Liddle Shop Woodland Hills, CA
Origins
Liddle Shop Woodland Hills, CA
I began building custom surfboards in 1968 after doing surfboard repairs and selling Yater and Jacobs surfboards from my tiny shop in Woodland Hills, California.
My first boards
were long boards that were influenced by the surfboards that I
rode at the time: Yater spoons and the very parallel outlines
that Mickey Dora rode at Malibu in the early and mid 1960's: Jacobs,
Dave Sweets, Yater "Spoons" and Greg Noll "da'
Cats".
Then came the short board revolution. I was particularly influenced by the designs of George Greenough after watching Nat Young surf Malibu on a Greenough inspired Keyo surfboard one day at Malibu "First Point".
Malibu Point
I made some very crude versions of that concept but was enthused
with this new approach to riding waves. Over the next twenty
years I built everything imaginable, following the design trends
that developed from the Australian and Hawaiian short board output.
Myself and a few friends concentrated on the designs that were
the offspring of that first Greenough inspired Keyo.
Keyo Influenced First Boards Six Footer
We experimented with every aspect of the design, taking each to their extreme. Lengths down to 5'5", thickness to almost zero; replicating in stand up form the spoons that Greenough rode on his knees. We tried very round bottom shapes, very thin tapered rails, very wide noses plan shapes. We moved the wide point forward and back, from a foot or more ahead of center and then slowly back depending on the length of turn desired.
The results, depending
on the individual was an array of outlines that were appropriate
for each at the surf spots they most frequented and their physical
style of surfing.
Steve Krajewski Dirt Machine
The extreme shapes designed for the down
the line surfing in California point surf, particularly Malibu
were not easy to ride because the rail turning style had to be
conciously developed. The natural tendency is to pivot turn off
of the back foot and these boards were full rail turning machines.
Stand forward, lean over and push off both feet to drive them
down the line. The results and feeling of that style of surfing,
for us were very rewarding and unique.
So for those twenty years the boards which I choose to call "displacement hulls", short for "transitional volume displacement hulls", became refined, sophisticated and very efficient in the surf they were designed to ride best........the small point surf of California.
I moved to Hawaii
in 1991 and had to adapt the California based designs to Hawaiian
surf. I added length for better paddling, added some volume, narrowed
the outlines and extended the nose rocker.
The results were a more versatile design that would ride a variety of surf, from knee high to several feet over head. The boards still retained the "modified hull" feeling; down the line trim speed, smoothness and added easier wave catching ability. They catch waves very easily relative to their length because of the volume, hull and overall design concept.
I added many of these changes to the first boards I was sending back to the mainland. They were not as extreme as many of the shapes of the 70's and early 80's . They were more "user friendly" and much easier to ride in my opinion, with the added volume, a bit more rocker for and aft and less extreme in bottom shape.
Since then many have now tried and learned to ride these designs and began requesting more extreme versions like the ones made in the previous era. Many new shapes have now evolved from their input and from their requests. And as the shapes evolved in the past they are evolving again.
I am now offering many more outlines in various lengths that should cover a large range of surf and satisfy those who want to experience the feeling of the "modified displacement hull" in the waves they ride.