Riding the waves with Rhody Surf

Jacquelyn Voghel

10/10/2025

SURF’S UP: Owner and instructor Bobby Drought developed the business plan for what would become Rhody Surf, which teaches surf lessons and offers equipment rentals, as part of an MBA program capstone project before launching it as a fully realized business in 2011.  PBN PHOTO/DAVID HANSEN

Despite Rhode Island’s status as the Ocean State, Bobby Drought recognizes that people generally don’t associate its coastline with one of the most widely known ocean sports. “A lot of folks don’t think of Rhode Island as a surf destination,” Drought said, “primarily because it isn’t established like it is in California, and because we

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