Surfing in Australia in the late 60's was quickly becoming big business. Buying a good surfboard on the Victoria coastline, like the Bob McTavish Keyo surfboard, was incredibly difficult as demand was quickly outstripping supply. Based at Torquay Beach in Victoria, Doug 'Claw' Warbrick and Brian 'Sing Ding' Singer, saw a niche in the market and began to sell Rip Curl branded surfboards.
Wetsuits & Surf Gear
In 1969 the two Australian surfers were driven to develop the ultimate wetsuit for surfers in cold water conditions. Initially, the first Rip Curl wetsuits were simple in design, but through research and innovation the surfer's wetsuit quickly evolved. By the mid 70's the Rip Curl neoprene wetsuits were available in the surf shops in California, and at the end of the decade they were in the European surf shops.
Rip Curl also began to produce T-Shirts, boardshorts, hoodies, walk shorts, shirts and various items of surf wear and accessories. Surf lifestyle clothing had become extremely popular as surfers grew in numbers and people identified with the live-to-enjoy-life philosophy. The Rip Curl logo featuring the cresting wave clearly identified them with their audience and the surf company continued to grow.
Wave Rider Technology
Through the years Rip Curl has always kept its core surf appeal, through the cult of 'The Search', the classic surf lifestyle of constantly searching for the best waves that the world has to offer to achieve the ultimate rush, and also through Rip Curl's technological innovations developed for surfers. For example in recent years Rip Curl has developed state of the art surf wetsuits like the bomb which feature Elastomax and SlickSkin technologies, STL stitchless boardshorts for the ultimate comfort and fit, and the ATS - Automatic Tide System watches which at a glance allow the surfer to see what the tide is doing and when.
World Championship Sponsors
Rip Curl also sponsors riders across the globe from grommet to WCT pro. Rip Curl's current ASP WCT riders include Ben Dunn (Australia), Pancho Sullivan (Hawaii), Raoni Monteiro (Brazil), and possibly the next Australian to be the surfing world champion - Mick 'White Lightning' Fanning. Rip Curl and Rip Curl Girl continue to produce great technical surf and snow wear, and high quality surf clothing with great prints and branding. We have no doubt that Rip Curl will continue to push wave and snow riding to a new level.