Why are Anchor Wetsuits so good?
Anchor Wetsuits was first established in 1967 by Rudolf Van Dort. Rudolf’s interest in competitive water skiing and boat racing led him into wetsuit manufacturing. As a family man living in Melbourne, he tried to purchase a wetsuit for his wife but could not purchase a female suit so he bought a piece of rubber and set about making one. After gaining some skill stitching and gluing wetsuits he began repairing suits for people and then turned his hand to manufacturing.
The first wetsuit factory
After working from home for a year he moved the company into a rented factory in Springvale. The demand for Anchor Wetsuits continued to grow and within four years Rudolf built his own factory. The company grew rapidly over the next two decades opening up retail outlets in Melbourne, Sydney and Newcastle.
A passion for watersports
Rudolf’s own passion for water sports gave him first hand knowledge of what people involved in water sports needed in a wetsuit and his creative ingenuity and passionate drive allowed him to spearhead the development of products such as ski racing suits and neoprene buoyancy vests in Australia.
The company continued to expand and in the late 1970’s Anchor Wetsuits began importing O’Brien and Kidder waters skis into Australia from America.
Moving the wetsuit factory to Tasmania
The company moved to Tasmania 20 years ago and has continued to manufacture wetsuits for Australians of all ages, shapes and sizes. Rudolf’s wetsuits can be seen all around Australia being worn by Surfers, Divers, Kayakers, windsurfers and anyone who has a passion for water sports.
Anchor wetsuits are part of the fabric of Australian water sports history and culture. The hundreds of thousands of wetsuits we have manufactured have been worn by generations of water loving Australians. Whatever your interest in the water, be it professional or for pure pleasure, you can be sure when you buy an Anchor Wetsuit you are purchasing a suit made from years of knowledge, experience, dedication and skill.
