Caloundra Malibu Club History 1995 – 2001
“Caloundra Malibu club was established in 1995 and is a group of long boarders with a love of surfing and having a good time.”
That statement appears on our home page and basically says what the club is all about.
Hunting back through the archives, the earliest record of a meeting was 17/5/1995 held at the Caloundra Hotel.
Original members at the first meeting, included some who are still active members in the club today.
Mark Hughes, Frank Healey and Steve Miller. Peter and Jerome Keane, husband and son of our first web page expert Julie, also attended the inaugural meeting.
No minutes are available from the first few meeting.
The first minutes were taken in the October 1995 meeting.
Present :- John O’Connor, Gary Sawdy, Josh Sawdy, Steve Spinks, Chris Pemberton, Steve Bordonaro, Gordon Whitby, Nigel Dowling, Scott Palmer, Mark Woodard, Ross Porteous, John Morse, Roger Todd, Steve Miller, Frank Healey, Mark Hughes and Cathy Bauer.
The Clubs original office bearers elected that night :-
President :– Gary Sawdy
Vice President :– Steve Miller
Secretary/Treasurer :– Cathy Bauer
Social Committee :- Gordon Whitby and Steve Bordonaro
Committee:– Roger Todd
15years ago, the Caloundra Malibu Club was born. Remember the phone numbers before the 54 were included, that’s how long ago it was.
The next couple of meetings in 1995 finalised, opening a bank account, the club becoming an incorporation organization, public liability insurance, artwork design.
The first Xmas party was held at the original Café by the Beach at Moffat Beach.
The inter club competition day with the Alex Malibu Club was organised. The club at the time being more of a social club wasn’t too keen on the idea.
The organized club competition days in those early years didn’t happen if the surf was good. Free surfing and a BBQ were the main priority.
With no organized club competitions, the end of the year trophy winners was decided by a secret ballot among the members. The first trophies awarded by the club were classics with names like “The Best Club Person”, “Kamikaze Man”, “Malman Award” and “Best Drop- In”.
The perpetual trophy donated by original sponsors Beachbeat and Tony Worsley’s Velvet Waters for the “Most Improved Surfer” was won by Josh Sawdy. Possibly making Josh the first unoffical club champion of the Caloundra Malibu Club.
The monthly meeting location changed from the Caloundra Hotel to Tony Worsley’s Velvet Waters in November 1996.
The first few years of the club existence, social activities and friendly competition days were the order of the day.
The first official competition day with judges, scoring sheets and coloured rashies was held at Moffat on March 1997. Minutes of the meeting thanked Scott Palmer for organising the club’s first competition day.
March 1997 was the date of the first club newsletter produced by Steve Bordonaro.
Another important event in the history of the club was finalised at the August 1997 meeting. The Threeway Challenge between Caloundra, Alexandra Headlands and the Noosa Malibu clubs was organised. Caloundra hosted the inaugural event held in excellent surf at Moffat on the 14th September 1997. The Alex club won the first title and bragging rights as the best Mal club on the coast. The host club provided the food and drinks for the visiting clubs. Another tradition began on that day. The beers were presented to the visitors in a daggy old rusty fridge kindly donated by club member John Morse, with the proviso that the winning team took the fridge with them.
The fridge reappeared at the 1998 Threeway at the Bluff, Alexandra Headland disguised as a coffin. A vast improvement on the original.
The coffin spent the next 12 months at Noosa undergoing a major makeover. Appearing at the 1999 Threeway fully restored, beautifully painted with murals of Moffat, The Bluff and First Point. All clubs agreed “let’s keep it like that.”
For the record, Alex have 7 wins, Noosa have 6 wins and Caloundra best is second place on many occasions.
The 1996/1997 committee was re-elected for the following year unopposed.
President :- Gary Sawdy Vice President :- Steve Miller Secretary/Treasurer :- John O’Connor
The February 1998 monthly meeting minutes included discussions on the club’s first camping trip to the North Shore Wilderness Park in March. Another tradition started.
Roger Todd spoke on the proposed Ann St boardwalk and viewing platform. Members were encouraged to take an active role and a letter of support to the Council was sent. The club also sent letters of support for proposals to shut down the sewage outlet pipe at Moffat and support for the walkway from Ann St to Currimundi Lake.
Working with the council on weeding and tree planting days begin.
More competition gear was organised, Stuart Miller’s handcrafted stop/start boards, gas hooter and more wet shirts.
President Garry Sawdy, Vice President Steve Miller and Secretary/Treasurer Mark Hughes were re-elected at the 1998 and again at the 1999 AGM. The bank balance in June 1998 was $466.55.
The monthly meeting was moved from the Velvet Waters Restaurant to its present location at the Old Sailing club in June 1999.
Juniors Mat Bryant and Troy Brown took over the newsletter writing duties.
2000 committee:- President Steve Miller, V/President Frank Healey, Secretary John Morse and Treasurer Jerome Keane.
2001 committee same as 2000 except Sue M is the new Treasurer.
Roger Todd’s successful application for a 2001 Centenary of Federation grant of $2000 enabled the club to hold its inaugural Fun in the Sun Team Challenge in November that year.
Scott Palmer drew up the team format for the competition. The club was in panic mode when no nominations had been received by October, but the event went ahead when thankfully 12 teams nominated.
The Noosa Longboards team won the first, going on to win 3 of the first 4. Their teams comprised of some of Australia’s best longboarders, including Josh Constable, Daryl Homan, Chris and Kealhi De Boitz, Clint Guest, Rosie Locke and Steve Montell.
Teams from Beach Beat and the Burleigh Longboard club also dominated the early years. Honourable mention goes to Dave Rayner’s Cafe by the Beach team, finalist every year since 2001.
Club champion 2000 :- Dave Allen
Club Champion 2001 :- Jerome Keane
Caloundra Malibu Club 