Filmmaker Jack McCoy and his long-time subject, Mark Occhilupo, have to be one of the great double acts of modern surfing.

A quarter of a century after the release of the groundbreaking ‘Occumentary’, thousands  flocked to see a digital remake in a 10-stop cinema tour of the east coast of Australia.

‘The Occumentary’ covers Occhilupo’s compelling comeback from self-imposed hibernation and radical weight gain, to the 1999 World Title.

It was the first real surfer profile documentary, breaking the well-worn travelogue format surfing movies had evolved into.

As a film genre, surf movies are easily dated, but ‘The Occumentary’ stands the test of time. According to McCoy, it’s because of the heroic story, but also his good friend’s timeless surfing.

“When you see the sequence of him at Bells Beach for the Skins event, that surfing today is as good as, if not better than any CT (Championship Tour) Bells contest you’ve watched in the last five years. His surfing has not aged,” says McCoy.

“He’s still out there at Snapper blowing people’s minds.”

Jack McCoy grips the tripod that has become a fifth limb in his prolific, film-making career.

Occhilupo believes the movie’s greatest strength is its soundtrack, featuring bands such as the Foo Fighters, Powder Finger and WA’s psychedelic surf rockers Storytime.

The 58-year-old thinks surfboard design has evolved so much since his World Title that he feels like he’s surfing better today.

But he admits watching the Skins sequence on the big screen during the recent tour made him re-think that call.

“Maybe that was the peak of my surfing then and there, but I’ve tried to get better still at this tender age of 58,” Occhilupo says.

The evergreen goofy-footer reckons giving up alcohol about five years ago has prolonged his prodigious talent.

“I used to ...