Petrillo



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PETRILLO

“When I first started working here around 1967, I was sitting on the floor playing poker with Frank.” TK explained. “He had been nicknamed Frog by that time. A guy walked in the door this particular day with two boards under his arms. They had no logos on them. One was a red one and the other blue and he wanted to sell them. Frog asked him where he had gotten the boards and he said I made them myself in my garage. They were really good boards and Frog liked them. Up to that point, The Frog House had only sold used boards and a few wetsuits (which were still relatively new product at the time).”

“The guy who brought the boards in was Frank Petrillo. So Frank “Frog” Jensen and Frank Petrillo entered into a contractual agreement where Petrillo made boards with his name on them and we sold them exclusively on the West Coast out of the Frog House. That was our first venture into selling new surfboards.”

“That went along great for 2-3 years and we sold a lot of boards. Petrillo was a big name then, but then the two Frank’s had a falling out. Frog thought too many boards were being sold out the back door of Petrillo’s glass shop. Petrillo moved to Texas to build boards.

KEY: O= Original, R= Repaired, RF= Refurbished. Condition of board rated: 1(worst)-10(best)

Board Dimensions
Length: 8′ 1″
Width: 20″ 3/4
Thickness: 3″ 1968 GLANZER Sem-Gun Paisley all original.  Acquired this Peice of art out of the Nordine Collection years back.   One of my favorite Transitional boards in my collection.   Just check out the funky S-Deck at the tail.  Full rise with pinched rails.  Wave-Set Fin with a Black Resin Pin line.    9 (O)  Stoke to preserve what was.  B



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  • John Butler

    I own an original Petrillo Speed 9′ 6″ …. surfed it and drug the thing around with me for all these years. Still in pretty good shape and I’d surf it today …. if there were waves in Arizona!

  • John Butler

    By the way, it’s serial # 231.

  • Robert altfeld

    Petrillo surfboards was a big deal in Hermosa beach in 1968/69. I was in JR. High school when I got my first Petrillo. It was the “Gyro” model. My second one was ” The Pathfinder. Great memories of these hoards..???????? ????

  • Mike Calcagno

    I had a Petrillo Gyro. 6’11”. A rounded pigtail. I bought from his shop above PCH in Newport. I loved that board. Side slipping st Santa Ana rivermouth, and shooting the pier at Huntington Beach.

  • Mike Calcagno

    Sorry. Pintail, not pigtail.

  • https://advrider.com/f/members/kwisn.93307/ kwisn

    Hey, I used to sit on the floor of the Frog House and catch grape balls tosed by the boss. I was immortalzed on the head wall!
    Petrillo was the start of small board surfing for me.

  • Albert Brown

    …The Glanzer and the Gyro were designed and built by Jim Glanzer at the Petrillo shop in Texas.., Jim went on to build world class sailboards which included a Gyro model..! 😉
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/b007db12d46252f790da2b69bf4ed0bfc6cbbddd20b01d806d00fab252d8ebf7.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/0d67686e445cc248144a856aa422a205806705920a70f2283727cbcbf4ee7d1e.jpg

  • James Anderson

    I still have a 6’ sunburst that I bought around 1969. I never see any. It worked great for the small waves in Galveston Tx.

  • Ricardo

    Remember River Jetty. Those were such fun waves when the pier was up and all the work going on. Used to see all the surf celebs there. Fun.



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Petrillo

BACK TO BUGGS’ GALLERY

PETRILLO

“When I first started working here around 1967, I was sitting on the floor playing...

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