been gettin lotta use out of yr Inbetweener? I woulda thought by yr handle that you would have gone for an Anderson Bojorquez model - read that the wide point on those is back a little further, like the Inbetweener’s is.
speaking of the Anderson Bojorquez - those puppies must be expensive, cuz every one i’ve seen (on the net) is pigmented - all looking pretty swank tho. If you do a search on google “Anderson Bojorquez”, you’ll see one on Ebay (that sold already). 2nd hand - the guy got $550 for it, and the seller mentions that it would normally go for about $700.
speaking of Anderson - i saw on his website the Pescado - - cool concept.
This whole ‘riding lower in the water’ and ‘riding through the water’ – i got my new stick, and there’s no swell - and dam i’m eager to see what it is the hull guys are talking about!
I found a copy of Fantastic Plastic Machine(book) and was reading the part where they interview McTavish (early-mid 60s) - and he’s talking about his new V-bottoms - and he mentions how cool it was to see the wake the vee cut was.
I am a huge fan of Scott’s boards- have a garage full of them between my wife and myself but since Greg is the Originator of this particular style of displacement hull I wanted to go to him first. I probably will wind up with some Anderson Bojorquez and Pescados before it is all said and done. I did just order a Hawaiikine from Greg as a step-up for trips further north once we start getting winter swells again.
I have been riding the Inbetweener exclusively on head-high or better days this summer and I am seeing more than the occasional flash of brilliance the design holds now. “Stay off the tail” should be a decal on the boards- not unlike the Ejection Seat labels on an F-14 Tomcat! The first time I did a proper bottom turn with a fully committed rail it shot me upthe face so quickly I was out the back of the wave before I had time to react. I have that part under control now but it was a hell of a shock the first time it happened. I have been surfing since 1981, have ridden over 100 different boards during that time and never had THAT happen before.
I wish I had discovered these boards 20 years ago.
Andersonfan – wow, that’s a trip about how you felt the board rode. looking fwd to my first sesh. without having ridden it yet - frmo what i hear - this is all so refreshing to me. Like my fish was, maybe more like my mat was – performance out of something which LOOKS so unlikely. Like the diamond in the rough thing. ( the mat has so changed how i look at surfing – hope i get a similar from my hull now )
don’t worry about flyin’ off the back when it hooks up-not that i am a pro or established hull rider, but it still happens to me every once and then. crank off the bottom, it hooks up in the zone and immediately hits sixth gear, catching you off guard and balance, ejecting you off the the tail into no mans land.funny thing is, it’s the same bottom turn you do time and time again, but that particular wave has all the right things going on which in turn makes the board hit it’s full potential, thereby catching you ya off guard-wait 'till it gets locked into a spinning tube-rider beware!!!
LOL! I had this happen to me for the first time on my new 6’10" KJ (2nd session) on Thursday morning. I was fortunate to be out at a uncrowded point break with perfect conditions and could really take my time figureing out the new board. And it is taking some figuring out, very extreme old school hull. As Matt just related, same bottom turn as I was honing all morning but just happened to hit a power pocket in the trough of the wave with just the right pressure on the rail as i rolled it over and all of a sudden I was flying over the back of the wave disengaged from my board and trailing it by 8’. I was both stunned and exhilarated. I’m a hull neophte and have made a commitment to stay on this Navaja till tamed.
regarding hitting the pocket of power – i remember a few times when i was a kid on my first board - 6’6" winged single fin - just banking into turns like normal – only to hit a “pocket” and rocket up to do a hell of an off the lip – all unexpected. paddle out like a pro - no claim - hoping peeps saw it and thought it was just routine for me. hehe But infact i’ve only experienced that on that one board - maybe it’s a single-fin thing?? If so, i’m looking forward to it. ( but that board was flat to vee bottom - normal singlefin w/ no flex )
( really to this day i’ve pondered those moments in '80 thru '82 years - cuz i was so in control going into them, like just normal, adn then ‘bash’ - and the only thing i could think of what that i hit a pocket of up-rushing water )
just been thinking about hulls a lot and whether i want to buy one or not.
i feel that riding a hull gives you the opportunity to ride the wave on a deeper, more connected level then any other surfboard. your only doing just that, riding the wave. theres not much more you can do on a hull. the are for riding the wave, plain and simple. and i love that idea. they aren’t so much surfboards, but wave riders.
my dislikes:
-they are a drag to paddle. it feels like your stuck in the kelp when your paddling. its just hard to paddle.
