BLOG #1 Ryan Lovelace




Although my father owned and operated a marina with my grandfather, I was never all that interested in boats or any kind of watercraft for that matter while I was younger. I worked a bit for the Marina on the weekends, but I did not desire to hang around the lake. My relationship to my fathers business had more to do with the busy work than with learning machinery and performing maintenance (which is what I was really interested in) so I felt distanced from the water. These things tend to come 'round circle, and now my growing love for the ocean and waves has sparked my intrigue towards the mechanics of surf craft and their origins, along with the motivations for contemporary decisions in surf designs. Many surfboard sculptors in the past were inspired by the plans for boat hulls in their search for functionality and form, thus a lot of the boards you will see in the water today will resemble the rockers and belly shapes of motor and sail boats. This is where I believe hydrofoil technology is truly beginning to meld with creative form and expression, where artists begin with an interest, they research the origin of their interest, and then apply their findings to the things they love. In this case,  it is Greg Liddle (Early 1970's) and Ryan Lovelace 's (Current) love for the displacement hull concept and its ability to heighten their experience atop an ocean wave.

           The hull of the boat (under belly) has many different shapes and contours, depending on the type of boat and the function of the craft. The 'Round Bottom Hull' (or Displacement Hull) from the above chart is what surf innovators have toyed with ever since we learned to surf with a fin. As described above, the displacement hull is where the under belly of the boat is round and convex, protruding down toward the ocean floor.  These designs were made based off of function, depending on the intended use of the boat. Will it be racing? Will this boat transport passengers? These hull decisions would in turn effect the driving experience and its efficiency to move through the water. 

            In modern boat designs, if you were to weigh the boat, and then separately weigh the amount of water that the boat displaces when placed in the water, the two should weigh the same amount. The idea here is that little power is needed to move the boat through the water as it pushes everything in front out of the way (displacing). This same exact theory was applied to surfboards by a man named Greg Liddle in the early 1970's in his initial displacement hull designs.



          The magic in Liddle's designs were in the transition from nose to tail, where he varied the shape and amount of convex belly dependent upon where the surfer would stand. 

Above is an oldschool George Greenough hull, much of Liddle's roots can be seen here

           Combining slight variations in different hulls with the displacement theory, Greg Liddle was creating a versatile and elegant surf craft. 



         The shape would range from a super mellow convex belly at the middle of the board's length, to a pretty harsh convex at the nose, and eased into a mellow V toward the tail (*see 'deep V' above chart). This allowed a surfer to glide along the surface of any size wave without needing much energy from the wave to push them forward, also allowing powerful turns. Liddle had achieved ultimate response yet little effort and maximum fun in his shapes. Today, a man named Ryan Lovelace is making his own style of displacement hulls while injecting a whole lot of motorized craft research and design ideas of his own to create the perfect hybrid. 


         With a displacement bottom along with the combination of a concave deck to allow better foot response, Lovelace’s wave craft are a beautiful harmony of technology and creative passion. His efforts are toward a ‘ball bearing’ effect when riding his surf boards, where the middle of the board has the freedom to tilt and rotate on any axis, yet still has the natural drive to move forward due to its displacement design. All of these theories are applied, tested, and modified, for the sole purpose of having an absolute blast in the ocean.


Displacement Discussion:


Displacement Action:












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