Paddle-out remembers Kym Thompson

FAMILY and friends of Kym Thompson gathered last week for a paddle-out to remember the noted Torquay shaper and surfer.

Thompson died in a motorcycle accident in Thailand in early November.

 

A big crowd attended the memorial at Cosy Corner on Friday last week and heard stories from Thompson’s sister Bronwyn Tregenza and son Milan as well as from Craig Stephenson and Carlo Lowdon.

Surfers formed a guard of honour on the beach and then paddled out to form the traditional memorial circle.

 

A junior state surfing champion, Thompson began shaping boards in his teens and moved from South Australia to Torquay in the early 1970s.

While in Torquay, Thompson shaped for brands including Rip Curl, Klemm-Bell and Pat Morgan, before founding his own surfboard shaping business, Water Cooled, in 1975.

 

 

He relocated to Thailand in the 1980s and became a key part of Cobra Surfboards (now Cobra International) establishing its surfboard manufacturing plant.

 

“Kym came to Cobra with his Water Cooled brand from Australia back in the ’80s with the dream of shaping amazing boards and developing a mass-production solution for the surfboard industry,” Cobra International said in a statement.

 

‘Kym achieved these goals and so many more along the way, a true industry legend that will be missed by many. Our condolences to the entire Thompson clan.”