John Bradbury -
1944 – 1999

Tall, leathery, soft-spoken surfboard builder from Santa Barbara point wave territory.  A surfers surfer. Hard core through and through, it was not uncommon for Bradbury to spend an entire night shaping, glassing and sanding a board so that it would be ready for him to ride during the next days’ swell. Began shaping boards in 1965; mentored by Renny Yater.

Virtually unheard of except for surfers from the Santa Barbara area, until 1985, when he made an ultralight styrofoam/epoxy board for future world champion Martin Potter. Soon top pros such as Cheyne Horan and Brad Gerlach were riding Bradbury epoxies.

In the 2009 Ventura Tribute to the Masters shape-off honoring John Bradbury, shapers Wayne Rich, Max Macdonald, Marc Andreini, Randy Cone and Matt Moore decided to each shape a separate and unique John Bradbury surfboard design. The first place prize money was donated to the Save Naples charity in John Bradbury’s name.*

* info courtesy of Matt Warshaw’s Encyclopedia of Surfing