All three were part of the growing design conciousness in surfers around the world, and all were to have an impact on the growth of surfing in the coming years.
The emphasis of surfing at that time was on 'noseriding' and these guys were the masters at it.
Crowds were in excess of 60,000.

Pic:- Midget at Bondi 1964, Midget winning the Hawaiian Makaha Contest in 1962. - courtesy of Geoff Cater - Surf Research.

Jock Sutherland (Haw) was 2nd, and Corky Carroll (USA) was 3rd.
Interestingly Rodney Sumpter, Nat's childhood friend & competitor - now riding for the UK - finished 5th in the event.
By this time the ISF had began to alot points for other competitions throughout the year to avoid the 'local' knowledge advantage of a one-off title event.
It was also the first year that surfers were allowed to get as many waves as they wanted - within a time frame - and take the highest 4 wave scores.

Fred Hemmings went on to become the Director of International Professional Surfers (IPS) from 1973 - 1975, and further to become a US Senator.
He has an impressive history of surfing credentials from 1958 to 1969, including 4 wins, 4 seconds, and a 3rd place in the coveted Makaha International Surfing Championships, at both Junior and Senior levels.
He has published several books also, namely:-
Surfing/Hawaii's Gift to the World of Sports.
The Soul of Surfing is Hawaiian
The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Surfing - with Randy Rarrick.

Although a highly dedicated professional surfer, who scored well throughout the season - he was also the first winner to be crowned on points/ranking for the season - without actually winning an event.
rumour has it he carried around a notepad - working out the points he needed for each event.
Ian Cairns (Aus) was Runner Up, and Mark Richards (Aus) came in 3rd.

Pete Townend went on to become one of the famous 'Bronzed Aussies' trio, along with Ian 'Kanga' Cairns and Cheyne Horan.

4 years later he would also be the first to champion Simon Anderson's 3 fin as the future of surfing.

Rabbit was also one of those who fought to get the system up and running - and returned to the professional arena again in the late 1990's - to become head (President actually) of the ASP, where he still sits today, and from where he intends to take the sport to 'World Recognition.'

Rabbit has also been very vocal and constructive in ecological and environmental issues on the Gold Coast, involved in the Narrowneck artificial reef - and the Tweed River sand pumping projects. He is commited to a growth in the sport - and probably the best ambassador for it.

There was an evolutionary change in surfboard design going on through this period, and Mark had pioneered a part of it with his Twin Fin II design.
The twin fin meant that a whole different range of turns were being introduced into the sport and, that high scores could be achieved in small, and sloppy conditions.
Mark's father had run a surf shop in Newcastle for years and been involved with the early Australian designers and surfers - so he had a bit of a head start.
Mark had a distinctive style - known as the 'wounded seagull' look - however, this stance was more to do with the fact that he was 'using his knees' to turn more, and his sheer height meant that he had to use his arms to balance those manoeuvres.
... Mark still runs his father's Newcastle SurfBoards.

A mention has to go to Cheyne Horan (Aus) in this period also - he faced off Mark 3 times during his reign, - himself pioneering design changes with the Geoff McCoy Lazor Zap designs.

Hard, controlled, and useful 'Cutbacks' were the order of the day in his period, and they led to surfers being able to position themselves better, capturing the power spots of waves again and again.
The thruster design had influenced a lot of this style of surfing power, with an added sensitivity.

Tom was the first 'Goofy' footer to win a world title.
He still surfs competitively today, and still has a 'mean' cutback.
Tom has also gone on to direct WCT events - believing that the competition surfer's requirements of today are best represented by their recent champions.

With the industry starting to be taken seriously through Tom Carroll's reign - Tom Curren now had the weight of the 'face' of surfing on him.

He retained it like a true champion - for two years, and became known as the first 'Chairman of the Board.'

Gary Elkerton (Australia also) - was the runner up with 3 events.

Not to be confused with, and no relation to the earlier Australian surfer - Wayne Lynch (Australian Junior Champion, IPS ranked and 'evolution' board designer) - Barton Lynch introduced his own style into surfing although he did capitalize on the 'Goofy' foot inspiration of Wayne Lynch

Not since Roger 'Gopher' Sumpter (1/2 Australian) had beaten American's like Corky Carroll back in the early 1960's had a British surfer even reached this pro level of surfing.
Even today - he remains the only UK World Champion.

'Pottz' as he is known was an agressive surfer, who liked to push the edge.
He is passionate about the energy and deication required for surfing professionals and 'got fed up with it all' at one point - but he has returned in recent years to compete in the Masters events.

Once again, the 'Chairman of the Board', this time Curren was leading a pack of new and hungry American's who wanted victory.

Damien has since gone on to direct his first WCT event at Bells in 2002, - believing that the surfer's of today are best represented by their recent champions.

But, he was from the East Coast beaches of Florida and his style was more fluid, and sensual than anyone had seen before.
He was a natural in the water, and could look in control on small or large waves.

That all changed in 1993, when Derek Ho, the younger brother of Pipeline Master - Michael Ho took out the honour.

Gary Elkerton (Australia) - was for the 3rd time runner up.

He continued his 'amazing' run of wins over the next 3 years, including an unprecedented 5 event titles in 1997. 1998 saw him World Champion for the 6th time, but this time with only 1 event title.
With 5 consecutive titles within his total, he felt that he had done everything that he could, including eclipsing the long standing record of 4 consecutive titles -previously held by Mark Richards (1979 - 1982).

He 'retired' after his 1998 win, as the most decorated surfer in it's history, - he did however surf some events in the 99, 2000 & 2001 circuit as a 'wildcard' entrant - winning the Pipeline Masters in 1999 and Teahupoo in 2000.

After two years of mostly rest and traveling to new breaks, and on request to return to the circuit- full time in 2002, he was granted a special 'full season' wildcard in 2002.
Finishing at #9 that year, he entered 2003 with his mind set on another title. He pushed the current World Champ all the way - but finished #2 in the end.

He returned in 1996, and finished 2nd for the year.
Fit, hungry and now one of the 'mature' thinking surfers on the circuit - he finally reached his milestone in taking the honours of the WCT Champion in 1999.
A true Champ - and a future ambassador of the sport.

CJ had a tremendous lead going into the final event - but it was based on a season of impressive 'air' and big wave performance.