session appeared on the Waves poster book.Richard was going through his punk rock stage and had dyed his hair black. Dog along with the other Cronulla goofys like Pete Smith, Greeny and  Occy  would always head south the first sign of a southerly swell and a sniff of north east wind. This day was near good as it gets and Dog was in the box seat.  Circa early 90’s  photo Chris Stroh

Jezza

Jeremy Hrbac grew a taste for mean powerful waves from a early age.He first popped up on the radar around the early 90’s charging Shark Island backside. With his left foot forward it was Voodoo and The Reefs where he would find his real calling. This shot of Jezza was taken early 2000 at Voodoo, loving the reef power.   photo Craig Stroh