Hullway 101

The enduring allure of displacement hulls

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“Be careful: you might get addicted,” shaper Greg Liddle warned of the allure of displacement hulls in issue 15.2 of TSJ. “If you do, it will mess with your mind. You, the way you surf, won’t be the same.” Liddle was, of course, speaking from personal experience, having spent many decades riding and honing his own hull designs. And he wasn’t exaggerating. Many have tunneled down the rabbit hole of perfect trim and down-the-line projections offered by a well-shaped hull and a clean pointbreak. Jimmy Gamboa and Adam Muniak are two current adherents. Here TSJ contributor Michael Kew documents the pair making hot laps at Rincon—Muniak with a Liddle-shaped craft underfoot.

Dig into the following archival TSJ features for an extended discussion of hull design: “The Good, The Bad, and The Stubby” “Square One” and “Displacements” —all available free to subscribers.