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, Linda

Bermuda

Bertlemann, Larry

Beschen, Shane

Nation-hopping surfer and surf entrepreneur from Cornwall, England; 1960s title-winner in Australia, America, Great Britain, and Ireland, and the sport's only quad-national champion. "Rodney was the best surfer we'd ever seen," British boardmaker Doug Wilson later recalled. "His technique was phenomenal; fluid and aggressive at the same time. People would come from all over to watch him."

Sumpter was born (1947) in Watford, England, the son of an insurance salesman, moved with his family at age five to Sydney, Australia, and began surfing in 1961 at 14. Two years later the gangly regularfooter won the juniors division of the Australian Invitational Surfing Championships, just prior to finishing 3rd in juniors in the debut Australian National Titles.

Sumpter (long known as "Gopher" for his oversized front teeth) began dividing his time between Sydney and Southern California; in 1964 he won the juniors division in the United States Surfing Championships and finished 2nd in the USSA final ratings for juniors, behind David Nuuhiwa and just ahead of Corky Carroll. During this time, Sumpter worked part-time as a shaper for Hobie Surfboards.

His competitive roll continued in 1965, with victories in both the national and international divisions of the British Championships. Sumpter also competed in the World Surfing Championships that year.

Sumpter moved to England in 1966, and with his aggressive Aussie-style turns and a gift for noseriding—complemented by a smooth-talking raconteur charm—he made a profound impression on the budding English surfing scene. In the British press, he was sometimes called "Rodney the Great." Asked why he chose to live in England, Sumpter told a reporter that "surfers [here] are gentlemen."

Among the less-gentlemanly, Sumpter wasn't especially popular. A 

 profile described him as "aloof and self-possessed," and "not loved." But as the writer noted, "Sumpter's real crime is that he always wins and that he tends to keep away from the beach when he isn't involved in a heat."

Sumpter was hired by Bilbo Surfboards in Cornwall and began shaping his own Union Jack signature model, which sold well after his fifth-place finish in the 1966 World Championships in San Diego, California. He also repeated as British champion. Endlessly traveling, and always on a shoestring budget, Sumpter was described that in a 1966 

 article as a "modern-day Odysseus." Just 19, he'd already surfed in New Zealand, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, North Africa, Hawaii, Mexico, France, and Peru.

Two years later, in a complicated set of circumstances, Sumpter won the Irish National Championships and represented Ireland in the 1968 World Championships in Puerto Rico. For the 1970 World Championships in Australia, he again represented Great Britain, as he had in 1966. He dropped out of competitive surfing not long after finishing third in the 1971 Makaha International.

Ever the showman, Sumpter gained notice in 1967, when he rode a tidal bore wave up the Severn River, west of Bristol, for more than two miles. Two years later, he tried, without much success, to ride a bore up the icy-clogged Bay of Fundy. Also in 1969, Sumpter produced 

, the first domestic surf magazine; it lasted just six issues. Sumpter also filmed and produced surf movies, releasing seven titles between 1967 and 1979, including 

 (1972). Critics weren't impressed. "Rodney Sumpter," one surf magazine reviewer noted in a review for 

, "proves he's more polished in the waves than behind the camera." (David Sumpter, his brother, fared much the same with his 1974 surf movie 

Not counting his own films, Sumpter appeared in several surf movies, including 

 magazine named him as Britain's top surfer in its 1966 Hall of Fame Awards, and he's featured prominently in 

You Should Have Been Here Yesterday: The Roots of British Surfing,

Sumpter made a brief return to competition with the British Amateur Team at the 1990 World Contest in Japan, but was eliminated in the early rounds. He kept his hand in surf media: 

, Sumpter's coffee table book, was published in 2006, and a remastered DVD version of 

Sumpter, Rod

Subscribe or Login

Encyclopedia of Surfing

History of Surfing

Interviews

Features

The Sunday Joint

Videos

Contests