Australian surfing icon Wayne Deane passed away at the age of 66.
The iconic surfer was fighting a battle against stomach cancer and died peacefully on July 19.
Wayne Deane was born in Queensland in 1952.
He started riding surf-o-planes in the mid-1950s and began surfing when he was only eight years old, quickly spreading his talent across the Gold Coast.
The regular footer was a familiar face in Kirra and won 19 shortboard and longboard national titles and the longboard division at the 1990 World Amateur Surfing Championships.
"The Evergreen" informally mentored his fellow Queenslander, Wayne "Rabbit" Bartholomew, when he won the 1978 world surfing title.
Carpenter and Activist
Wayne Deane once said that he had never really been "a pro surfer in the true sense of the word," but he was definitely a prominent and influencing figure of the shortboard revolution years.
Deane also became an accomplished surfboard shaper. He worked for Terry Fitzgerald's Hot Buttered before creating his own brand and company.
"Deaney" was inducted into the Australian Surfing Hall of Fame in 2003. He appeared in the surf movies "The Sultans of Speed" and Longboarding Is Not a Crime."
Wayne, who has been a carpenter, was a member of the Snapper Rocks Surfriders and, as an activist, dedicated his time to protecting surf breaks that were under threat in Queensland and New South Wales.
Wayne Deane is the father of pro surfer Noa Deane.