i took my fin from one extreme set up (all the way fore) and pulled it back to less than half, truth be told i didn’t measure it but i can tell you that it’s about 2" further back than it was on my maiden voyage.
today i blazed a trail from Los Feliz to Bolsa Chica and the waves were way better and more sizable than that place looks on web cam - ain’t that always the way? it was friggid like FUUUCK THIS friggid. hands were terminal immediately, so what. much as i hate the very poor quality of the water found at almost all LA adjacent breaks (you can see the oil shlick on the surface) the waves were great fun. overhead sets and 2-4’ lines pushin’ to the sand up to high tide - rights and lefts off a peak that was a bit north of Bolsa proper, ditch the crowds. for a while it seemed to be getting bigger and better - then after peak high i was too cold to deal in my 3/2 and ancient lender booties a size too floppy the way Don Martin draws his average shoe
BUT
the board is KILLER! with the fin moved the thing was turning responsively. it just loves to find the speed for you. i had a left that kept me so high and tight just under the lip that any trimming/turning at all would have generated even more speed but pulled me out of the sweet spot. lots of faces that were crossed in no time at all, lots of waves that were way more workable without any hops at all - i could extend and throw my weight towards the lip and then chow the speed up on the downhill glide as i contracted. a couple of small cutbacks (that i couldn’t yet commit to but that’ll soon change with more speed and time i hope) and even a lip hit that pulled itself off. SO FUN!
so now i have one really classic eat shit session in coupled with an afternoon of fun without much push, and as of today one really clean fast and fun surprising session - consider me double hooked! sticking with this board for 5 sessions will be easy, what’ll be hard is switching to something Liddler
anyone in LA that wants something special should check out the tiki ti - this place rules!
i still find it amazing how a little change in fin placement can make all the difference in how a board works. sounds like you may have found the sweet spot(or getting really close!)
i have seen Fineline boards at the mollusk shop in Venice and they are sweeeet! i’d love to ride one but today i don’t have the money to do it, by no means is this statement meant to imply that they aren’t worth their salt!
i had ryan/point concept make a bigger version of the gee bee(6'8")... he even made me custom small wooden side bites... she works very very..well.. especially in steep drops... </blockquote></div>
forget about that “no more waves” bit i added above, today was a BLAST!
i surfed Rincon today and it was the best wave i’ve ever seen at only 2-3 with maybe an odd 4’ set every half hour??? when i got out of the water i talked to someone in the parking lot (also from los feliz) who was riding a 7’0 fineline, rails as pinched on the tail as my Liddle. that guy, without question had a great time just like i did. i’ve never seen so many beautiful friggin’ women surfing so friggin’ beautifully! it was sick!
You move to SB you are in big trouble. Not only are there tons of hot surfing beautiful women, there are even more non-surfing beautiful women. A zillion great places to eat too, some pricey but lot of more low end excellence. If it weren’t so overcrowded and congested and expensive to live there it would be paradise. If it weren’t for those problems I would be living there still!
One of the places I had in mind. Do they still have a guy playing horn on the sidewalk on weekend nights to draw in the folks? But also, Tacos al Pastore and please leave us never ever forget that place on upper Milpas who’s name escapes me but anyway, semi outdoor Mex food and the owner goes to Mexico every year and takes a bus until it won’t go any farther then walks until he smells good food and stops and asks the Mama of the house to teach him her secret receipts and then he brings them back for his resturaunt. Heck, Mac’s Groc & Grog for cheap killer burritos! I used to get a bean and cheese one and a chicken and rice one and hold them together like a sandwich. Ahhhhh, post surf exstacy! Wash that down w/ the beverage of your choice and you can just take a nap right there in your car…
Latest TSJ – Derek Hynd article about finless surfing ( alaias, olo, and new wave of finless surfing). Can someone elaborate a little more on the significance of Mark Liddell to finless surfing. as a kid i remember this guy in the mags - him and buttons - to me, similar style to larry bertleman.