-after a few sessions on one, it almost starts to feel dead in the water. at points im just like damn i just wish i was hydroplaning.
i also get a little bored. it does feel absoultley amazing to ride one and im totally an appreciater of the craft, to the fullest. but for me, i felt like i could only do so much. like there just wasn’t any progression or pushing myself on one, you know?
-and my last complaint. after surfing one for three.5 hours, i wasn’t tired at all. my arms were tired, but my body didn’t feel used, just my arms. when i ride a board that surfs on top of the water, be it long or short, my whole body feels like its being used and when im done with my sesh my whole body is tired. Becaus eon a hull, the best way to ride it is by doing the smallest amount of work.
somebody counter my comments! I want to ride hulls exclusively and see no other reason to ride anything else like so many of you. i really mean that. so bash me, please.
Your making it sound like you’re going to marry the fucking thing! It’s not life or death! It’s just a surfboard. If ya get bored; ride something else…No law against jumping on a thruster now and then.
i also get a little bored. it does feel absoultley amazing to ride one and im totally an appreciater of the craft, to the fullest. but for me, i felt like i could only do so much. like there just wasn’t any progression or pushing myself on one, you know?
So poser,
dropping in on a solid over head wave going way out in the flat burying your inside rail from tip to tail banked so far over that your chest and face are about 3 inches off the water of that flat area in front of the wave, as well, your fin is completely out of the water… you’ve got that down pat yeah?
I’ve got to ask: Where is “down here” where you aren’t going to see head-high waves very often? I’m with Lee- it’s one board in the quiver although I am extremely infatuated by it now and want to see how far I can take it (I personally think it’s possible to tail slide one of these like a thruster) as I progress. There is the correct way to ride the design and I am going to focus on becoming proficient in said style. When I am comfortable there I will try new things, some of which will work and others will make me look like a total kook but I will be having fun the whole time (providing I don’t find the fin from the pointy end).
Dennis , I know what your sayin about ,you can only do so much but you can really start to refine things, Also ive seen the young guys , Gamboa, The Malloys and others do new stuff that I didnt think was possible. Theres a short film being done on this very subject.
if you weren’t tired, then you weren’t surfing it to it’s fullest.(perhaps the wave was limiting as well)they do turn ya know-deep carving turns.after burning down for 400 yards or so, turning and trimming, i know i get a little fatigued…have you perused the stubby article in the surfers journal? opening page photo is of bojo burying it on a cutback…honestly, what they don’t do is go vertical or make those three point snappy turns like thrusters do…
KP - ( it was Poser, not Dennis, who posted the bored on a hull comment) - is there anything else you can tell us about the short film on hulls? The only footage i’ve ever seen was Gamboa on his Pavel hull in Sprout – this is what initially got me thinking about hulls… well that and seeing the flexspoons on flexspoon.com site …then of course the tsj article. Which brings me to Matt – yes! that first shot of steveK/E Bojo just bringin that board around on a rail, and theres another shot or two … “Gamboa redirecting” which is a pretty amazing turn.
i’d really love to see other people riding hulls - around here all you see are the 99% of this places surfer that are 16-21y/o trying to bust the fins free - and jamming turns - hoping here and there- over and over and over and over – it’s not the smooth, graceful, and powerful surfing I love to watch. Even the few peeps that ride longboards only do it to catch more waves - no style whatsoever. Maybe one guy i can think of - lived in CA most of his life.
There just aren’t that many Hull riders out there. I’m fortunate (or cursed, depending on who you listen to) to be able to surf Malibu every week and I can count the number of hull riders I have seen there on both hands. Gamboa is a sight to see- granted, he can ride anything well but he does ride a hull with incredible grace and style. He truly makes it look effortless. There are two other hull riders I see consistenly as well a gentleman who has a couple of Liddle longboards. I saw a Balsa Anderson Bojorquez two weeks ago for the first time, what a fantastic board!
Back to the point- with Malibu being one of, if not THE epicenter of the hull movement and only a handful of hull riders seen on a regular basis, your chances of seeing a number of them at other breaks is a longshot at best.
More threads like this, more articles like TSJ ran, the film KP is describing, more of us talking to other surfers will all help bring more surfers into the fold. Hulls aren’t for everyone (as many have said).
One new film is called ,One California Day it was done by Jason Baffa( the man who did Single fin Yellow) theres a part in it with Gamboa at Malibu last spring I think an early southswell GOOD surf and hes out on his Klaus Jones Hull just going OFF!! nice stuff. The short film I cant say to much about but it will have GOOD old stuff and GOOD new stuff. I think Jasons film will be this fall.
