Zephyr skate team biography

Group of American skateboarders

The Zephyr Competition Team (or Z-Boys) were a group of American skateboarders in the mid-1970s from Santa Monica and Venice, California.

Originally consisting of 12 members, the Z-boys were originally sponsored by the Jeff Ho Surfboards and Zephyr Productions surf and skate shop.^[1] Their innovative surfing-based style and aerial moves formed the foundations of contemporary vert and transition skateboarding.^[2] The story of the Z-Boys and the Zephyr shop have been popularized in feature films such as Lords of Dogtown and Dogtown and Z-Boys.^[3]

History

Initial beginnings

The Z-boys began as a surf team for the Zephyr surfboard shop at Santa Monica.

Jeff Ho, Skip Engblom, and Craig Stecyk opened the shop, titled Jeff Ho Surfboards and Zephyr Production Team, in 1973, and they soon begin recruiting young locals to represent them in surfing competitions. 14 year old Nathan Pratt was the first membe