Rip Curl

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Rip Curl
Type	Private company
Founded	1969
Headquarters	Torquay, Victoria
Key people	Doug "Claw" Warbrick Brian Singer François Payot
Website	[www.ripcurl.com]

Rip Curl is a major Australian manufacturer and retailer of boardwear. The company was founded in 1969 by Doug "Claw" Warbrick and Brian "Sing Ding" Singer in Torquay, Victoria, Australia and initially produced surfboards. In 1970 they decided to begin production of wetsuits, with emphasis on transforming diving technology into a wetsuit suitable for surfing. Today Rip Curl produces not only surf gear but also apparel, mountainwear, eyewear, watches, footwear, bags and DVDs. Rip Curl has become one of the largest boardwear brands in Australia, Europe and South America and is growing rapidly in North America. Rip Curl remains a private company. François Payot is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Rip Curl International.

Contents 1 The Start Of Rip Curl 2 2006 WCT controversy 3 Sponsored World Championship Tour events 4 Sponsored athletes 5 Rip Curl stores 6 External links 7 References

[edit] The Start Of Rip Curl

The year is 1969. Legendary rockers Led Zeppelin have just released their wicked debut album and a space astronaut Neil Armstrong has just put the first human footprints on the moon. (In fact, the day he does so, Bells Beach is 10ft and near perfect. Torquay locals, Charlie Bartlett and Brian Singer, surf their brains out before going home to watch the other momentous event on black and white TV.)

In Australia, surfing is at a bizarre stage of its development. The short board revolution of 1967 has created a frenzy of experimentation in surfboard design and surfing technique. Times are certainly changing. A hardy breed of surfer, who has no time for commercial beach hype, has settled in the no-frills seaside town of Torquay - just a couple of kilometres away from Bells Beach. Lifeís all about The Search for waves and parties. It is into this cold-climate cave that Doug "Claw" Warbrick and Brian "Sing Ding" Singer decide to pitch their fledgling surf company, Rip Curl. Coincidentally, both Doug and Brian hailed from Queensland, and had both been taken by the surfing lifestyle in the early '60s.

"We decided, like many others of the time, that a backyard garage could be a surfboard factory," recalls Brian. "So we cleared some shit out of my garage and started making boards ourselves, simple. Claw had quite a bit of shaping experience, and although our first boards were pretty rough, the shapes were just what the locals wanted. I graduated from fin sanding to glassing and I remember we started off doing about four boards a week. Claw would start shaping on Monday and weíd finish them by Friday night so guys could pick up their boards for the weekend surf."

Rip Curl Surfboards did well in a highly competitive market, which had opened up in response to the revolution in design. Pioneers like Gordon Woods and Barry Bennett in Sydney and George Rice in Victoria had been joined by hundreds of wide-eyed hopefuls operating, like Rip Curl, out of garages and tool sheds.

In 1970, however, Claw and Singer made a decision that changed their green company forever. Looking at the needs of their fellow cold-water surfers, they branched in to the world of wetsuits. At the time only two companies were manufacturing wetties to keep out the cold, one of which made wetsuits for divers and had only a marginal commercial interest in surfing. The Curl took over an old house in Torquay and made a small investment in a pre-World War II sewing machine. Claw and Brian put together a Crew of locals and went into production, cutting out the rubber on the floor and handing the pieces to an over-worked and underpaid machinist.

By today's standards, the prototype Rip Curl wetsuits were primitive, but they differed from others on the market in that they evolved through interaction with surfers. Like it has been for over 30 years, Rip Curl was at the forefront of research, development and technology in surfing.

[edit] 2006 WCT controversy

In 2006, Rip Curl held a World championship tour (WCT) surfing contest at a "undisclosed" location in Mexico. The name Rip Curl called the community was "La Jolla". Rip Curl paid the town $5000 US to hold the contest. In contrast, when the World championship tour (WCT) surfing holds contests at Trestles, in Orange County, the sponsors are forced to pay the community $70,000 with a $25,000 deposit. The Surfer's Journal (volume 15 #6), a widely respected surfing publication, quoted Sean Collins, the leading surf forecaster for Surfline, as saying "Holding a World championship tour (WCT) surfing event there and webcasting it for hundred of thousands of viewers has just smoked the place, Sure, maybe The Spot isn't as secret as it once was, but it's still a very sensitive area. The sad thing is, it's finished not only for The Spot but for the entire area.". Sean Collins attempted to negotiate a deal with Rip Curl and the mayor of the community. He asked the mayor what he wanted for his community. "They wanted $30,000 U.S. to build a medical center. If the town could come up with the funds to build the center, the federal government would send a physician. The pomp and circumstance would leave town, and The Spot would have something other than more surfers to show for it. Thinking that a goodwill gesture on the order of $30,000 U.S. was just what the doctor ordered, Collins approached Rip Curl with a with a couple of options, including a swap for free advertising on Surfline. In the end, Rip Curl balked. 'Rip Curl spent over a million dollars on the contest and they wouldn't come up with 30 grand for goodwill.' Collins said. 'We would have blown [the donation] up on Surfline and they could have been heroes, but instead they opted to search and burn.'"^[1]

[edit] Sponsored World Championship Tour events

• Rip Curl Pro, Bells Beach - Jan Juc, Victoria, Australia
  
• Rip Curl Search WCT - 2007 Somewhere in Costa Rica (mystery location)
  

[edit] Sponsored athletes

Mick Fanning
Tom Curren
Bethany Hamilton
Stephanie Gilmore
Andy Finch
Chris Booth
Per Loken

[edit] Rip Curl stores

In addition to selling to thousands of independent retailers worldwide, Rip Curl operates corporate stores in Australia, France, USA, Canada, England and Israel.

[edit] External links

• Rip Curl
• Rip Curl Events
• Rip Curl Logos

[edit] References

1. ^ The Spot by Kimball Taylor, The Surfer's Journal, Volume 14 Number 6