A-frame

Aaberg, Denny

Aaberg, Kemp

Abberton, Koby

Abbruzzi, Sid

Abellira, Reno

Abubo, Megan

academia and surfing

Adler, Tom

advertising and surfing

Aeder, Erik

aerial

Aguerre, Fernando

Aichner, Scott

Aikau, Clyde

Aikau, Eddie

Aipa, Ben

air-drop

airbrush

Airshow

Ala Moana

Alabama

alaia board

Alaska

alcohol and surfing

Alexander, Kala

Allen, Chuck

Alms, Paige

aloha shirt

Alter, Hobie

Alvarez, Pepe

Ancell, Kevin

Andaman Islands

Andersen, Lisa

Anderson, Craig

Anderson, Simon

Andino, Kolohe

Angel, Jose

angle

Angola

Angourie

Antarctica

Apocalypse Now

Arabian Sea

Aragon, Janice

Arakawa, Eric

Archbold, Matt

Arena, Eduardo

Ashton, Juan

Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP)

Atlantic Ocean

August, Robert

Aurness, Rolf

Auster, Ken

Australia

Avalon, Frankie

Azores

backdoor

backside

backside attack, Pipeline

backwash

bail out

Bain, Rob

Baja California

Baker, Bernie

Baker, Grant “Twiggy”

Baker, Tim

Bali

Ball, John “Doc”

Ballard, Bill

Ballard, Rochelle

balsa

Baltic Sea

Banks, Jim

Barbados

Barilotti, Steve

Barland, Michel

Barreda, Sergio “Gordo”

Barry, Michael

Bartholomew, Wayne

Baxter, Jackie

Bay of Bengal

Beach Boys, The

Beacham, Debbie

beachboys

beachbreak

Beachcomber Bills Grand Prix

Beachley, Layne

beavertail

Becker, Phil

Bedford-Brown, Stuart

Belgium

Bells Beach

Bendall, Ma and Pa

Bennett, Barry

Benson, Becky

Benson, Blanche

Benson, Linda

Bermuda

Bertlemann, Larry

Short-lived world tour pro circuit ratings system, launched in late 1976, almost simultaneously with the founding of the International Professional Surfers (IPS) tour. "It is my hope," tour cofounder and director Al Paterson wrote in a 1976 announcement, "that the Grand Prix will serve to provide an opportunity for the committed professional surfer to earn a decent wage for his efforts."

Beachcomber Bills sandals, a Central California-based company owned by Bill Marre and Jim Phillips, was booming in the mid-'70s, and looking for a new marketing opportunity. During a visit to the North Shore in 1975, Marre, Phillips, and Paterson spent an afternoon talking with Australian pro Ian Cairns about linking together a series of already-existing contests into an international tour similar to that of Formula One racing. An identical points system would be for each event—the higher you finish, the more points you're awarded—and at the end of the year the surfer with the highest aggregate point total would be declared world champion.

Meanwhile, Cairns and travel partner Peter Townend were also talking to Hawaiian surf contest promoters Fred Hemmings and Randy Rarick about a similar idea. Hemmings and Rarick went on to form International Professional Surfers (IPS).

The Grand Prix and the IPS were on friendly terms, and officially launched their tours at the same kickoff party, at the Kuilima Hyatt hotel on the North Shore, on October 13, 1976. In a 

 magazine article, Paterson wrote that the event featured "the largest gathering ever of international surfing professionals."

Perhaps looking to steal a march on the Grand Prix, the IPS decided to retroactively tabulate contests from the previous 10 months in order to determine a 1976 world champion (Peter Townend, with Ian Cairns runner-up). The Grand Prix, meanwhile, launched in early 1977. Both organizations tallied points from the same 12 events that year, starting with the Stubbies Pro at Burleigh Heads, and ending with the World Cup at Sunset Beach. At year's end, South Africa's Shaun Tomson won both the IPS and Beachcomber Bills titles; for his Beachcomer's victory, Tomson received $1,500 and a round-the-world plane ticket for the following season.

Because of slightly different scoring systems, many pros had two rankings for 1977; Australian Peter Drouyn, for example, finished sixth in the IPS and fifth in the Grand Prix. World tour sponsorship money, meanwhile, did not roll in as expected. "If you were on of those pros who thought you'd be laughing your way to the bank on circuit winnings," 1976 world champ Peter Townend wrote at the end of the '77 tour, "well, my friend, the joke was on you."

Beachcomber Bills threw a black-tie formal awards ceremony at the end of the season, but the Grand Prix didn't return as promised in 1978, and the company itself soon folded.

1977 Beachcomber Bills final ratings and prizemoney winnings. IPS ratings are in parenthesis.

1. Shaun Tomson (1) $10,553
2. Wayne Bartholomew (2) $5,825
3. Simon Anderson (3) $10, 950
4. Reno Abellira (4) $9,000
5. Peter Drouyn (6) $3,138
6. Mark Richards (5) $6,350
7. Mark Warren (7) $2,850
8. Rory Russell (8) $4,650
9. Buzzy Kerbox (10) $2,500
10. Terry Fitzgerald (9) $2,750
11. Ian Cairns (13) $2,500
12. Peter Townend (14) $500
13. Michael Ho (11) $1,925
14. Bobby Owens (12) $1,800
15. Gavin Rudolph (15) $1,285
16. Michael Peterson (17) $5,675
17. Dane Kealoha (20) $950
18. Jeff Crawford (19) $2,200
19. Michael Tomson (18) $1,700
20. Bruce Raymond (16) $1,500

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Encyclopedia of Surfing

History of Surfing

Interviews

Features

Encyclopedia of Surfing

History of Surfing

Interviews

Features