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 board designs were long boards based on the Yater "Spoons" that I rode
and sold. I was also influenced by the very parallel outlines that Mickey Dora
rode at Malibu duringthe early and mid 1960's made by Jacobs, Sweet and
Greg Noll; and especially by the Yaters and the Noll "Da Cat".

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
  
Nat Young                            Nat Young Keyo Malibu First Point          

I made some very crude versions of that concept and was excited over this new approach to riding waves.
  I made everything imaginable over the next twenty years following the design trends
that developed from the Australian and Hawaiian short board output.
  However, a few good freinds and I 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 incrementally 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 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.

Steve Krajewski- Malibu

So for those twenty years the boards which I choose to call "displacement hulls",
short for "transitional volume displacement hulls", became more refined
and 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 result was 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,
bottom shape 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.