Surfing goes full circle

Surfing was in its infancy in the 1960s and 1970s. Those who were there were making history and forming what would become a multi-billion dollar industry. Surfers were rare, and Sam Gornto was one of them.

Born in December 1948, Gornto's family moved to Melbourne in '49. And while he's had a charmed life in many ways, the fame, fortune, and stardom for which he is extremely grateful came at a cost - for which he is equally grateful. And while surfing is not his entire life, if you took that chunk out of the equation, it would be a much smaller life.

Most surfers have vivid recall of that first wave. With Gornto, it wasn't quite so dramatic. But he is very clear about the day he officially became a surfer. It was the summer of 1965, and he had begun surfing competitively.

"I remember we were doing football drills twice a day in August, and it dawned on me that it just wasn't any fun. Surfing was fun, so I walked off the field and went surfing," he says, noting that the decision to choose surfing cost him a scholarship and ultimately shaped his life's journey.

In keeping with the times, Gornto had rebellion issues with parents and school authorities. The sport and culture were beginning to pick up steam in the area. Surfing was appealing on every level, and it became a career field for Gornto when he went to work for West Coast East Surfboards.

The competition was Shagg's Surf Shop; and Shagg's husband was Dick Catri, superstar surfer and a coach. Catri saw potential in Gornto and offered him a place on his Surfboards Hawaii team. Gornto accepted the deal which included a new surfboard and a future so bright, he'd have to wear shades.

At age 17, Gornto was on the team that would go on to dominate the sport internationally and produce Hall of Fame Legends Mike Tabeling, Fletcher Sharper, Mimi Munro, Joe Twombley, Fred Grosskreut, and Bruce Valluzzi, as well as Catri, Propper, and Gornto himself. He accompanied Catri to the west coast where he surfed for a month, saw Nat Young win the world contest, and watched Catri craft a deal for the Gary Propper surfboard.

"Dick, Gary and I were staying at Hobie Alter's house. We would drive up and spend the day with Greg Noll," says Gornto, the names of larger-than-life legends rolling out of his memory and off his tongue. Eventually the deal was struck: The team signed with Hobie and the Gary Propper model surfboard - which still holds the records as the #1 seller - was created.

The next year, Che Sharpe (brother of Fletcher) and his father opened a Surfboards Hawaii franchise in south Cocoa Beach. They needed a "surf guy" with a name, and they came for Gornto.

"Remember, it's 1967, and I'm 18 years old," grins Gornto. "They gave me $3 for every board they sold, and we sold about 25 boards a week. So I'm living at home with no expenses, going to college, and making $70-$90 a week surfing."

The company also absorbed travel expenses, which provided Gornto the opportunity to surf the gulf and east coasts of the U.S., Hawaii and California. In Puerto Rico he came in second (to Codgen) in the East Coast Championship.

In 1968, Codgen negoatiated a deal with Con Surfboards, creating the Butterfly Series. It was Codgen, Gornto and Bruce Valluzzi who partnered in the venture. With Codgen's position as east coast champion and their collective their names, experience and contacts, they soon had boards in surf shops along the eastern seaboard and Gulf coast. Released in the winter of 1969, the Butterfly Series was in full flight by the following summer.

"We'd go to Cape Cod, New Hampshire, and Maine," says Gornto, referring to the trips he made with Valluzzi the summer of Woodstock. "We'd go wherever there was a contest. We had an edge because we'd been surfing all year in our warmer waters. And we had Catri coaching us, which was unheard of at the time."

In January 1970, Gornto made a decision to leave Con to return to school. But when Codgen called with the idea for Sunshine Surfboards and a plan to go to California to establish the business, Gornto followed the lure of surfing into the (now lucrative) waters of business with the big boys of the sport.

Dewey Weber and Bing were vying for Sunshine; and although Weber was at the top of their game, it was Bing who landed the deal. The partnership was mutually beneficial. Bing's surfers included David Nuuhiwa, Ralph Arnaz and Australian champion Keith Richards. With dealers in place on the east coast, the cumulative fame of the surfers and the connections of Codgen and Gornto, Bing soon had Sunshine Surfboards in shops from Miami to Maine.

Codgen and Gornto also discussed opening a surfshop in Cocoa Beach; but ultimately Gornto partnered with Bill Frierson, Pat O'Hara, Fred Grossgreutz, and Dan Dawson to open Sunshine House in November 1970. "It was very casual, very soulful. Everybody that worked there was a really good surfer," says Gornto. "We cared about surfing, we cared about surfers, and we were making really good boards under the label Happiness."

For nearly three years, Gornto ran Sunshine House, producing 350-400 boards a year. But he was getting weary of the business of surfing. Now married with three children (Codgen introduced him to his wife, Teresa in September 1971), he found it increasingly difficult to integrate that lifestyle into the devotion required to raise a family and run a business.

At age 26, Gornto enlisted in the Army to take advantage of their educational opportunities and earn his degree in finance and accounting. After returning to civilian life, he took a position in Orlando as a CPA. A year and a half later, Gornto was back in Melbourne (can't keep a surfer too far from the water for too long), working with a childhood friend at a gasoline distributorship. The two became partners and began buying other businesses. By 2000, Gornto had bought all the partners out, now owning the distributorship with his 38-year-old son.

Reflecting on his part in surfing history, Gornto notes that he wasn't a high-profile championship surfer, he was in the top five, he consistently placed well, and he won a lot of contests. (In all fairness, it was rare for anyone other than Propper or Codgen to take the top trophy in those days.)

But he is a major player in the history of the sport, both creating and preserving it. He's active on the board of the East Coast Surfing Hall of Fame and Museum, and he's still friends with some of the original surfing royalty - Codgen, Twombley, Catri, Murf the Surf - just to name a few of the guys from "back in the day".

Gornto is also a talented athlete on the tennis court; he and his partner were ranked #8 in the nation for their age group in 2009. "My partner and I play tennis pretty well," he smiles, adding that he competes in tournaments at age 62.

Looking back, he says sometimes wonders what he might have achieved if he had truly devoted himself to surfing when he was in Hawaii, staying with Bruce Valluzzi in a house right at Pipeline.

"There was only one east coast surfer who went to Hawaii in the late '60s and stayed - without getting freaked out by the waves. That was Valluzzi. I had the opportunity to surf both Pipeline and Sunset fulltime, and I wonder how far I could have gone if I'd taken advantage of that time," he says thoughtfully.

"But I try to live according to my purpose - which is to love God with all my heart, mind, soul and strength, and to love others as I love myself." Anyone who can look around and say, 'because I was here, a little piece of the world is better' is surely fulfilling their purpose. Honduras is better because Gornto - and fellow Believers - make regular trips to villages there, where they have established a school and completed 40 water projects since 1991.

"The project there has changed those lives and that part of Honduras But it's had an equally profound impact on my life," he says, stating it is his devotion to the Lord that gives shape and meaning to his life - and that the choices he's made have given him a rich and satisfying life.

After years of limiting himself to an occasional "fun" surf, Gornto hit the water with a passion in 1990. "I've been to Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, New Zealand and Australia. I've also surfed in Figi and have plans to go to Tahiti," says Gornto. "I was able to spend time with my family, which I love. And now that the kids are grown, I'm able to return to my real first love, which is surfing."

Surfing is different now than that first day he caught a free ride to shore. "I can't surf for eight hours anymore," he laughs, blaming age. "But there's still nothing in the world that makes me feel like surfing does. I'll go out and surf for a couple of hours and come in high as a kite!"