Does anyone have any experience riding displacement hulls in east coast conditions? I surf beachbreaks and peeling sandbars. I have recently been caught up in all of the talk of hull riding, and I really would like to experience it for myself. Shaping one myself seems out of the question, since I’ve never actually seen one in person. I’m thinking about a Liddle Inbetweener model in the 7’8" range. I’m 6’0" 190lbs and ride mostly longboards and fishes. Any input would be appreciated.
Thanks
There’s a swaylocker who has a Liddle 7’6’’ made specifically for the East Coast. I’ve seen the board and it had
a few small tweaks that made it more beachbreak friendly. It was called a ‘‘Southeast Smoothie’’. I’m sure if you
get with Liddle (or Kirk Putnam) he’d be glad to do one for you. Maybe Jeff will see this thread and post about his
board, I know he likes it a lot.
I ride mine mostly in punchy beach break.
I use a wide base greenough fin instead of a Liddle flex fin just to
extract more drive from the wave and get the board moving.
They work!
Username Spence here on the boards can also potentially help you
out with a custom design.
You can hit him here or at the iShapes contact us page:
http://www.ishapes.net/index.php?option=com_contact&task=view&contact_id=1&Itemid=5
I surf the east coast and am freaking frothing out of my mind stoked on my first liddle.
A couple of things: the steeper the wave, the shorter the board you can ride
the shorter the length of wave the shorter the board you want also
Im 140lbs 5’9 1/2" ride 5’6" x 20" fish and went 6’6" x 22" on the lidde and it feels so dialed i dont yearn for anything else in this genre of surfboard (besides a monster longboard spoon smoothie for the tiny days)
I recommend you go a little shorter than 7’8"
I feel mine rides a foot shorter and 2 inches narrower than it is, so my 6’6" x 22" feels like my 5’6" x 20" fish, thus if you ride a 6’0"-6’4" x 21 1/2"- 22" fish i recommend you go a foot or so longer up to 2 inches wider
perhaps 7’0"-7’4" but wide and thick like 23" wide 3 1/4" thick
in a fuller template like the pointbreaker or a hybrid between the inbetweener and pointbreaker with wp 6+ center
East coast beack break is fast and steep, with short waves sometimes where something shorter fits better
i think the 7’8" inbetweener might take a medium swell to get it going, but i could be wrong
hope this helps
Here’s a short story of my first session:
So i just had my first session on a hull, and I think I’m in love.
I waxed her up last night with glassy waist high swell in the forecast, did a little bottom wetsanding as mandatory rule of surf geekdom, and admired her far out curves before loading up the car with a log, dialer, and the ‘plate.’
Rode the log for a while on the outside, and on one wave in particular where i was just standing there in the step nose on the mushy face, the wave started to form up so i pushed the nose into the steep forming face ahead of me, and the wave jacked over me on the nose till i came shooting out close to a water photographer. This wave did it; I wasnt going to ride the hull till the waves called for it, but destiny was now.
I ran to my car in the cold, pulled out the 6’6" smoothie and a 5’7" dialer and got some weird looks on my way back to the beach.
First thing i noticed was that the board paddled like crap! But, I could feel how loose the round bottom and tail were as they slid around on my rotator cuff straining strokes.
I was a little apprehensive sitting out there wondering how the hell am i going to get this egg to go in jacking inside peaks, when a nice one popped up right in front of me. I spun and corked the tail into the wave and gave (more than) a few hard torquing paddles trying to get over the ledge when at the last second the board took off under the lip. First thing I thought was, FVCK im gonna pearl on my first hull wave, but I recovered so easily from the boards perfect smooth round nose rocker, and i popped up forward on the board naturally crouched in almost a hang five style position, and the board absolutely locked into the shape of the curving wave in a dragless, loose, and speeding trim giving me the same sensation in two seconds that a keel would give me on the 7th pump down across the high line. I flew low across the section into a little tapering bowly thing and just eased into a long slippery carve over the face, and kicked out damn giddy with stoke!
