In 1953 Rusty Preisendorfer was born in inland San Diego in the United States of America. It wasn't until he moved to La Jolla in 1966 and surfed at Shores Beach and Blacks that he discovered his passion for surfing.
Seventies Board Rider
In the winter of 1969 Rusty found the art for which he would become famous, and shaped his first surfboard. In the summer of 1972 Rusty took a break from college and began to shape his own designs and ride for G&S Surfboards. During this time Rusty appeared in adverts and articles for the surfing magazines of the day. While he was working for G&S Rusty learnt from legendary shapers Skip Frye and Mike Eaton, and began to experiment with the alternative board building materials Kevlar/epoxy.
Origins Of Rusty Surfing
In 1975 Rusty left G&S and began his own surfboard label called 'Music!'. Preisendorfer returned to college to study for an Art degree while shaping 'Music!' boards and freelancing for other surfboard companies. By 1985, Canyon boards shaped by Rusty were used by 10 of the top 16 surfers in the world, including Shaun Tomson and Mark Occhilupo (Occy). Rusty decided that it was time to leave Canyon and create his own surfboard company named Rusty, and the R-dot logo was born. In 2001 the Rusty brand had its first World Champ, the 22-year old Floridian CJ Hobgood.
World Pro Breaker Sponsors
Rusty now sponsors an impressive list of pro riders including the natural footed Josh Kerr from Coolangatta in Queensland, Australia, the goofy footed hard-charging tube rider Kalani Chapman, Santa Cruz big wave surfer and star of 'Riding Giants', 'Step Into Liquid' and 'Billabong Odyssey' Darryl Virostko, and Monster Energy Pro champ and pipeline local Jamie O'Brien.
Future Of Rusty
Rusty are one of the largest surf companies to originate from the USA, continuing to push the evolution of surfboard design and producing a large range surf clothing, such as boardshorts, tee shirts, hoodies, jeans and walkshorts. Despite its size the Rusty brand remains close to its surging roots, with its heart and soul lying firmly in the custom, hand shaped surfboard. It's all about the surfing.