Friend of mine snapped his regular ride, so he’s been out on an old brown, no name, honest to goodness hull. Its about a 6’10", belly all the way to about 14" from tail, pinched rails throughout. A friend of his pulled it out of a dumpster, if you can believe that.
It was the oddest thing I have ever ridden, and that superlative includes consideration of my first outing on the penguin. It just didn’t respond like anything I had ever set my feet upon. I finally stopped trying to surf the damned thing, and just rode it… It definitely didn’t want to turn off the rail, the only way to get any kind of turn was major pressure on the tail. Is that pretty typical for a hull? One thing I can say about it, even though I couldn’t surf it worth a damn… When I did manage to stay on top of it, it had the coolest glide I’ve ever felt, like it was of the wave instead of on the wave.
Anyway, thought I’d share, since you guys are the only reason I even knew what the design was called. When I told my buddy that it was a hull he said, "yeah, that sounds about right… Because it sure as hell isn’t a surfboard. "
Those turned to middle rails allowed wide boards to be ridden in bigger, stronger surf than a modern flat bottom/concave bottom board would allow nowadaze. The turned up mid to nose allowed YOU to bank the board over on the rail, burying the whole rail, even on boards as wide as 22/23".
Different style of surfing than twist and shout, and much more traditional and UNradical.
I think I changed from displacement 50/50 rails to all down around 1969, Spring.
Send that POS to me…before, uhh before…you become corrupted!
Rode a 7-6 Carl Ekstrom funny-gunny hull single, 50/50 railed, down, hard in the last 16", from '67 to '84 exclusively, and in everything OH 'til '90 when the delams that held more air than a surfmat did it in. Gave it to a grom. It didn’t start to breathe 'til size went chest+, and didn’t wheeze in the largest the east coast had to offer, near TOH. It remains the fastest board I’ve ever been on. Face chop was a non-issue. Pivot turned like a dervish. Rail turned by pressing the ball of the back foot on what would quickly become the inside rail. As you can see, it sucked so…please?
Shwuz , thats what its all about! more of the wave ,than on the wave . Never heard anybody say that but its a good explanation of what hulls are like. I always tell people when they try my boards to just let the board do the work. Ride the glide!
Jumping on a hull after riding a “backfoot” board is always going to be a pretty weird experience. You might have been standing in the right spot to turn it but you put your weight on your back foot and tried to twist a turn…nothing right? It’s really hard to run up to the middle or in front of the middle, weight both feet equally and push it around. Its just not what you’ve been telling your body to do to turn a board for however many years. Also, they are even tougher to figure if your riding in knee-high or less, punchless surf. An other problem (probably a big part of your difficulty) might be that the fin is too far back…move it so the back edge of the fin base is 11 to 13 inches from the tailblock.
Give it a few more waves, 'cause once you roll it up and feel the board get pulled magically down the line, you’ll know what we have been blabbing about…
yeah, it definitely seemed like it would be good for a person’s all-around surfing abilities to learn to surf a wavecraft like that. It probably would have helped if it were a proper hull, too. It was obviously someone’s backyard shape, virtually no rocker, fin glassed crooked into big ol’ fin box. I’m very much a front-foot surfer, and that really wasn’t working for this board, but I only took a half-dozen solid chest-high waves on it, so I was nowhere near dialed in.
As for the penguin, not much to report so far. I took it out once in thigh-high mush, and all I can say for certain is that it catches waves really easy. Like really easy. Big surprise with that wide rearend. It seemed very easy to snap around, but felt a bit lacking in the drive department. That is probably just a fin issue, though, or a tiny wave issue, so I can still work on that. And the homedepot eps felt strangly squishy under the glass… which brings me to the next problem.
I cut into it to add a center box and a couple of plugs for twinzer fronts, and when I squeezed the tail, some moisture came up out of the hole for the center box. It had been leaning against the wall for a couple of days since I rode it, so I figure the water all ran down to the tail… I couldn’t find any real dings, but I noticed a bunch of pits in the hotcoat. In my hurry to sand it and get it wet, I didn’t stop to consider those pits. They probably go all the way through the weave to the foam, don’t they? And when I squeeze the board during a duckdive or something, it is just sucking in water like a sponge… So, now I need to strip the wax really really well, and re-hotcoat again, right? Any tips on getting it really really clean of wax?
Yeah, all good ideas. I just need that “last step” to get the last molecules-thick layer of wax off so the epoxy will stick.
