Knew it had to happen sooner than later; Greg Liddle will no longer be shaping boards after October. His boards will be produced by Kirk Putnam and Scott Anderson under the Liddle Design tag. You can check the details at Liddlesurfboards.com. There are more than a few seasoned Sway folk that have ridden Greg’s boards. A lot have said “Bleh…” and moved on. But there are a bunch of us that stuck through the “starfish” phase and have learned to appreciate his unique vision of surfing and surfboard design that Greg singlehandedly kept improving since the late 1960’s.
Mahalo Greg for your persistence and unbelievable craftmanship. His shapes and surfing philosophy have had a huge impact on my own shaping. There is more than a little hull in every board I’ve ever made. It’s ok to just stand there and feel the way a board moves in a trim or a turn. It’s ok to just go really, really fast on a 3-foot wave with no more effort than a little pressure on your big toe. Greg’s boards are not for audiences, they are for the rider.
I’m sure that KP and Scott will do a fantastic job continuing the trip that Greg started nearly 50 years ago…Thanks again Greg Liddle! Take it easy and stay wet.
My Junior High School (Portola) was right around the corner from his shop in Tarzana. As a kid, I’d drop in and pester the poor guy but he was always cordial, polite, helpful and funny. And yes, one heck of a board builder (not just a primadona shaper) who has continued to do clean functional glass jobs and custom fins.
My very first ‘real’ template for a home made board was an offcut of one of his that got tossed out in the dumpster… i.e. I used the ‘negative’ side of the plywood cut. He had an entire closet of templates that all looked the same to the uninitiated eye but each one was subtley different.
My brother bought a custom and when I contacted Greg about it, sure enough… he rembered and still had the details on file.
I also saw my first purpose built flex tail in his satellite shop right there on Malibu Cyn Rd… several slots were routed through the deck glass and in to the foam. These slots were then filled with silicone sealant if I recall giving a focused flex pattern exactly where he wanted it. I still brainstorm that idea.
My best wishes to Liddle for a happy retirement with the knowledge that Kirk and Anderson will carry the torch… if anybody knows how to dissect a Liddle surfboard design in exquisite detail, it’s Kirk.
a sad day, but that’s being selfish. Greg deserves to enjoy life without business pressure. i owe the man A LOT! i am thankful to have met him and to have ridden his boards.
Kp and Anderson have been making some boards- known as liddle designs- which are scans of originals built by Greg- for a while now. they have it pretty much dialed in. i have a couple of 'em and they are spot on! i will keep an eye on Kp just to make sure he doesn’t get too carried away (ha-ha!)
Reading through all of the ‘Post Your Hulls’ thread, you can feel the love and admiration for Liddle. Also from the same thread, you can tell that the Liddle name/boards are in good hands.
