About
Surfin Systems was founded by Chris Beacham who first started surfing in 1957 on the Northern Beaches of Sydney. Working in Rodney Sumpter's Nth Avalon surfboard garage workshop circa 1959 with Rodney and Mick Mabbott.. ('in my view the two most underrated surfers in Australian surf history and it's the industry's loss that they did not continue in surfboard making...' ) fixing dings, fitting fins and recolouring balsa and foam boards. In 1961 Chris left Narrabeen Boys High school and went on to work full time at legendary surfboard companies Scott Dillon, Wallace and Dale Surfboards. After Hobie Surfboards arranged a green card for him Chris moved to California in 1965 furthering his board making experiences. In the 70's and 90's Chris returned to California working in the surfboard industry in the San Clemente area. | In 1974 Chris founded Beacham Surfboards and a year later opened the Whale Beach Surf Shop which he worked for 10 years before beginning to focus on fin systems. It was during this period that he invented the first removable plug fin system. He has since gone on to design a second system..the mini box. Chris has had professional experience in every aspect of the board making process from gluing blanks to shaping, to fin layups and glassing, sanding, pinlines and colour patterns to glossing. These days Chris works from a small design workshop in Avalon Beach and along with fin designing, builds a few custom surfboards each year, and surfer customer meetings are by appointment only. |
