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

Alexandre, João (Dapin)

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

Punk-flavored surfer, skateboarder, entrepreneur, and activist, from Newport, Rhode Island, often described as "the Godfather of New England surfing." Abbruzzi was born (1951) and raised in Newport. Duke Abbruzzi, his father, was an high school All State athlete in three sports (football, basketball, baseball), a star first baseman and running back at University of Rhode Island, and played a season in the NFL. (Pat Abbruzzi, Sid's uncle, played four years in the Canadian Football League, where he was named Most Outstanding Player in 1955.)

Abbruzzi began skateboarding at age 11, on a homemade board built from a two-by-four and metal roller skate wheels. The following year began surfing, at First Beach, Newport. While at University of Rhode Island, Abbruzzi joined the school surf team, which was founded by fellow student Peter Panagiotis—better known as Peter Pan—who went on to have one of the best-selling signature model surfboards ever produced. After dropping out of college ("I pulled a high draft number and wasn't sent to Vietnam, so I went surfing in Puerto Rico"), Abbruzzi made extended visits to Cocoa Beach, Santa Cruz, the Bahamas, and Jeffreys Bay.

In 1969, just before high school graduation, Abbruzzi began to import and sell Rick Surfboards from the basement of his family home, and in 1971 he founded Water Brothers, a surf and skateboard shop initially housed in a beachfront shack. That same year, Abbruzzi was arrested for defying a no-surfing ban at Ruggles, a rock-lined reef break located along Newport Cliff Walk, in front of some of Rhode Island's oldest and most expensive homes. He was found guilty in District Court and fined $10.00, but won on appeal in the Rhode Island Superior Court, which in turn struck down surfing bans across the state—and helped make Abbruzzi an enduring local surf hero.

In 1979, Abbruzzi sold Water Brothers to concentrate on his punk-metal band, Big World; the group had some regional success and opened shows for Iggy Pop, the Tubes, and Johnny Thunders. The band broke up in 1984, at which point Abbruzzi had already bought Water Brothers back.

In 2010, the Newport Restoration Foundation, a nonprofit preservation group founded by tobacco heiress Doris Duke, contacted Abbruzzi about giving a talk at the Duke mansion on local surf history. Abbruzzi, a surfboard collector, brought along a few vintage boards as props. The event was a hit, and the following year evolved into the Water Brothers Surf Fest, held annually until 2015. Abbruzzi founded, or promoted, or was otherwise directly involved with, all manner of surfing and skate events, movie screenings, and environmental causes. "Sid's very compassionate about people," photographer Joe McGovern said in 2013, drawing a contrast to the slightly menacing and aggressively-tattooed front that Abbruzzi presents to the world. "He knows people from all walks of life, and he treats everybody really well.”

From 1999 to 2004, Abbruzzi, a lifelong skateboarder, was part owner of Skater Island, a 20,000-square-foot indoor skateboard park located in Middletown, which was featured in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3.

In 2013, after Hurricane Sandy brought down portions of Cliff Walk, Abbruzzi once again came to the defense of Ruggles. Speaking before hundreds at a Newport town hall meeting, he explained that the state proposal to repair the walk—which included two jetties—would alter and possibly destroy the waves. "To thunderous applause," the 

 reported, "the City Council unanimously passed a resolution calling on the state not to damage the surfing spot."

Abbruzzi was elected to the East Coast Surfing Hall of Fame in 2016.

Big-wave surfer Ian Walsh, who grew up on Maui but was born in Rhode Island, is Abbruzzi's godson.

Subscribe or Login

Encyclopedia of Surfing

History of Surfing

Interviews

Encyclopedia of Surfing

History of Surfing

Interviews