Matt “Archy” Archbold personal Town & Country (T&C) surfboard shaped by T. Patterson in 1987. Featuring original airbrushed artwork by Izzy Paskowitz depicting a Pawnee Native American. Experimental nose wing shape with channel bottom. 6’2 thruster. Signed “These Are The Days, Matt Archbold, Surf or DIE”. The golden age for T&C Surfboards was the 1980s when team riders Christian Fletcher and Matt Archbold aka the “Air Brigade” were taking surfing to new heights with their innovative aerial approach to surfing. Archy was one of the most successful free surfers of the 1980s-90s as well as a revered style master and aerial surfing pioneer. Ride or display this one-of-a-kind historical Archy personal surfboard.
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Town and Country Surf Designs (T&C Surf) is a globally known manufacturer of surfboards and apparel. T&C’s roots go back to 1971 when Craig Sugihara opened his first surf shop in Hawaii. The beginnings of this project were simple - an old barbershop in Pearl City worked as the original storefront. The company soon expanded into a full line of surf-wear and surfing accessories and now has retail stores in many places around the world, such as Japan, Australia, and Brazil.
Craig Sugihara’s relationship with the ocean and surfing started long before entering the surf business. Although he wasn’t a competitive surfer in his early years, he recalls surfing being an essential part of his life. Surfing defined Craig Sugihara’s career, lifestyle, achievements, and spirit. He also had a passion for creating quality equipment. Soon he picked up the anatomy of the surfboard and learned about what impacted it’s performance. Young Craig would watch Joe Kuala at Surfboards Makaha, as well as Sparky and Ben Aipa shaping surfboards. Around the same time, he found an old, long forgotten, brown board at the neighbor’s house and gave it new life. This was a significant event that influenced the future of T&C surf. Craig’s second board was shaped from a blank purchased from Surfline Hawaii. By chance, Greg Noll Surfboards had just lost a laminator around the same time. Craig showed his work to Greg and got the job- one step closer to his goal. At this new workplace, he came across many people that would play key roles in surfing’s development- including Randy Rarick, surf promoter and Director of the Triple Crown of Surfing; and Buffalo Keaulana, Makaha’s ambassador of surfing. A few years later, he was offered a position with Mystic Surfboards in Waianae. Soon thereafter Craig was shaping for several local standouts, and about one year later, he opened his own shop.
T&C surfboards was born. The name expressed the shop’s position between the two headquarters of surf on Oahu - Town & Country. Many people were attracted to T&C, not only because of its ideal location but also thanks to their exceptional quality boards. At first, shapers like Glenn Minami and Barry Kanaiaupuni helped Craig meet increasing demand. The logo of Town and Country Surfboards (the unmistakable Yin-Yang symbol), suggested by a t-shirt artist, has a powerful graphic character and deep significance. It’s simple and relevant to surfing- balance. This balance has defined the evolution of Town & Country over the years.
T&C’s alumni of surfers is impressive; Larry “Rubberman” Bertlemann, Dane Kealoha, Marvin Foster, Matt Archbold, Christian Fletcher, Sunny Garcia, Ben Aipa, Johnny Boy Gomes, Chris Ward, Bobby Martinez, Shea Lopez, Kahea Hart, Martin Potter, Ross Williams and the 2018 WSL Big Wave World Champion Billy Kemper, to name a few. In 1976, Tak Kawahara became a co-owner of Town & Country Surfboard’s wholesale department and established the apparel brand, which developed into one of the top five brands in the global surfwear industry. T&C also expanded the product line by introducing surf watches, beach sandals, and school stationery accessories (all of which were the first of their kind in the industry). The late 80s were a golden era for T&C on the North Shore of Oahu. During this time, young team riders Matt Archbold and Christian Fletcher, nicknamed the “Air Brigade” were taking surfing to new levels. This new radical surfing attracted many shapers and team riders to Town & Country. Around this time, Sunny Garcia was also signed to the Town & Country team, and under the coaching of Ben Aipa he went on to win the World Title in the year 2000.
T&C Surf Designs mission is to share and maintain the spirit and aloha of the Hawaiian surfing lifestyle. Like its characteristic Yin and Yang logo, the brand has remained balanced, and true to their roots. This balance has led to a highly successful global brand and will continue to define the growth of T&C for generations to come.
