Rip Curl

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, 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.

One person's biased view of Rip Curl

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". RipCurl 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, 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 blow [the donation] up on Surfline and they could have been heroes, but instead they opted to search and burn.'"

Rip Curl has divorced itself from it's surfing roots by repeatedly holding large, commercial, World championship tour (WCT) surfing contests at locations that had been intentionally kept low profile by the surfing community. These contests have resulted in the destruction of the pristine and fragile nature of both the surf break and the communities themselves by turning a soulful lifestyle into a competitive, money hungry, business. Most of the dedicated, hardcore, underground surfing community considers consumers of Rip Curl's products not part of the surfing tribe. A term often used to describe consumers of Rip Curl products is "Kooks".

Rip Curl stores

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