The legendary Electric Rock
This week's vintage gem is this advert for the Bic Electric Rock, which appeared in an American magazine in the late 1980s and was recently posted on our Windsurfjournal.com Facebook group. The Bic Electric Rock is and remains one of the most iconic boards in the history of windsurfing. Launched in 1988, this board symbolises the meeting of French industry, the expertise of international champions and a major evolution in construction technologies.
The origins of the project date back to the strategy of Marcel Bich, founder of the Bic Group, who was passionate about sailing and convinced of the potential of windsurfing. In 1979, the company bought the Tabur Marine shipyard in Vannes and created a nautical division capable of producing floats on a large scale. The objective was clear: to apply the industrial model that had made the Bic Cristal pen so successful to the sport, with mass production, reliability and accessibility. This vision gave rise to Bic Sport in the mid-1980s.
The Electric Rock was launched at a pivotal moment in windsurfing, marked by the rise of the funboard. Developed with the help of Dutch Olympic champion Stephan Van den Berg, gold medallist at the 1984 Los Angeles Games, the board aimed to combine speed, manoeuvrability and accessibility. With a length of around 265 cm and a volume of close to 102 litres, it was positioned as a slalom board designed for strong winds.
Its design features an innovative hull shape, often described as ‘quadro concave’, which improves planing and stability in choppy conditions. But the real revolution comes from the ACE-TEC (Advanced Composite Engineered Technology) construction. This process combines a polystyrene core with fibreglass, sometimes reinforced with carbon and Kevlar, covered with a thermoformed polymer skin. The result is a relatively light board, weighing around 8 kg, but extremely durable. The futuristic graphics by Mickey Eskimo, inspired by electronic circuits and the techno aesthetic typical of the 1980s, also contributed to the popularity of the Electric Rock.
More than thirty years after its release, this model remains a benchmark for many enthusiasts. A symbol of an era when the industry democratised performance, the Bic Electric Rock now occupies a special place in the collective memory of windsurfing.
Source: Bic Sport Archives
Photo: Bic Sport Archives
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