Richard Price
Rich Price began surfing at his grandparent’s St. Augustine beach house in the early 1960s. As a youngster, his grandfather took him to a Hollywood “Beach Party” movie, where he witnessed surf culture for the first time and was instantly hooked. By 1970 Price was living in a small Cocoa Beach apartment, surfing with friends every day. Looking for a path in surfing to earn a living, he got his first opportunity working at the Catri Surfboards factory.
In 1974, Price moved to Santa Cruz, CA and took a position as a polisher for Tom Overlin Surfboards, Doug Haut Surfboards, and The Cliff Surfboards. His plan was to live in Santa Cruz for the rest of his life, but in 1975 fellow Floridian and shaper Greg Loehr came through town on the way back from Hawaii and convinced Price and another Floridian, Tommy Maus, to return back east to work for Pete Dooley’s Natural Art Surfboards, which was planning to build boards in Cape Hatteras, NC that year.
The following year Natural Art and Price moved back to Florida, and he began to shape under the NA label. Through the years he continued to develop his shaping skills and was making boards for many of the very best surfers in the world including Australian pro Richard Cram, Floridian touring pro Scott McCranels, pro tour standout Todd Holland, Danny Melhado, CJ and Damien Hobgood, Peter Mendia, Baron Knowlton, Dean Randazzo and many others. Price credits Dooley, who built the powerhouse Natural Art business, for giving him the opportunity to achieve success. Rich Price has been shaping for 50 years and while he has chosen to slow his pace down his namesake brand, Rich Price Surfboards, are still available.
Photos by Dick “Mez” Meseroll, Eric Olsen, and courtesy Richard Price and Surf Expo
Video contributions by Bob Bolen, Michael Baytoff, Richard Bernardi, Bruce Chrisner, Jon Coen, Eastern Surf Magazine, Donald Cresitello, Tom Dugan, Vdon Farias, Ryan Gamma, Norm Grosskruetz, Ray Hallgreen, Carlos Hernandez, Pete Hodgson, Darrell Jones, Jon Ker, Nicola Lugo, Matt Lusk, Kem McNair, Dick “Mez” Meseroll, Eric Olsen, Larry Pope, Tony Prince, Dan Przygocki, Barry Schulz, Joanne O’Shaughnessy, Jon Steele, Mike Vuocolo, and Chris Wilson.
