I like the 10’3" because the rocker is flat, the blank is thick, and I can shape whatever I want, from Velo to a Simmons board and all hulls in between. It’s extremely versatile. It also takes adjustments in rocker very well. What I don’t like about the more contemporary blanks is that they all seem to be very close tolerance. That’s fine if you can get your rocker glued in prior to shaping and if you don’t mind using the pre-existing deck shape. I’m all for close tolerance blanks provided they are close tolerance to what I want to shape. Unfortunately, very few without a custom rocker are conducive to shaping a hull . Hence, the 10’3".
I was reading about a couple of old friends on this site. Greg Liddle and Steve Krajewski. I hope I didn’t butcher your name Steve. I moved to San Diego from LA back in the 90’s. I confess that I sold my last Liddle board about ten years ago but was intrigued that Greg might still be shaping. I have a half dozen custom Rusty boards hangin’ in my garage.The last I heard was that he went to Hawaii. I read a name Kirk Putnam. That name sounds very familiar too. I remember Marty Peach, the Grossmans, Steve Carter…Is Greg still shaping?
Anderson, Bojorquez, Andreini, Kellog, Gross: they all shape nice boards. Although Dirt’s been there the whole way, Greg did them FIRST and still does, with more than forty years of refinement.