History

1967
It all started  about 1967 in my fathers garage, when a friend and I were given some experimental foam to play with. We drew out the outline of our new 9ft longboard, using my father’s bamboo fishing rod, he shaped the one rail and I blended in the other. A good friend of ours did the most outrageous phsychedilic paint job on it, which fortunately attracted far more attention than our dual shape job. Fortunately the evolution of shortboards came quickly and all evidence could be cut up and stripped down. “Enough said, after one board it was time to break away from my shaping partner” and so the legend of Tich Paul began.

1970
After finishing school in 1969, shaping became more serious and demand grew. My first few boards were made under the “flea” logo and from the early 70’s just about every Cape Town surfer rode a Tich Paul surfboard. Innovative and meticulous, the boards had to be of exceptional quality, as you were judged not only on your shapes but your colour tints, pinlines and mirror finishes. This era epitomised the soul of surfing and innovation was at it’s peak.