While most learn in the white water, Bruce caught his first wave in 1963 and rode the open face all the way to the beach. Two months later, he entered a local contest -- and won. That win was followed by a string of victories.
As surfshops took notice, good equipment came easy. In 1965, Clelland joined Dick Catri's SURFBOARDS HAWAII Tour, travelling from Florida to New York, giving demos and winning still more events. Instead of returning to Fletcher High School in the Fall, Bruce moved to Newport Beach, California to graduate. At that time, the Newport Beach/South Bay area was home to many of the world's best surfers, including David Nuuiwa, Billy Hamilton and Phil Edwards. In 1966, Bruce represented the East Coast at the San Diego World Championships. With this experience under his belt, Bruce went on to place in the top three in every contest for the next year on the East Coast Tour.
Although a free-surfer at heart, Bruce's natural ability allowed him to dominate competition through the late 60's, even earning him the Bruce Clelland East Coast special from Greek Surfboards.
As a shaper/designer, Bruce traveled to Australia, Hawaii, and back to California working with Wayne Lynch and other legends, helping to introduce this area to functional high-performance shortboards in the early 70's.
When the East Coast Pro Tour kicked in during the late '70's and early '80's, Bruce was there lending his experience to help with the judging.
In 2000, Bruce was inducted into the Surfing Hall of Fame by Dick Catri,“the Godfather of East Coast Surfing”. Catri recounted how he had met Bruce in the mid 60's as a young kid, and swooped him up for his East Coast Tour, where he unleashed the young ripper on unsuspecting competitors from Florida to New York.
Today, Bruce works as a bailiff at the Duval County Courthouse. His wife, Sherry, works for the State's Attorney. Their 18-year-old son is an accomplished longboarder and shortboarder and possesess the same soulful skill and style that Bruce did 40 years ago.