Hey Swaylockers and hull maniacs.
Can you give your thoughts about surfing hulls in hollow waves (hawaiian or indo style). I’m asking because their is a lot of footage of hulls riden at peeling Californian point breaks, which is beautiful, but how about tube riding, big waves etc . ??
Pics and video links would be more than welcome.
They work in the tube…There are photos of the Malloys in Fiji and other tropical climes riding them in the barrel. Seems to me a certain Michael Peterson and George Greenough spent some time in the greenroom with hulls.
If I were to order one up, I’d go with something like Greg Liddle’s Hawaiikine; maybe a shorter version for Indo. Essentially, narrow the outline, pull the nose in a bit and add some rocker to the nose and maybe to the tail. Your standard mid-length hull is a lot of surfboard to wrestle with in the steeps. It can be done no doubt but for mere mortals a narrower outline and more curve in the rocker will make a more comfortable ride.
Flong,
The answer to your question, above, is OUTSTANDING ! The more experience, knowledge, and skill, possessed by your shaper, the better the resulting board will be.
Thanks for the anwers. I didn’t forget GG or MP when I posted this. It would be a crime.
My point is that hulls are really taking over in California, and all kind of surfers are surfing them all around the coast, but if you look at the daily footage (pics, video) of more powerfull or hollow waves such as Hawaii, it seems that this shape/concept hasn’t attracted a lot of guys yet … and knowing that Greg Liddle shapes and lives in Hawaii, it is rather strange don’t you think ?
I’m not asking for a personal use of a stubby in these conditions, because I live really far away from this kind of swells. I am just curious of seeing contemporary material of how a hull will move and glide in these waves.
Follow-on to the other comments. For a standard Liddle style hull, fin placement and side-bites make a big difference in riding hollow waves. A moderate fin position (e.g., 12" up) rather than an extreme forward position allows for a little more flexibility in how you approach tube riding particularly in waves with more power. The side-bites also really help in keeping the tail in rather than feeling it slide. At the same time, if what you are interested in is riding a-frame punchy beach breaks and dumping reefs, especially if well-overhead, you might consider a hull with a conventional outline and a thruster fin setup. You can still do rail turns, but you have a lot more holding power.