Thursday, January 21, 2016

Surfboard Visionary No Longer With Us

Chances are, if you enjoy surfing, you have benefited from the revolutionary technology of Larry Gordon, founder of Gordon & Smith Surfboards. This visionary passed away on January 1, 2016 after years of leading the surfboard industry, according to a San Diego news article.

When Gordon and Smith became friends through their shared love of surfing, surfboards were made from balsa wood. These surfboards were heavy, hard to steer, and bogged down with water. Since Gordon's father had a plastics company, Gordon had access to the foam chemicals needed to create the polyurethane foam surfboards that are popular today. They built their own mold and blew their own foam to build the surfboards that revolutionized the industry.

Gordon & Smith was based in San Diego, but continued to have a branch in Australia. They moved on to manufacturing skateboards, and created a worldwide brand that is still reputable today. Through the decades, G&S had a team of legendary surfers helping them lead in innovation. According to their website,
"Always staying current but never sacrificing integrity, Gordon and Smith was able to successfully lead this progression of change to become, at that time, the world’s largest surfboard manufacturer."
Even until his old age, Gordon remained the owner of G&S and continued to pursue his passion of surfing. He said that being able to serve millions with surf and skate gear provided the vision for the future of the company. Gordon will be dearly missed at G&S and in all of the surfing world. His innovations made surfing what it is today.

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