Doug Warbrick

Doug Warbrick is an Australian businessman, founder of the Rip Curl brand and notable figure in the sport of surfing. Warbrick is credited for bringing the longest running surf event in history, the Bells Beach Surf Classic, to the professional surfing circuit. He is a founding member of the ASP World Tour, surf aficionado and athlete mentor.

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.

Career

In 1967, Warbrick opened a surf shop at Bells Beach. Two years later, in 1969, Warbrick founded Rip Curl with Brian Singer, shaping surfboards out of Singer's garage. Later, Rip Curl started producing wetsuits and moved into the famed 'Old Bakery'. Warbrick and Singer had discovered what Jack O'Neill had learned a few years earlier: cold-water surfers need wetsuits. 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 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, 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.

Awards

In 2008, Warbrick was inducted into the Brighton Grammar Hall of Fame.
In 2010, Warbrick was inducted into the Australian Surfing Hall of Fame.
In 2024, Warbrick was inducted into the Surfing Walk of Fame in Huntington Beach, California.