Rusty

Mention Rusty Surfboards and anyone that is a fan of surfing is bound to recognize this brand. Through the years, Rusty has moved to take its place among the best surfboard manufacturers not only in North America but also with recognition by surfers the world over.

Rusty Surfboards is the brainchild of Rusty Preisendorfer.

Born in 1953, Rusty began designing surfboards by the age of sixteen. It was not long before he started shaping surfboards for major brands such as Canyon and Gordon and Smith. His profile grew as boards he had shaped became the choice of the champions earning ads and editorials in Surfer and Surfing magazine.

In the 1980s, Preisendorfer decides to brand his shapes under Canyon surfboards with his own logo. This heralded the birth of the Rusty models being ridden by over half of pro surfers in the Top 16 including Australia’s Mark Occhilupo and Californian Dave Parmenter.

As a rivalry developed in the 80’s between Occy and California’s Tom Curren, with Occy riding Rusty models and Tom ridding Al Merrick / Channel Islands surfboards, the publicity throws Preisendorfer into the surfboard shaping spotlight.

It was time for this master of surfboard shaping to take the plunge on his own, breaking away from Canyon in 1985, and starting his own shaping line called Rusty, using a large R with a dot as his logo. This was referred to simply as the ‘R-dot’.

It did not take long before the ‘R-dot’ moved into apparel as the brand became more established and recognized in the world of surfing.

But Preisendorfer wasn’t going to just shape regular surfboards, he was more innovative than that! Rusty knew the opportunities epoxy offered surfboard design joining with shaper Randy French to work with him on new surfboard design ideas.

This turned out to be a great decision as the two took their epoxy sandwiched prototypes to heights that no one could image at the time. This is the Tuflite technology we know today, launched in 1992 and labeled Surftech.

To continue pushing the limits of what is possible in surfboard shaping and design, Rusty developed many design contest including the C-5 Challenge and Anything But 3 contest. This became extremely popular and encouraged other shapers to think outside the box.

In 2008, Rusty Preisendorfer was declared Shaper of the year by the sports leading publication, Surfing Magazine. Apart from its footprint in North America, today, the company has spread its reach to Australia, Europe, Japan, Latin America and even parts of South America.