Sports
Student makes waves with local business: Sam Toole ’13 founds Ack Surf on Nantucket, MA
By Kendall Weir '12, Sports Editor
September 1, 2011
Sam Toole ’13 has successfully turned his truest passion—surfing—into a temporary career.
Toole has spent his last few summers running his own surf school, Ack Surf, the island of Nantucket, MA, commonly referred to as Ack, where he was born and raised.
“We have been very successful in our first two years, especially [2011]. We were noticeably busier this summer and on a busy day we would teach around 25 lessons.”
With regard to the experience, Sam commented, “it’s the best job I’ll ever have in my life; I get to be on the beach all day every day, be in the water interacting with a variety of people, hang out with my best friends—our instructors—and make money while I do it,” he remarked.
He has been surfing, a pastime people living in Nantucket have enjoyed since grade school. Unlike most tourists and vacationers, Sam is a local surfer who lived there year-round until he began attending Hamilton.
He started Ack Surf with Gaven Norton, a fellow Nantucket native and longtime friend.
Both Sam and Gaven logged several years of surf instruction with other local surf schools prior to the birth of Ack Surf.
“Prior to Ack Surf, Gav and I both worked for a different surf school. When that surf school left the island, we saw an opportunity to start something ourselves,” said Sam.
Each summer, they hire a couple of instructors (including Sam’s own brother Henry) all of whom have years of surfing experience. Most of the Ack Surf instructors are college students who simply love to surf, just like Sam and Gaven. They try to set their school apart from the other schools by offering “Nantucket’s most personal surfing experience on-island” to their customers by providing a local touch, an offering of private lessons, group lessons or daily camps and equipment.
Additionally, they have a good time doing it:“It’s just a blast hooting a hollering for the students, whether it be a 40-year-old investment banker or a 5-year-old who is barely as tall as my waist.”
The location of their surf school—Madequecham Beach—is one aspect of Ack Surf’s “local touch.” Madequecham is a local favorite beach that lies a little bit off the beaten path, but is known for its favorable surfing conditions.
Speaking of the personal experience offered by their surf school, Sam went on to say, “we really try and focus on being the most personal surf school on island and almost always have a student to instructor ratio of 1:1, which isn’t the norm.”
Lastly, Sam and Gaven throw in a free Ack Surf t-shirt with every lesson as a fun finishing touch.
As a summer Nantucketer, I saw people all over the island sporting Ack Surf’s distinctive logo; Ack Surf gear was especially aplenty during the Fourth of July weekend, a famous tradition on Nantucket. Sam and Gaven created a patriotic Nantucket Fourth of July tank top, which sold out quickly. The boys of Ack Surf were ecstatic to see and hear that the tank top appeared in a “Viva La Stool” picture on Barstool Sports. To cap off a successful weekend for them, Sam taught a surfing lesson to El Presidente himself.
In terms of the future, Sam remarked, “I will definitely be teaching surf lessons next summer and possibly the one after that. Hopefully we could sell the business after the next couple of years and allow it to keep growing without us. Or maybe the clothing line takes off ,and we’re the next Life is Good, and I get to do this forever!” After a couple back-to-back successful summers, the clothing line might just do that.
You can all find Ack Surf on Facebook and on Twitter @acksurfschool.