There will always be debate over who invented the floater but there is almost universal agreement in surfing about who made it the hottest manoeuvre of the mid – ’80s.
Mark Sainsbury was a diminutive natural footer from the central coast of N.S.W. who won the world Amatuer title in 1986. The following year he had a cameo in Mad Wax, the cult surf film, which featured ‘Sanga’ displaying his acting and surfing skills alongside Gary Kong-Elkerton, Ross Clarke-Jones and Tom Carroll.
However, it was the lip-glide that Mark is best remembered for. Tracks photographer Tony Nolan remembers vividly his reaction when he first saw Sanga pull the move in a contest at the 1985 Pro Junior held at Narrabeen.
“Oh god it was amazing! When I saw him do it I went, ‘what the hell was that?’ I’d never seen anyone do that before. He went up with the wave and came down with the curtain. Everyone though it was a hell of a move,” recalls Nolan.
Sanga was one of the central coasts’s favourite surfing sons and an extremely popular figure amongst his peers. According to the Surfing Encyclopaedia Mark Richards said of Sainsbury. “He was an unbelievable surfer, and I credit him with inventing the floater…and you couldn’t have met a nicer person if you custom ordered one.”
Sanga tragically passed away in 1992 when he suffered from a brain anyuerism while surfing at Avoca. Tracks devotee and central coast stalwart, Ray Henderson pointed out that yesterday commemorated the 22nd anniversary of Mark’s death. We thought we would pay tribute to the king of the floater with a few pages from past Tracks. Next time you pull a floater, spare a thought for the surfer who pioneered a new way up and over a section.
Click below to enjoy a Flipbook of past articles from Tracks Magazine featuring Sanga.
