Ray Machado

Yeah, we were doing a photo shoot for RXYM and I kept falling on every wave. I finally got a good one and during the bottom turn I got a little too agro. I chucked my tail, my body got all twisted up, and my front ankle snapped. We rushed to the hospital, praying that I didn't need surgery. They gave me a Donjoy boot, no surgery, and I have been out of the water for almost two months now recovering. Start physical therapy next week.. so its all good.

Ok.. Carlsbad to me was the hotbed of talent in the early 90's. Here and Seaside Reef actually. All the old school rippers were killing it on the Bud Surf Tour. Morey, BZ, and Custom X were all down the street. The main Carlsbad assault was led by George DeMarino and Hans Molencamp. Following him were Kirk Blackburn, Eli Abbey (Prone Ripper, R.I.P.), Phil Antonopolous, and Doug Chartier. These older guys were pushing me so hard. They took me to La Jolla, Wedge, and got me into the contest scene. And if I didn't dropknee, they would punch me.. so back in the day you had to be good at both disciplines. But I looked up to Kirk Blackburn the most.. he was just so smooth... ask Jeff Hubbard, guarantee he remembers him.

NSSA was everything to me. BIA was still new and fresh and growing, but all the top Pro's back in the day came through the NSSA with a National Championship. I rode for T&C with Mark Dale as my manager. He did a lot for me.. him and Manny Vargas. They showed me the ropes. Then in 1999, the bodyboard industry kind of took a dump. Actually the surf industry took a dump on us all. We lost the Mag, my generation lost sponsorships, and were basically forgotten. It sucks too cause I really admired the guys I surfed with: Paul Cooper, Rex Moribe, Jason Bartels, and Ikaika Villa from Hawaii. Chris McEvoy, Brad McEvoy, Justin Hill, The Parker brothers and Doug Disanti from up north. Brian Barker, Lil Todd, Peanut, and the whole Seaside crew which was MASSIVE.. and Jeff Bragg from Imperial Beach. The Carlsbad crew was myself, AJ Kahahawai, Matt Byzak, Eric Richter, Kyle Rector. Rusty and Justin and AJ's little brother Christian were next in line.

I don't know. I've done what I wanted to do contest wise. I still want to challenge myself at the PIPE contest so hopefully I can do that, but for no one else than myself. I love what the BIA and USBA are doing in America. I want to support them as much as possible. The IBA World Tour is looking more like the G.O.B. back in the day, so that is satisfying. It seems like the industry is becoming more stable.

I was a grom when it all went down.. but to me it seemed like a lack of cooperation and the major players in the surf industry, secretly decided to bar bodyboarding and focus on their pursuits of making money through pure stand-up surfing. Cutting the Mag (Bodyboarding) was just the tip of the ice berg to me. There was a lot of things happening that no one ever saw. People being fired, bodyboarding companies being bought out or merging to stay afloat. Bodyboarding was the fastest growing sport back in the early 90's and there was money to be made through it, but the bodyboarding industry never marketed and promoted the new upcoming generation in the same manner as the surfing industry did. And the bodyboard industry hurt because of that. And so when you have readers and aspiring pro's looking at both sports and they see their friends and peers in surfing, obviously they chose to pursue that and only the core bodyboarders kept bodyboarding.

Well, to me, that is how it went down. It's the truth that no one wants to hear or accept.

No way. I love bodyboarding. It's so much dang fun. You can't deny how fun it is. If you know me, you know I'm upfront and honest about how I feel. Its not good to focus on the negative but on the positive!! There is a lot of positive going on in the Bodyboard world.. but honestly there is a lot of positive going on in the entire world.

Hahhaha!!! Too funny. Growing Indian was cool. I grew up out in Pala, but my dad took my brother and I surfing almost every other day and on weekends. I was emerged into the surf culture at a very young age. My dad is one of the original surfers from Oceanside back in the 60's. He grew up in the "Phil Edwards" era. We moved to Carlsbad when I was 12. And no I don't know any other surfing Indians other than my family.

Jeff and Dave Hubbard. I see a lot of focus on Dave in the future because he's a Super FREAK!! Mitch Rawlins is amazing, Skipp is still the man. I don't know... well bodyboarding is huge in Brazil and Australia. Kauai is the breeding ground of all the future world champs. So those kids are the future. Ohhh, Mason Rose is my favorite bodyboarder right now.

I don't know.. so many. In no particular order just because these movies changed how I perceived wave riding: Bodyboarding Enough Said, SPIT, The INSIDE, No Friends 1 and TENSION 10.

Kelly Slater is the most underrated athlete of all time. He was a phenom, won world titles, walked away and won more world titles. His span of domination is so unheard of. Rickson Gracie is still undefeated as a BJJ/MMA Fighter. He's like 51 years old now or something and all the young MMA world champs still go to him to prepare for their fights. That tells you something. Floyd Mayweather.. so cocky, but you can't deny his technique. Tiger Woods. And then of course Mike Stewart, Paul Roach, Laird Hamilton, Jordan & Kobe Bryant, Jeff Hubbard (who is the best bodyboarder in the world hands down), Michael Shumacher, & Cassius Clay.

Rusty will have towed in at Jaws or somewhere massive and have made the final of the PIPE contest. Justin will surf massive Wedge and Keiki and get a cover. Matt will take photography to the next level and do some things on a bodyboard that others can't. We will continue to make high end clothes at reasonable prices and support the youth. I'll be 33yrs young and bodyboarding at my personal leisure :)

Bodyboarder Mag will be even more solid, larger distribution, and available monthly. Bodyboarding will be on TV again and more and more companies will start and grow, bringing structure back to the industry. I see key people like Ross Mcbride, Eddie Solomon, Jeff Hubbard, Mike Stewart, Jason Bitzer, and the BIA Staff making great decisions and promoting the sport of bodyboarding in a positive way in America. Hopefully, there will a lot of cooperation in making things happen.