Rip Curl

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Rip Curl
Type	Private company
Founded	1969
Headquarters	Torquay, Victoria
Key people	Doug Warbrick Brian Singer François Payot
Website	Rip Curl's homepage

Rip Curl is a major Australian manufacturer and retailer of boardwear. The company was founded in 1969 by Doug Warbrick and Brian 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. Rip Curl has become one of the largest boardwear brands in Australia, Europe and South America and is growing rapidly in North America.^{[citation needed]}

Rip Curl remains a private company. François Payot is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Rip Curl International.

In addition to selling to independent retailers worldwide, Rip Curl operates corporate stores in Australia, New Zealand, Europe, USA, Canada, England and Israel.

Contents 1 Sponsored ASP World Tour events 2 Sponsored athletes 3 2006 WCT controversy 4 External links 5 References

[edit] Sponsored ASP World Tour events

• Rip Curl Pro - Bells Beach - Jan Juc, Victoria, Australia
• Rip Curl Boardmasters - Fistral Beach - Newquay, Cornwall, England
• Rip Curl Pipeline Masters - Banzai Pipeline in Oahu, Hawaii
• Rip Curl Pro Mademoiselle - France
• Rip Curl Pro Search- Floating License

[edit] Sponsored athletes

• Mick Fanning
• Stephanie Gilmore
• Tom Curren
• Taylor Knox
• Ben Dunn
• Pancho Sullivan
• Bruce Santos
• Bethany Hamilton
• Jacqueline Silva
• Andy Finch

[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] External links

• Rip Curl
• Rip Curl Events
• Rip Curl Logos
• Rip Curl Wetsuits

[edit] References

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2007)