First Rip Curl Pro Competitor T-shirt

This competitor t-shirt is from Australia's first professional surfing competition, the 1973 Rip Curl Pro at Bells Beach. The contest had previously been called the Bells Beach Rally, which had run annually at Easter since 1962. Inspired by pro competitions that had been run in Hawaii, Rip Curl founders Brian Singer and Doug Warbrick believed that sponsoring the Bells contest was a good way of promoting their fledgling Torquay-based surfboard and wetsuit business. Autographed by the champion, Queensland's Michael Peterson, who took home $1,000 for his win, the event triggered the staging of other pro competitions elsewhere in Australia the next year, ultimately paving the way for the creation of a world pro tour championship in 1976. The Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach is now the world’s longest running pro competition, the company having maintained their naming rights for almost half a century.