Doug Warbrick Explained

Doug Warbrick
Birth Date:	30 December 1942
Birth Place:	Queensland, Australia
Nationality:	Australian
Other Names:	Claw
Occupation:	entrepreneur, surfer
Years Active:	1960 - present
Known For:	Co-founder of Rip Curl

Doug Warbrick (born 30 December 1942) is an Australian businessman, founder of the Rip Curl brand and notable figure in the sport of surfing.^[1] Warbrick is credited for bringing the longest running surf event in history, the Bells Beach Surf Classic, to the professional surfing circuit.^[2] He is a founding member of the ASP World Tour, surf aficionado and athlete mentor.^{[3] [4] [5]}

Early life

Warbrick was born on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia. He began surfing as a child in Maroochydore. Warbrick's family then moved to Melbourne, Victoria, where Warbrick attended Brighton Grammar School.^[6]

Career

In 1967, Warbrick opened a surf shop at Bells Beach.^[7] Two years later, in 1969, Warbrick founded Rip Curl with Brian Singer, shaping surfboards out of Singer's garage.^{[8] [9]} Later, Rip Curl started producing wetsuits and moved into the famed 'Old Bakery'.^{[10] [11]} Warbrick and Singer had discovered what Jack O'Neill had learned a few years earlier: cold-water surfers need wetsuits.^[12] In 1980, Rip Curl moved to its current headquarters on the Surf Coast Highway in Torquay, Victoria.

Warbrick was an original member of the Australian Surfing Association (now Surfing Australia) in 1963 and was a committee member and vice-president of Surfing Victoria in the 1960s and 1970s. He was also a founding member of the ASP World Tour and the Surfrider Foundation Australia. Warbrick was responsible for bringing the Bells Beach Surf Classic (now known as the Rip Curl Pro), held during Easter each year at Bells Beach, to the professional surfing circuit. Warbrick has mentored notable athletes such as Tom Curren, Michael Peterson and Mick Fanning.^[13]

Awards

In 2008, Warbrick was inducted into the Brighton Grammar Hall of Fame.^[14]

In 2010, Warbrick was inducted into the Australian Surfing Hall of Fame.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Greenblat . Eli . 7 October 2014 . Rip Curl pumps . Australian Business Review.
2. Web site: 15 April 2009 . Interview: Doug Warbrick . 27 September 2019 . Surfline.
3. Web site: Australian Surfing Awards .
4. Web site: Gordon . Michael . 5 December 2008 . Solitude is swell in the Mentawai Islands . traveller.com.au.
5. Web site: Coastalwatch . Feb 21, 2010 . Doug "Claw" Warbrick Inducted into Australian Surfing Hall of Fame . 5 January 2015 . Coastalwatch . coastalwatch.com.
6. Book: Baker . Tim . The Rip Curl Story . 2019 . Penguin Australia.
7. Web site: Baker . Tim . How Rip Curl went from garage brand to global empire . www.executivestyle.com.au/ . 10 May 2019 . 25 March 2019.
8. Web site: Tan . Gillian . 17 September 2012 . Australia's Rip Curl . Wall Street Journal.
9. Web site: Gluckman . Ron . Australia's Silicon Valley of Surfing . Forbes.com . 20 May 2018 . 30 November 2016.
10. Web site: The Short History of Wetsuits . Surfingworld . 27 September 2019 . 28 April 2018.
11. Web site: Greenblat . Eli . Surfing buddies who rode rich wave step ashore . Sydney Morning Herald . 25 September 2013.
12. Book: Warshaw . Matt . The History of Surfing . 2011 . Chronicle Books.
13. Web site: Stoltz . Greg . Mick Fanning is heading to Bells Beach for his final competition wave . Courier Mail . 27 September 2019 . 23 March 2018.
14. Web site: Brighton Grammar Hall of Fame . 20 September 2016 . brightongrammar.vic.edu.au.