If all boards are female and require a name, I’m calling her La Navaja (the razor), she’s sharp and she’s got crazy curves, you could say they’re almost French. Despite her template outline, she is definitely not a funboard.
Late last week some swell started to fill in our area and I was finally able to get the Liddle into the water. I had four days of back-to-back sessions, with Monday night’s sunset session the first of the incoming northwester that’s been pounding California all week. So basically, I had three days to get up and running on the hull, before some real waves pounded us. Riding the hull has been like learning to surf all over again, albeit with a real steep yet short learning curve.
My first session was humbling to the core, the first few drops, she literally bucked me. I spooned the nose into the water on another drop. and after I got the nack of getting up, my crude weight shifting (meant for rounder rails) would sink the bladed rails into the water and the board would slice through the backside of the wave as it went by. The lack of volume on the rails, combined with the board’s length, 7’4″, at first made the board seem really ridged.
After a few tries, I was finally able to make the drop and set the rail. People often talk about hulls having four gears. I’m pretty sure I was able to get her to at least the third gear, as I was hauling ass on a few waves, able to connect sections of my home break that are almost always un-makeable.
My skill level rose as my confidence rose and by the third session, I was starting to get the hang of the backside turn using the rail. Riding a hull, the movements are much more subtle than a normal board and instead of riding from the tail, you’re mostly using your toes and heels, to guide your weight from side to side.
The fourth session was the banger. A nice mellow swell starting to hit. Head to overhead sets. Those drops were a wholly new experience, as La Navaja has speed like I’ve never seen before, though I’m still unable to get her to really spray buckets. By this session, my legs were surer and I really felt the trim in the more walled up sections of the wave. I even got a head dip or two.
Once you get the drop and set the line, there’s a feeling to riding a hull that I can only compare to riding the nose of a longboard, except you’re not on the nose. Some people describe this as feeling as if you are surfing with the wave, as opposed to against it, like a shortboard. I definitely draw parallels to nose riding, it has a floating sensation. There is no need for pumping or trying to maintain speed, it feels as if you are in tune with the wave.
Hulls love walled up, flawless machine-like point breaks and admittedly, I’m not riding those. My home break is an a-framey Sunset Beach kinda break, but after four solid days of riding this thing, I can honestly say, I love it. I love the feeling it has and I love the newness of it all.
I’m looking forward to the next swell that should be hitting our shores this weekend. I’ll take La Navaja up to The Mexican Malibu to see if I can get her into fourth gear and to test the theory floated by the naysayers that say that hulls can’t get into barrels.
Luca and his abuelito Francisco