I scraped it clean today, scrubbed it down with hotwater, and I can’t pinpoint the holes, except for a couple of small (1mm) pins all the way at the nose. … Might just have to re-hotcoat the whole damned thing.
The suction cup is to find the pinholes you didn’t see, just a normal epoxy builder trick.
You can’t just brush hotcoat on, you have to needle them into the holes, if the squeegeeing didn’t do the job. Some good epoxy glassers put on surgical gloves, then hand push them in, using the heel of their hands. They say feel tells them when it’s filled, and also where the pinholes are located.
Don’t forget to prep/sand the board before applying the sealer/hotcoat…and use waxed resin.
Friend of mine snapped his regular ride, so he’s been out on an old brown, no name, honest to goodness hull. Its about a 6’10", belly all the way to about 14" from tail, pinched rails throughout. A friend of his pulled it out of a dumpster, if you can believe that.
It was the oddest thing I have ever ridden, and that superlative includes consideration of my first outing on the penguin. It just didn’t respond like anything I had ever set my feet upon. I finally stopped trying to surf the damned thing, and just rode it… It definitely didn’t want to turn off the rail, the only way to get any kind of turn was major pressure on the tail. Is that pretty typical for a hull? One thing I can say about it, even though I couldn’t surf it worth a damn… When I did manage to stay on top of it, it had the coolest glide I’ve ever felt, like it was of the wave instead of on the wave.
Anyway, thought I’d share, since you guys are the only reason I even knew what the design was called. When I told my buddy that it was a hull he said, "yeah, that sounds about right… Because it sure as hell isn’t a surfboard. "
…the above describes better than I could how hard I find my 6’10 “Wilderness” hull to ride.
Backhand , I can’t figure it out AT ALL ! I’ve had it out in up to head high and a LITTLE bit bigger hollow days, and blew too many waves I’d normally make on my other boards.
I've ridden it about thirty times...maybe I just plain suck...
ben
I WILL persevere, however…one day I might suss it …who knows ? Rob Conneeley and George both said it needs a solid Angourie-type wave to really get it going [as you guys comments also seem to confirm. Thanks for that !]
p.s. - Shwuz, did yours also have an s-deck ? [see below… deck photo]
Yo Chipfish…for some reason I cracked up when I saw that picture of you and the board.You kinda looked like one of those guys that live and eat out of dumpsters.I like that shape and the “S” deck.I am willing to bet they will see their day again as it is a functional profile putting the thickness in the right places.I wish someone would make some blanks with this deck curve.Its hard to shape that deck curve in modern blanks without cutting in to the deck foam too much.I use to shape em with the old heavy blanks by crosscutting with the planer and soft foam was not an issue. RB
It is interesting for me to see such an outline with a hull bottom. I am a recent hull-convert, but have been riding hull bottom stubbies/eggs that are a lot wider overall, with rounded tails and noses. That Wilderness board is a curious one – '70s outline with an older-school bottom. Thanks for the photos Chip.
KirkPutnam - Do you build hulls for sale? Where are you located? Website or contact? How do your hull shapes compare to Liddles or Andersons. Thanks, John
johnxyz, I work with Liddle, Anderson, and Andreini all these boards are available direct threw them or at the Beachouse in Santa Barbara 805 963 1281. Sometimes I have Liddles at my shop at my house PM me for info.
Met up with Matt Sacht and Guitar Steve at the Newbs to give my new Liddle Smoothie Point Break a little spin. Pretty inconsistant but managed to snag a nice one or two…Holy Mahooooooooooooley what a sweet stick. Sorry Kit and Florian…
I tried Matt’s Cooperfish Comet too. Definately a hull. The hull is up about a foot from the fin or about 24" from the tail. Too much outline curve and narrow tail for drivey rail turns but use a wide stance with a foot on the fin it gets vertical. Also pulled a couple of figure 8 cutties on it.
Really interesting comparing the performance differences due to the weight…the Comet probably weighs twice what the Liddle does but you mostly feel it when paddleing and catching waves. The Comet likes to “bicycle” in to the wave whereas the Liddle likes four or five power strokes.
Best part was sharing pretty good Newbreak with a couple of buddies, swapping boards and cheering each other into waves…a real Swaylock’s moment
These days it’s pretty much anything but hulls…Rich Pavel’s fish (twins and quads) is probably the vehicle of choice…lotta longboards and bigboy thrusters too. When it’s right, that wave is soooooooo good. The board I was riding fits that wave perfectly.