Wave after wave was the same. Speed, buttery travel across water, belly carves. I had some goofy moments trying to repostion myself on the board longboard style sometimes, but the less I did the faster and freer I became. The board took me to the best part of the wave with such an efficient travel I felt like aliens took over the planet and changed gravity.
I dont think I have ever had this much fun on a surfboard.
Merely riding a wave on this board got me as giddy as my wave of the weekend on a fish.
And this was at a beachbreak!
Hi Sea Walker
I just got back from surfing my Liddle here in fun south swell in south Florida.
I ride a 7’10 that Greg recommended.Fits like a glove.It’s the board Mike mentioned.
My experience with them the last 4 years is that you need a lined up wave to get them flying.
Not necessarily big but well formed.A 2’ gutless mushball is not going to feel the same as a 2’clean wave.
If we had better surf it’s all that I would ride.I treasure the days I get to use them.Also the feel is a bit addicting!
Jeff
Oops on the size, I thought it was a 7’6’'. At least I got the part about you liking it correct.
Yes another South Florida hull rider! I was just surfing that south swell and on my fish was wishing i had my liddle. Im gonna take a little trip to fort pierce tomorrow with the liddle and longboard. Report back if its any good.
The hull is so much fun any time the wave is lined up and breaking its the only board i think about riding. My whole quiver becomes obsolete. I agree its all i would ride if the waves were good. The board makes a fun day of waves an epic day to me.
Thanks for all of the input, everyone. Jeff, do you have any pics of your Liddle that you can share? What modifications were made to make it a more suitable fit?
Seay
Hi SeayWalker
You'd have to ask Greg about the differences between my boards and boards for other waves.
Rockers are pretty flat.
<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/j.jeff.t/710Liddle" class="bb-url">http://picasaweb.google.com/j.jeff.t/710Liddle</a>#
Jeff
that coffee table must have a story to go with it.
you either made it, inherited it or it came from an interesting source.
Nothing exotic,it’s an old art deco table.That stuff was popular here years ago.
You might also ask Greg or Kirk about the “Id” design. As I understand, it was designed to be a little more forgiving for riding backside and/or in beachbreaks. The biggest design differences that I can see between the “Id” and a normal pointbreaker are the more pulled-in nose and more nose rocker. There’s probably more to it than that…
Here’s a couple of pics of the “Id”. It’s 7’8" and super fun (although I’ll confess, living in the land of right-hand points, I have yet to go backside on it or ride it in a beachbreak).
Just rode my 6’6" Liddle at fort pierce in micro peelers absolutely gutless barely loggable on a yater spoon type shape with some gusty offshore winds and the hull would go on everything! Im talking tiny peelers. This board makes any session fun. Its ridiculous. I can ride it in waves that i cant get my longboard to go in. I was stayin low, just feeling the wave and getting great views of the tapering shoulders and surfscape around me, dipping my head right in the curl. Surfing deep! I feel like i rediscovered surfing…I am more natural on this board than any ive ever owned.
One nice thing i noticed about the liddle today was that the board is sensitive to ocean swell even when paddling. I seemed to be in the right place at the right time paddling around and peaks would pop up right in front of me. Its like the board is pulled to the energy source even when paddling out! YEW!
I ride a Point Break Greg Liddle surfboard exclusively in central Florida. It works so amazing. It's all I want to ride. I am writting this for those not sure, like I was. I was waiting for my board while reading these forums axiously wondering if it would work. This board works in anything we get. I love it. I read all these complicated descriptions about it. But it is simply the fastest, smoothest, gliding feeling rides, the longest rides, making the flatest and steepest sections with effortless ease. Get the board bigger than you think you need. I got an 8 foot PB as thick as I could get and as wide as I could get and I am 6'2" at 185lbs and I have ridden 1 foot waves to head high and above waves and it rules. I did as Greg instructed. Put in my money order priority mail and he was so proffessional, promt, attentive, and thorough. He let me know the day it arrived. He let me know everything and was finished with it asap and it arrived faster than I thought in perfect condition. I wil not go into details about the rides I have had on it because my fingers get tired and I type slow. But the speed, the rail engaging full on turns, the trimming, are all true. It has opened up a whole new world of surfing. It is so different and so radical. Full rail committed turns. He tapes a square of the right grit dry wet sand paper to the board. Wet sand it. It really works insane. Truely words are beyond what it feels like. it's not hard to ride these boards. In fact they are easy and catch waves better than a "long board". I catch anywave I want and fly and rip. It's about the sensation the board gives. Don't change fins to anything other than the GL flex fin it comes with. Don't get the wide base fin. The railis most of the fn. I want to surf all the time now. Go for it, keep it simple and do what he says.
