Agreed he made one of the best, I still have mine, I love it.
a good friend got one same time i did and he too looved it-best longboard ever! so he claimed. when you got down on the step(front third) they would flatten out and really take off! you could surf down the line, weaving through the crowd, turning and blowin’ past people who were in front of ya with ease from there. we called it the “excuse me!” platform, because of that. someone drop in down the line? no problem .up to the nose, the thing would set which = instant accleration and passing gear with a smirk of “excuse please” as you would fly by them! i’ve had copies made, but none worked like they did.
If you get a chance check out The Surfers Journal interview with Rennie: Volume Eleven, Number Three. He discusses it. There was also a Longboard Magazine article titled “Benders”. It came out in 2000 or 2001 and discussed all of the stepdeck models.
I weigh 180+ so I do feel the “bend” on the 2 '60s spoon I ride as well as on the Liddle spoon I have. With the right fin and wave the boards are definitely the s**t. Soo much better than a concave bottom “noserider”.
Glad you love yours…
the new longboard magazine has an article on rennie as well, in which he talks about the genesis of his spoon.
I just had Doug Haut(Santa Cruz master shaper) shape me a stepdeck he calls his a bump. It is 3 3/4 thick at the thick point, and I can still make the nose flex. I have said it before and I will say it again, I think the stepdeck is the missing link. We need to spend more time making it right.
liddle makes 'em right.unfortunatley, can’t get a longboard from him anymore-at least not in california…
Here is another variation of the stepdeck, my Hansen Superlight. The 3/4 length stringer allows the nose to flex and straighten the rocker line when you move forward on the nose. You can even bury the nose and it will pop back out again and keep going. I still ride it from time to time.
Aloha,
Just wanted to place my two-cents in. Here are pics of Rich Harbour’s “Cheater II” and Bob “the Greek” Bolen’s “Eliminator” models. The Cheater II model rides awesome…hardly any nose rocker and lots of tail kick. Nose rides easy! very fast paddling!
hopefully the pics will help in your quest of step-decks and step-tails.
The step tails:
more pics:
last pics…hopefully this may help!
Oops? I forgot to mention…
The Cheater II model does not flex any more at the nose! no way. I tried with my heavy weight with a buddy at the tail…same results as any other PU/PE shaped blank. If at any…Step-decks takes the volume out of the nose…for faster turning response.
Also…this Cheater II model was originally called the “Bender” back in the day.
If you really want to see some nice old school step-decks
See if you can find “Smitty” longboards around.
He’s a California shaper (who stopped shaping/glassing…and now is in a rock band)
Smitty was originally a fiberglass artist for DisneyLand and transformed into an awesome longboard glasser (real old school logs). Smitty has about six longboard models floating around. I’ll post pics of Smitty’s boards.
Manoa.
2 beautiful bords there. I’d never considered a step tail…
This is my first board, I was going to do a single fin 7ft or something similar, but I’ve recently really started to enjoy my log riding, and can’t ( for the moment) see me going short other than on my fish.
I want it to be something special, i’m prepared to take a lot of time getting it right, so thought i may aswell push the boat out and after seeing a step deck a few weeks back, i was in awe.
Riding a diamond t 9’4" so wanted something to compliment it, rather than something completely diferent.
Great help guys, and Manoa, thanks again for the pics.
Happy waves
howzit, manoa…what length is that Cheater???
oops I forgot about my Gene Cooper “Hornet” formerly known as Cooperfish. This Cooperfish logo is not being used anymore. Company changed over to Cooper Designs.
Hornet: 10’ x 23" x 3 and 3/8"
step-deck and step-tail is very subtle.
This board is a FAST noserider…good for steeper type waves.
Hope this helps
oh yah…soulstice. The Cheater is 9’8" and the Eliminator is 10’
more pics:
In the late 60’s Challenger called their stepdeck “The Bump”. I had a buddy in high school who had one. It was the first Longboard I ever rode. I think those were made in N. San Diego where Surfboards Hawaii, Bahne, Hansen were also making their stepdecks. Con had the Bigler model after he left Harbour which was also one.
I was out at the 'Bu in May and I ran into someone who has their own model board, who was riding an old Yater they found in SB and they stated that they loved the board. (Name omitted to uphold anonymity).
Aloha again!
chatting about “Smitty’s” gave me chills to ride them again. Here’s one of smitty’s model. Took this log out of storage and rode small waist high waikiki this morning. Most of my longboards have step-deck and step-tail. I’m surprised by many swaylockians say they “flex more”. No extra flex in any of my old or new longboards (all are clark or walker blanks glassed with polyester resin). As you can see…I love old style logs (Very heavy and All are big single fin). enjoy the pics and post pics of your step-deck board. As soon as I can…I’ll post more of my collection of step-decked longboards.