Jason, I’m thinking little tiny single fin far forward in box so just enough hold to drive a line but tons of tail slide potential so style and mechanics a lot like hotdogging on a finless…
last week i was all over the email and phone with Mollusk trying to get a hold of Klaus Jones to order a board. the people there were all really kind and cool, and they told me that Greg Liddle has been asked to shape some new SHORTER boards for the shop. as far as i have heard he’s done it (shorter than 6’6" - shortest i’ve seen?) but it says on his site that he prefers not to unless directly asked, i think he’s had complaints from people who were incapable of sticking with it on his design regardless of board size. i’ve heard that story more than once and not just about shorter variety boards. in fact there was a 6’8 that sold from mollusk venice that looks EXACTLY like my 6’8" looks and i bought mine in ventura. could it be that sasquatch bought my board in venice and sold it on consignment up north? when i got it they said it was new but i saw a couple of things on the bottom that looked like a minor attempt to hide 1 or 2 small pressure dings…maybe, maybe not - whatever! my “point” is that sticking with it can pay off, BIG! i love my new used board
just to clarify - if you’re into the siglo you should hit mollusk up NOW for a chance to snag one of the Liddles that will be for sale in the months ahead!!! they won’t last a NY minute in that store
today i spoke (mostly listened) with Klaus Jones about micro hulls and the limitations of size versus weight. i agree with him that going too short relative to one’s weight is a mistake no matter the shape, level of experience, or what the conditions are like in the water. if she floats, she’s a witch! if she sinks, she’s mortal! i think for me at 160lbs standing 6’ even a 6’ will do the trick… it’s what i’ve ridden more than anything else so i’m sticking to it
Your board from Mollusk had a few small patch ups from shipping from Hawaii. New Liddles at Mollusk after the first of the year. Some guys think they want to ride Gregs boards, and just dont have the skill and patience to hang with it. Some people also just dont have the right style to ride Hulls, there not for everyone.
hey burnsie - i don’t have KPs battle practice,having been on hulls only about 1.5 yrs now, but what you said ‘Front foot oriented moving forward to trim’ seems to be a big part of it. it’s longer smoother turns - no tick/tack type turns. definately less vertical surfing, although you can still pop one off the top… But what seems to be real important is wave type. The hull loads up and springs through turns. one of my fave things it coming off the bottom, and as yr coming up toward the lip, you kind of lessen the angle to a more horizontal track – it’s like this long weightlessness… then you go into yr next BT with more power, then then faster, and then more speed and power, and then…
nice one! that thing looks sooooooo fast! man i’d love to test pilot that bad boy! those small side bites just trip me out, they seem so insignificant in proportion to the center fin but i guess an airbag is invisible until it’s right up in the face - say no more
KP
how funny! then it IS the same board possibly. though it is also possible that all boards get little smoothie smooches from the chuckers in the freight industry and that the height and laminate on my board are the exact same as another stub he shaped and shipped - i ain’t re-selling either way!
style is something that will roll in over the years, i suppose it’s the fruit of dedication. it seems that these boards are getting shorter by today’s standards though there is evidence that these new shorter versions are the grandchildren of a nearly forgotten generation. new short boards mean a new style! the more guys like al knost, j gamboa and dan malloy use these stubs the more people will take notice, they look like they’re having so much fun, just flying
In email Greg told me that when he lived in Calif he rode mostly hulls about 1 foot longer than his height. After much experimentation had found that to be about optimal size. This was for surfing mostly Malibu.
his (GL’s)site has a the board description of the m3p model, and it sounds like he almost discourages going short on a hull, says you loose the glide and you have to work the board more, like a thruster. what appealed to me about hulls is the continous flow and speed, whereas the almost stop/go of thrusters is what i wanted to get away from. so i just wonder why you want to go shorter ( sub 7’ ). maybe it’s like maybe a weight issue… guys that are light… however it’s not like yr whipping the board around alot on this kind of surfing, so why would more length be a bad thing?
