Have Thee Faith In Thy Master Crafter

I'd been having a discussion via mail with Greg Liddle and Kirk Putnam about a board design I was going to order. Much info went back and forth with talk of 'Velo' being used as part of the eQuation. Back and forth we went until one day while speaking to Kirk he went to another call. It was Mr. Liddle saying that the board is done, it's in the mail and he had not had as much fun shaping a board in years. I must say I was damn exited until the 6'0" board arrived looking nothing like I thought. Anxiety ensued as kirk spoke of this being the freakiest Liddle he'd ever seen. The board scared me with it's 19 1/2 nose 22 1/2 width and........19 1/4 TAIL! I gots no problem putting the biggest fin in for lack of spin out, but the 1/4" difference from nose to tail and parallel lines became a concern of turning! Staring at it all weekend nicknaming it "The Little Red Book", "The Girl With No Hips" and lastly "Fat Bastard", I was back and forth from negative to positive to just having faith in a master shaper of this designs. Got some good advice too. Just surf it. Fwd to this AM Malibu.... Paddled at dark, got some warm ups, switched up 3 different 10" fins and discovered magic. The lil bugger hauls ass and as I put all I could into a cutback (actually trying to spin it out) it held in beautifully. A short session and more to be learned about "The Book" but as the doggy reflects from my face, I was all smiles as well. More to come.... and still have yet to ride my Bee which I know works. It's all Campbells and Liddles for me. and I feel damn lucky! "Learn to be calm and you will always be happy." -Paramahansa Yogananda