Mark Richards OAM (born 7 March 1957), known as MR, is an Australian surfer who became a four-time world champion (1979–1982).
In the late 1950s Ray saw the new balsa and fibreglass mailbu surfboards, which Greg Noll and other visiting Californians had brought with them in 1956.
Organiser and 1968 world title holder Fred Hemmings had other ideas; with sunshine, offshore winds and television coverage he threatened to go out himself if nobody else wanted to.
At 17 years old and without Waimea experience nobody would have thought less of him if he didn't, but he felt to walk away would end his hopes of surfing professionally, and put him back in Newcastle at some unappealing apprenticeship.
Image was important for Richards, and in 1975 he had Hawaiian artist Albert Dove design a superman-style badge with "MR" inscribed in it.
Back in Hawaii again for the 1976/77 winter, aged 19, he took his father's suggestion to pay for shaping lessons from noted pioneer Dick Brewer.
Past world title winners hadn't reaped any great financial reward, so he reckoned he was better off putting his shaping first.
Richards came 4th in the Pipe Masters at Banzai Pipeline, which advanced him against Wayne Bartholomew and Cheyne Horan when they made early exits.
Bartholomew went out early, and another contender Dane Keoloha made a tactical error of waiting for big sets which didn't come and was out.
But Surfing Magazine gave him the honour of a head-shot on the cover instead of their normal action shot, commissioned from rock photographer Norman Seef in Los Angeles.
The reason was a mystery, he'd just won his fourth world title and was at the peak of his popularity, but they declined to renew for another year.
It turned out the parent company was in severe financial trouble, and it in fact folded, putting most of its Hawaiian staff out of work.
Richards and his parents were close and he would celebrate a win by having a meal with them, a marked contrast to surf and party animals of the time.
For 1983 and following years Richards chose not to defend his title, and to travel and compete less, due to back troubles and the pressure of being on top.
It turned out he was unable to compete for 1982 anyway, an ankle injury on a big day at home at Dixon Park kept him on dry land for five months.
His legs were a little shorter and trunk a little longer than usual which meant that he tended to pivot not at the hips but a couple of vertebrae up, straining the ligaments surrounding them.