Ripcurl and Surfblanks Championships tracksuit top
Date1975
Object number00033561
NameTracksuit top
MediumPolyester, cotton
DimensionsOverall: 540 x 490 mm, 0.22 kg
ClassificationsClothing and personal items
Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from Jodi Adams
DescriptionA souvenir tracksuit top from the Ripcurl and Surfblanks Championships held at Bells Beach, Easter weekend, 1975.
Michael Petersen won the Rip Curl Pro from 1973-1975.
The first surfing competition was held at Bells Beach in 1962 and turned pro in 1973 when Rip Curl became a sponsor. This drew the attention and attendance of international surfers and since then it has run every year, with the exception of 2020, making it the worlds longest continuously run surf competition.
HistoryHer friend David ‘Mex’ Sumpter who attended the event gave this windcheater to Jodi Adams. David has been active in Australian surfing since the 1960s and is a well-known surfer and filmmaker. Jodi Adams regularly attended the Easter competition at Bells Beach from the mid-1970s, and as a journalist, contributed articles on surfing to Tracks magazine and other publications.
The Bells Beach competition began with an advertisement in 1961 for “the first surfboard rally to be held in Victoria". The event quickly became an important fixture for the Easter long weekend and grew to be a place where surfers from around Australia and later, the world, would come. Over the years, Bells Beach became the location for a number of surfing innovations including the introduction of the three-finned board by Simon Anderson in 1981 and the winged keel, designed by Ben Lexcen and surfed to victory by Cheyne Horan in 1984.
SignificanceThis windcheater is from the third professional surf contest held at Bells Beach and is an early example of the Australian pro surfing contest souvenir clothing. Such garments were generally worn until they fell apart.
c 1964
