Occy

Occy at home in The Nulla using maximum leg torque to demolish this wave. No wonder he was called the “Powder Keg on legs” by a jorno. Photo Stroh early 90’s

Occy Shark Island

Around 87 Occy lucked into a solid uncrowded session at The Island. This shot captured the Occster stalling on his backside, most other surfers would have been high tailing  it out of this section at Whiterock. Photo Chris Stroh

Occy ’83

Occy appeared in this Peak Wetsuits advertisment in Nov  ’83. The photo was taken at Wanda by then Tracks senior photographer Peter Simmons.

Occy ’85

This pic taken during the ’85 Beaurapaires contest at Cronulla when Occy beat the current  World Champ Tom Carol in front of a home crowd. This was when Occy was at his peak pulling blistering speed turns and unpredictable power moves earning him the title “Powder Keg on Legs”. Photo Stroh.

Classic Occy

This pic of Occy  was taken around ’84 when he was just starting to make an impact on the world of surfing. The day was  classic 1 to 2 metre Blackrock offshore and sunny. Dog, Rob Bain and Sean Charters were out as well making it an all star session. Occy was killing it and showing  the form of a future threat to Tom Currens World title domination. Pic Dave Kelly.

Occy Tracks Cover ’83

Occy scores the cover on the Jan ’83 issue of Tracks riding his G&S out Shark Island pic by Peter Simmons.

Occy Wins Pro Junior.

When Occy won the Pro Junior at Narrabeen he had already established himself as the new rising star of Aussie surfing. Occy was our secret weapon to beat Tom Curren on the world stage. Riding a Wayne Roach shape he never looked like losing in the 3ft Narrabeen lefts. Other finalists included Mark Sainsbury and his Kurnell best mate Richard Marsh who would also claim Australia’s most prestige’s Junior title as well a year or two later. Occy speech photo Stroh

Occy @ Blackrock

Seeing Occy at Blackrock in the flesh is like watching Lopez at Pipe or MP at Kirra , they were made for one another. Occy on his Rusty absolutely tore it up this day. The Occster was in his prime back in the early to mid 80’s when he was riding for Billabong and Peak and had the narrowest of waist lines and his surfing was raw and spontaneous. He rocked up with Dog and Sean Charters around early mid morning and was soon getting the deepest barrels. One wave in particular comes to mind, I was a little too slow getting out of his way trying to get the last second shot in the barrel. Just when my head was about to collide with the nose of his board he fully bunny hopped me and kept going. Ive have never had anyone do that before or since. This pic brings back classic memories of the kid at his peak….photo Chris Stroh

 

Occy Cover 84

Its October 1984 when 17 yearold Mark Occiluppo scores the cover to Surfing Mag plus a 8 page profile inside. The cover blurb says He’s young, he’s hot, he’s No1. Occy starts the year in 1st place and is being lauded as Australias great white hope to stop Tom Currens domination of pro surfing. They were right over the next few years Occy becomes Currens main rival.

Occys comeback

Around the mid 90’s Occy came out of retirement after a period in hibernation. After piling on the kilos he climbed back on his roach approach thruster and started his climb back up to the top of surfings pro ranks. This shot was snapped down at Garie during a secret session, the extra weight that he was carrying sure didn’t slow him down.

Photo: Stroh