The early Cornish surf scene was strong in St Ives; Britain's first proper surf shop the Surfers Store was opened by Keith Slocombe in 1963. James and Peter-George Williams set up Williams surfboards around this time in Lelant with help from Keith and sold boards through his store.
In around 1965 Charles Williams as head shaper started Atlantic from a cottage in St Ives, with Colin Pryor making blanks from refrigeration foam and Dave Griffin as glasser /sander. Vietnam draft dodging Aussies Neil Redding and Chris Cannings brought experience to the factory where they worked part time. In 1968 the factory was burnt down but a government grant alloweed them to rebuild a state of the art factory which produced top boards for another seven years. Charles Williams was a strong competitive surfer, runner up three times in the British title and a member of the British team through the 60s.
Ad from Graham's British surfer from around 1970.
Heres a really nice singlefin with s deck from around 1970 with rasberry ripple resin tint and bubbly logo, a time capsule from the psychadelic era. Shaped by Kid Speed ,this one is from the Gul collection, photos by Alex . If anyone else has an Atlantic please send it in .Thanks to Gavin, Alex, Graham and Gul for sharing the elusive Atlantics.
hi
ReplyDeleteI have one just listed it on ebay lol
hi, my grandmother is trying to sell a surfboard that was my uncles.
ReplyDeleteit is from atlantic surfboards st.ives in the 1970s.
it is 6'2" and it has had a few repairs.
ps if you could get back to me via email that'd be great.
ReplyDeletelucy.uren@hotmail.co.uk
hi, love this site- who runs it- is there a contact i can reach?
ReplyDeleteHugo
hugochadd@gmail.com
Charles williams . was the first surf shop owner in St. Ives . cornwall .. Tim Symons ... Was British champion 1970....
ReplyDelete