These two bad boys are 1lb eps, stringerless and shaped by my internet buddy Greg out in Texas. He has a bunch more photos here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/16998046@N06/
There's some great shots of the full s-deck business he has going on at that site. The 'Leaf' is 6'4 and 21" wide, the stub is 6'0" and 22.5- Michael Peterson would know what to do with this particular board. What I think is great about them is he plans to make them both quads which seems like a fine idea. Here's the point where I make all the hull guys angry- My issue with what is traditionally considered a 'hull' -pinched rails, s-deck, single big flex fin- is simply that they don't seem to turn very well. No disrespect meant to the boards at all, I think they're amazing for what they were designed to do, which is go really fast and give the rider a very distinctive feel for how the board is riding. I love the single mindedness and purity of design that Liddle, Steve K, Hilbers, Putnam et al have put into these things. The boards are designed to fly down the line at the right hand pointbreaks that abound in N. Los Angeles county, and fly they do. I however, like turning, and if a surfer as talented as Jimmy Gamboa can't hack a decent cutback on one of these things then I have no hope. The usual complaints about hulls don't bother me much though- mostly I hear people say they're squirrelly as hell and they don't work so well on the backhand or in a beach break. Fine, it's good that the experience comes only after learning to finesse the board- that's called aquiring skill. As for the backhand problem, then ride the thing on your forehand in pointbreaks. It's awesome that we can have boards as finetuned to certain conditions as that. Still, refinement contnues- the Casper family I've had in the lasty few posts have definite elements of the hull, and here's Greg's smaller, flexy hull style boards which, with the quad set up, may turn like a teenager's shortboard. This is the stuff that keeps me stoked about surfboards.
3 comments:
2 pound, so not quite that flexy--stoked seeing them here and words from you. They have a touch of belly and edgy toward the tail--there's some Pavel in there, I think--these are my first shapes--they're getting ProBox, and there are some Quadfires in the order--Sway's brethren know
Hoping for a skateboard outcome
g
First off, some huller's never get angry...just ask Greg. Hulls turn just fine but within the parameter of the design. It's a long radius turn that just doesn't fit the short pocket of some beach breaks and reefs (unless designed that way). You don't take old school downhill skis into the bumps.
The thing that gets missed by those who haven't given the design a legitimate try is that its all about "Rider Feel". There is no flash and splash to the observer on the beach. The design is for the surfer, not the photographer.
My personal frustration with the "hull phenomenon" is that they are made out to be boards to trim and ankle turn. I always looked at the trim part as only a transition between rail turns...
Anyway, I look forward to hearing Greg's first ride reviews. He's on the right track. I honestly believe that the ultimate "hull" will be a 7-foot long, front-loaded hull with twin keels and a swallow tail. Take that out to 1st point and smoke it!
Lee,
stoked to have you chime in as a respected hull afficiando, and especially hear what you think the ultimate hull will be. I fully get what you're saying about the drawn out rail turn too. Having not ridden a classic single fin displacement hull but being around them being ridden, I think what I'm seeing most is the speed those turns generate rather than the turn itself. Either way it's great to see one of those boards in the hands of a good rider.
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