I can’t remember off the top of my head how the hull in front of the fin box compares to the Liddles. I’ll have to venture back down to the garage sometime and compare and contrast. What I do know is that this is probably one of, if not the most, bladed out of my quiver. It probably also has the widest nose. It’s similar to GL’s dirt template as far as I can tell.
I find it a little too long for the most part. I think I’d prefer it to be about 7’2". As it is, I only ride it on the smaller days when the conditions are really clean. With the slightest bump, I start to get bucked off or catch a rail on turns. I use one of Greg’s fins in the board (the one shown below); it’s probably about 13.25" from the base of the trailing edge to the tip of the tail. This seems to let me get the squirt out of turns that I like without feeling like it’s slowing me down as I’m trimming along. I do however, notice some tail drift on cutbacks.
I find I ride this board farther forward than the others (in trim my front foot is probably just behind the red logo). I can even turn it from pretty far forward; I pretty much keep my front foot where it’s at and widen my stance by moving my right foot back as I’m starting to load it up for a cutback. It has a pretty effortless speed to it which is exciting.
This is the board I’ve been experimenting on with finless surfing. I reckon I’ve still only got about a 50% success rate on making the drop/bottom turn with no fin. It sure is a neat feeling though.
I don’t have any dimensions handy for this one right now.
7’4" 1971 or '72 era liddle. I call it “the survivor.”
I found it at a garage sale about 7 years ago. It was in pretty bad shape but I didn’t pay much for it and it was destined to be a rider anyway. I showed it to KP once; neither of us could find any notes or markings on the stringer. Kirk thought it could have been a personal board for one of the shop guys.
I’ve found it to be a very versatile board. I’ve ridden it in everything from 2’ to 10’, both frontside and backside in pointsurf, beachbreak and reef waves. It’s thicker than most of the others farther forward and it’s flatter. It also has more foam (thickness-wise) in the nose. Maybe as a result of my fin choice, the board seems to allow me to mix it up between riding it like a traditional hull and but then also surfing it off the back foot.
It’s seen a lot of abuse from my friends and I but it keeps coming back for more. We ride it til it falls apart and then put it back together and start over again. Good times!
didn’t mean to leave you out dan- i haven’t surfed the eastside in six months or more! always fun to see you on our side too, come over for some more low tide fun.
Thanks for the input surferguy80. I was thinking shorter also. I ride alot of “marginal” type waves that are sometimes shorter, choppier, etc… and for some reason a shorter hull seems like it might fit into that type of wave better. Do you know what I mean?.. it seems like maybe the junkier the wave, the better for a shorter hull - what do you think?
You also mentioned wind conditions - that was good info too.
One of my recent sessions was really blown out, and i cant say the fins helped me any in that department!
The length was good for that though, i got to kind of slip in rather than lumber in on a longer board (longboards and windchop have never mixed well for me)…Im hoping that a 6-7-ish x 21-22" version will be fun, we’ll find out!
as for a hull gathering, im trying to get 3 or so of them done before the Anything But 3 event in march, check www.anythingbut3.com if you are curious.
Didn’t Spence have an idea like this awhile back? I can’t remember if it was to create a get together or a website called Hullabaloo.
Sr Pato
I’m not sure who’s doing what but I think Spence was (or is) working with Paul Gross on a project called Hullabaloo. Don’t know anything about a website but they’ve made a few longboard hulls under this label. I’ve seen about five of them and ridden probably three of them.
They look really cool but I could only figure out one of three I’ve tried. They’re difficult…
This was my first foray into a non-single fin hull. I find I have to ride the fin pretty far forward (ahead of the side biters) in order to keep that hull feel to the turns, etc. A little bit stiffer fin seems to work better for me in these boards too.
Because of the reduced length/volume, I typically ride this board only when the waves have some juice or its bigger but still hull-worthy. You can surf it a bit more aggresively, little hits off the top, floaters, etc. in addition to the more traditional hull lines you draw on the single fins. It’s more back-foot oriented; you can pump it like a fish or a shortboard. One cool thing about the 2+1 set up is when you really set it on a rail in a cutback, you’ve got that one inside fin biting at least a little bit to help pull you through. Grab rail cutbacks are a blast!
Sorry no dimensions for this one, I forgot to write them down.
Pretty similar comments to the 6’8" above. I’ve been riding this one more lately. The extra 2" in length and extra thickness throughout seem to help push this one along with a little less effort. Neat board.
Try a narrower base on the center fin. That’ll loosen it up a bit. Greg used to have this great narrow fin that he called a G4 (Greenough IV?). It’s the ticket on my 7’ 2+1. I’ve seen them on the Hawaiikine.
