History

Barry Bennett Surfboards became a full time surfboard business in 1956 with the event of Malibu wave riding boards being introduced to Australia from California.

Barry made his first plywood 15ft board around 1947 and continued building plywood  boards and surf skis up until the introduction of balsa and foam around 1958.

Dion Chemicals was established as a separate company in 1962 when we began to import a two part foam system from the Polytron Foam company in California. A system specifically designed for surfboard production and far superior to Australian foams sold at the time. In this same year, trial shipments of superior isopthalic resin were imported from Diamond Alkali and fibreglass cloth from Trevarno and Hess Goldsmith (to become Burlington and now B.G.F.). By using these materials, it allowed Australian surfboard companies to produce quality boards comparable to Californian made boards.