Hello everyone, a thought occurred to me today while I was out enjoying the thunderous roar of the waves breaking; why don’t I see any displacement hulls out, liddle’s out ever at my local breach break? We had a very large WNW swell today, offering good exposures with some well overhead-nearly 2x overhead surf. I’ve taken my 8’6 super smoothie on similar but slightly smaller days before and have always had a blast. The speed on these things benefit more with the help of more powerful waves. It skims smoothly on top of the water and makes for the most rewarding ride ever. My liddle, when riding in the pocket really is the smoothest, delicate surfboard that I own. When dialed in, it really mutes the world and everything just becomes the quietest place. So why don’t many people ride these boards at a beach break? They are very fun and I feel like have the most interaction with my wave compared to my other boards. I can only imagine its potential on a pointbreak. If you are reading this and was wondering if they work on a beachbreak, EFF yeah they do!!!
First post, stoked to be writing about hulls.
I live by Scripps, it’s my local break, and it’s a beach break. I almost never surf my 7’6" or 6’10" hulls there. I can duck dive both easily, so it’s not that. The hull’s shape craves a down the line wave, with lots of space to build speed after a prolonged drop in, swooping full rail turns, and a big roundhouse cutback or two. It feels like a different shape (lately, my surf mat) would be better served to utilize the quick power of the punchy waves of the beach break, and most surfers have more than one board, especially ones that own hulls. If I had only one board, it’d be my 6’10" hull, and I’d happily surf beach breaks with it, but since there’s a quiver of fun shapes in the garage, and a surf mat in the trunk of the Mazda, the hulls stay home sometimes.
I get-cha! But you can also fly down the line and the speed it generates is what makes my liddle so freaking addictive. I own so many different shapes and my liddle has the best glide of all. Welcome Hutch, this forum is one of the best online.
I’ve ridden lots of hulls, and love them in lined up frontside waves. Might be my skills, bu I do have problems going backside where I can’t project my turns as well. Beach breaks require me to go both ways, so a conventional bottom design works better for me.
I have seen vids of guys riding hulls at beach breaks, but def not designed specifically for that type of surf. Originally dsigned to surf the right hand points of southern california ie. malibu and rincon, as you probably know. But there is a big hull guy where I live and from what I can tell he is a proponent of riding hulls in most conditions including beachbreaks and going backside. Ride your liddle at the beachbreak, have fun, and maybe you will change some peoples opinions about the validity of hulls in that type of wave. I do not own a hull but I really really want to give one a try and see what its all about. Any suggestions on which Liddle to buy for a first time hull owner?
“If you ride a hull it will mess up your surfing”, I read that somewhere, and it is true. It’s a crazy feeling, like none other in surfing, although sometimes the surf mat can feel similar, though the view is very different.
My advice would be to not hold back, go full bore hull: around 7ft, s-deck, flex fin, and fly down the line in some lined up waves. Don’t bother with noserides, and tail turning is a waste of time, lay the board on it’s side and let the fin & rail do the work.
I contacted hull stable master, Kirk Putnam, and he pointed me towards a 7’6" Death Machine. I’m a veteran surfer, a water polo player and distance swimmer, not tall and pretty thick.
Here’s a cool read form SJ a while back linked.
Visit KP’s Roundup and discover all you need to know. Kirk has all the data, and then some, on everything hull related. He also can surf a hull backside - no problemo. http://kpsroundup.blogspot.com/
Thanks Guys. I appreciate the help! I will check all of that info out
I know that Liddell had a model that he shaped that was intended for beach break, but can’t remember the name. Riding a hull takes some adjustment if you have never been on one. They are not surfed the way you would a normal board of the same size. Video of Krewjensky(sp) will give you an idea.
Here’s a cool 12 min long video on YouTube. It’s the best I’ve found.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=FNO1BIbiox0