Please do theorize, Lee - I’m all ears!
I was thinking that I had never ridden a hull, so didnt’ know what it felt like, but then remembered I have an old Con… Mini Gun I think it’s called… that has definite belly. Of course I haven’t ridden it in years and it’s at my folk’s house in CA so I can’t easily take it out and ride it for feel. I remember it being pretty fun, but I was only a year or 2 into surfing at that point and could only really tell what I liked and didn’t like in the boards I tried, but not much else. Guess that means I still don’t know much about hull, other than what’s in the archives, and what’s in George Orbelian’s “Essential Surfing” - my bible before Swaylocks. Still refer back to it all the time.
Sure wish I had more experience with the hull. I checked Liddle’s site and read the archives ‘til I’m blue in the face (bagged in the eyes?) and my darn brain keeps coming back to what Mr. Orbelian says about belly: “A convex planing surface is the most inefficient.” There’s a whole paragraph actually, but you’ve probably read it before. I definitely wouldnt’ want “just a funboard with a swallow tail” as you put it. Guess I’m just new to the hull concept, as other than my old Con, I’ve never seen it or heard of it other than in the book until coming to this site. And the majority of people still going with the old standbys - flat, vee, or concave. Whether it’s the belly, edges or not, I definitely want to be able to surf it backside. I’m goofy foot, and luckily for me, there are a couple of lefts here for me to ride, but there are far more rights…
As far as fins go, I definitely like the idea of being able to ride a board more ways than one, though unfortunately I don’t push the envelope too much. Once I find a setup that I like for a board, I tend to stick to it, and not keep trying new things. Comfort thing I guess. Stick to the knowns. I guess I should have explained myself better on the quad fin idea. I was thinking of putting the quad on the Pescado / fishy platter, rather than getting one of Manny’s stock quads. Or I would ask Manny to shape me something like the Pescado but with the quad setup. I have some sort of weird aversion to pointy noses, and the really straight rails in the back of the board on the fish don’t sit right in my mind’s eye either. Obviously they work, or people wouldn’t be riding and liking them so much, but I’m not sure the effect is what I’m looking for. I do however like what Manny and George O. have to say about the quad. Manny says the quad setup “loosens up the board while maintaining surfer generated drive.” George says “The four fin is more positive and has more drive and projection out of turns than a twin because it has more fin area in the water. The four fin is looser and goes edge to edge quicker than the tri fin because the center fin on the tri fin always remains in the water.” Sounds fun to me… Guess I’m going to have to have a whole heckuva lot of removable fin setups on the bottom of my board to try them all! Or save some pennies and get more than one? Sigh.
Curren has a Pescado? As in Tom Curren? Now I’m going to have to get one of the darned things. His surfing is how I really want to surf the most. I could care less about the flippy trickster jump in the air loopty loo stuff. Just not my trip. I just want to smoothly carve all over the wave face. That’s really where I’m trying to get in a new board actually. Been doing the longboard thing for about 10 years now. “Nothing under 9” was my credo. But more and more I’ve come to realize that the way that I surf in my mind, either dreaming or while watching the waves, is a lot more suited to a shorter board. I quit shortboarding those many years ago because I wasn’t having fun anymore, fighting with the rest of the grumpy guys for waves. And I realize now that it’s going to be a challenge for sure, but maybe one I have to take on. Perhaps go with a bit of thickness to the board, and definitely the width. I’ve been borrowing my girlfriend’s 7’ mini tanker, and the second time I rode it (first was a disaster) and carved a tight cutback and rebound off the pocket, I could have jumped for joy. Chose to rather ungracefully fall off instead. So the new board thing has been a bit of a holy grail quest for me. I think to the point of actually overthinking it and being totally lost about what kind of board I should get, so I’m stoked to feel like I’m on the right track here.
As far as the Pescado goes - what are board prices running there these days? I’m almost afraid to ask. Plus the shipping to Hawaii?? Holy moose. That’s the biggest reason why it would be nice to have someone shape me one here… But I think you’re right - if I want the Pescado, I should probably go to the source.
Any other input or ideas you have Lee, I would most definitely appreciate. Especially regarding the fins and perhaps the length as well. I’m a bit nervous to drop below the 7’ threshold. It was a big step to knock 2 feet off the 9 and get on the 7. Talk about instant clown out in the water. And I still don’t have that board anywhere near dialed. Baby steps, baby steps…
mahalo in advance…
waxfoot
Still waiting for Kirk’s pictures and thoughts on his. Wouldn’t it be cool if we could get Mr. Curren and the Malloys to post about theirs? Heck, I know the pros surf at a way higher level than especially humble me (oh, the horrors 
) but I think it would be really interesting to hear their thoughts on design. Especially guys like Tom Curren, or Derek Hynd, or even Dave “Rasta” Rastovich, who actively change around what they ride for the feeling of it. Don’t think it was too long ago that I read something about Curren going at one of his boards with a hacksaw just to try something different…