Square One - The Surfers Journal

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Square One

Lindsay Lord's planing hull study in Hawaii during WWII marks an obscure pivotal moment in surf history. After discovering Lord's book Naval Architecture of Planing Hulls, Bob Simmons developed the first hydrodynamic planing hull. Fast forward to 2009. Ryan Burch and Lucas Dirkse are students of riding simple surfable finless boards of closed-cell foam: They work the same with a fin, only faster and are strong enough to ride without glassing.

Words by Richard Kenvin

Volume 19, Issue 5