A recent series put out by Tracks Magazine features boards and shapers that won world titles. One article highlights Tom Carrol's second World Title and the board he won on...one shaped by none other than Rusty Preisendorfer. Check out some highlights from the article below:
In 1984 Tom Carroll was hell-bent on winning his second world title on the trot. However, he faced an ominous, pincer-like challenge from the emerging talents of Tom Curren and Mark Ochiluppo.
Despite going on to win the Gunston 500, Tom wasn’t happy with the board he was on and remembers leaving South Africa for California and going straight to see Rusty Preisendorfer. “ I was like ‘Can you make me a board because something you’ve got going on under Occy’s feet is allowing his talent to flair’.” Tom suggests that Rusty saw no conflict of interest and didn’t baulk at the opportunity to make him a board. At the time several of the tour’s surfers – not just the rampaging Occy – were also commissioning boards from Rusty. The way Tom remembers it, Rusty was a widely sought after craftsmen rather than an exclusive dealer. “He was doing them out of a shaping Bay down in San Diego. I got to know the freeway well,” chuckles Tom who had a rep for driving fast.
In California Tom practised on the board at T-street, which was ‘a bitch of a wave’ in his opinion. However the new equipment worked and he had his best ever results in California before embarking on a successful European leg.
While Occy fizzed, Tom powered towards his second world title riding a board that had been inspired by Occy’s performances earlier in the season. It was the pro surfing equivalent of an arms race. If your competitor had something that gave them the upperhand then you had to find a way to match it. Fortunately for Carroll in this instance the weapons manufacturer was happy to deal with both sides. For Rusty Preisendorfer it was a way to double his chances of having one of his boards beneath the feet of a world champion. Although Occy is arguably more closely associated with Rusty’s boards in that era it was ultimately Carroll who won the title on a Rusty.
Read the full article HERE.