DEVS BENEDICA VOBIS
It paddles really easy too.
I just ordered 2 from Greg! A 7’6 and 7’3. I echo most of the comments on here, just send Greg (or whoever you decide to go with) an email. Greg was extremely helpful in designing me a board. I think we sent each other like 30 emails in the last month trying to figure out the best dimensions. It was by far the best customer/shaper experience i’ve ever had.
A few months after this thread got started, I gave in to temptation and shaped myself a 7'4'' ''beachie hull'' out of one of my old Clark blanks. In the year and a half since, I've ridden the thing to death. It's just such a fun, pure feeling to glide along peacefully. I've joked that it made me ''surf my age''.
Finally getting set up to do some in Coil Construction, I've got a 6'8'' in the factory right now. Should be interesting....
ahhh’’ mike you too’’ come over to the darkside
shaping wise i just put some sixtys music on and i feel like im 26 again haaaa’’
love em
cheers huie
Yes it's true that Greg is awesome with communicating through emails. I am happy that you are getting some nice boards.
I love that board by MikeDaniel and when you said,"It's such a pure feeling to glide along peacefully." I think that says it perfectly for me. I also feel it makes me surf my age. I learned on an old board from the era that I got at a garage sale when I was a 12 year old kid in the late 1980's for 15 dollars. It was my first surfboard but through the years I wondered what made it what it was like. I wanted a thruster because of peer pressure and the first time I went out with it I was made fun of by other kids at the pier in cocoa. But I learned on that thing and had so much fun on it and went so fast and smooth. It got stolen in 1990. But I have discovered what type of board it is and what it is called. Now I go surf as a recreation with this type of board. It is fun, easy, reliable, and peaceful to surf on. Peace of mind. It's no longer an anxiety provoking experience like when trying to just catch waves and ride them for a decent amount of time and do boring skateboard like maneuvers on thrusters or trying to do the longest nose ride switchy foot dance competition of longboarding. I just ride waves and enjoy the ocean and dolphins until I don't want to anymore and come in. I just go relax and surf a while. Surfing is no longer an obsession but healthy recreation for me. I don't need to be anxious about whether it's big enough or too crowded or am I fit or skinny enough. I just go and spend time in quiet solitude in the ocean and ride a few or more. Thanks to the smooth easy ride that is just so much fun. I really like the picture of that board from MikeDaniel. Nice board you made. It's prestine on the bottom and dented so much on the deck. It looks like it has been surfed so much, it looks like a perfect broken in cowboy boot. The deck must fit perfectly to your feet. Beautiful. Looks fun.
DEVS BENEDICA VOBIS
Yeah huie, me too.... When we do 'em in Coil, it'll be the darkerside of the darkside, lol. They are fun to shape, aren't they? Not for the faint of heart with the planer, though. Lots of mowing taking one out of a PU blank. Since you were doing their granddaddies in 66-67, I can see how it would be like old times for you!
Thanks for the compliments, smoothiesurfer. I still surf all kinds of shapes, but I grab the hull a lot of the time. I made it for our little knee-waist summer days that do a good job of imitiating a dribbly California point break (for about 1/8 the distance). I've found it more versatile than I'd imagined. Anytime there's ''somewhere to go'' down the line it shines.
