Commercial Fin Systems that suit Kneeboards

[surfwx]

Picked up a set of H-2’s yesterday to give ‘em a try.

Price;
Phoned half a dozen surf shops all quoted the same price of $145.00AU. Only one had a set in and all the others were saying a 1 to 2 month wait.
Picked them up and the bloke said he’d do them for $135AU, so there must be a bit of movement on price.

Packaging;
What can you say, how about ditch half the packaging and cut the price by a similar amount would be a good start!
You get a foam filled thin steel box that contains the fins, fcs key and the usual advertising blurb.



Finish;
The glass job on the fins seems to be to a pretty high standard, after a close inspection couldn’t fault them.
Just a note on that, the guy who sold me the fins said there are a few sets getting around where the glass job wasn’t up to scratch and were factory painted silver to cover the imperfections. Don’t know how true it is but worth a check before you buy?

Weight;
First thing you notice is how light they are. I’m current running GBR's that tip the scales at a massive 78 grams, the H-2 almost halves this weighing in at 41 grams.

Cant;
A comparison pic shows the difference in the two fins.



Water testing;
I wish! 6 weeks now and I’m still waiting for my foot to come good, just about there and I reckon it might just get the better of me tomorrow morning.

[Brendan]

I'll swap the occys on my quad for your H2s....fair trade?

[red]

Great product review

How does the foil compare witholder FCS'?

[surfwx]

H/wax, Thanks for that mate, just give us a ring when your finished your session and I'll put the b&e on for you. (by getting them I've probably sentenced the Hunter to flatness for the next month)

That sounds like a plan Brendan, I did hear you right didn't I? that was your occy's and your quad for the H2s?

Red they're a real blunt nose affair.

Just comparing them to the GPR's;

Maximum base thickness is reached at about 22mm from the leading edge, GPR - 40mm.

Thicker at the base - 9.5mm H2, 7mm GPR and carry this through to the tip, say a thickness of 3mm is reached 5mm from the tip on the H2 and 20mm on the GPR

The back of the GPR is close enough to flat. The H2 has a distinct concave section running towards the tip 30mm or so in from the trailing edge.

[Bryn]

Good point on the quality control. I checked quite a few sets before parting with the cash and quite a few did have imperfections in the glass. They were a bit of a tight fit in the plugs too but guess thats no bad thing as don't really want to be losing them at that price!

I've been using all 3 H2's in my tri, be interesting to see how they fair in your quad! Still un-decided wether the trailer fin is creating too much lift, more experimentation needed for sure but loving the extra squirt off the bottom and definitely feel more controlable than previous set ups i've used. Look forward to your report surfwx!

[Brendan]

Surfwx,
I think you got too much wax in your ears. I thought the occy - H2 trade would be a good one. I've got 2 of Parkseys big fibreglass template fins on my thruster. would be interesting to try them on the quad.

I'll try to come to the next Novos for a splash around.

On the dimensions you gave, do you think the H2s are designed to "grip" and direct flow as opposed to being of the least resistance like most fins? Would their performance on a quad be dulled by the existence of the other fin?

Regards

Brendan

[red]

Maximum base thickness is reached at about 22mm from the leading edge, GPR - 40mm.
Thicker at the base - 9.5mm H2, 7mm GPR and carry this through to the tip, say a thickness of 3mm is reached 5mm from the tip on the H2 and 20mm on the GPR

Thanks
Sounds good.
From the sound of it FCS did what they said and improved the flow characteristics of the fins. My evaluation at this point is highly favourable. Further forward, increased foil is what FCS have been crying for for years. Foil in the tip is vital for on-edge hold and drive (another thing most FCS fins lack, especially the Merrick tail fin).

Sounds as though I have to gather some cash together. Oh well, back to the street corner. (Hang on - that didn't pay too well last time!)

[surfwx]

Got in the water today so just a bit of limited feedback on the fins.

Board; 6’ x 23.5” quad fin Friar Tuck (well Parkes but was getting all nostalgic when I got it made)

Fin placement; H2’s front, GX’s rear.

Break 1; southern end of Bar Reef, nice takeoff but goes into a fat section before a better inside section.

Break 2; Bar/the Cliff, your typical beach break.

Swell; 2ft to 3ft on a period of 7.5 to 8 seconds.

Wind; light offshore.

Break 1.
In a word terrible. They seem to hold OK on the takeoff but would just bog the ass end down in the fat section of the wave so much so that you were lucky at times to make it to the inside section. Have you found that Bryn?

Break 2;
Was going to get out and throw them in the nearest bin but decided instead to paddle down the beach a bit. Completely different board in the beach break. First impression is the board feels more like a twin fin than a quad. I’d even go as far to say that on the bigger sets its feels a little under finned, but that might be a lack of water time more than anything. Feels quicker down the line but I’d like to get a few more surfs in before commenting further.

Just a few pics from today at Bar beach

(thumbnails click for larger)

[NIUHI GRIPS]

PRO BOX HAWAII
http://www.proboxhawaii.com





FINS

HF-425ET Height: 4 1/4" Base: 4"

Solid fiberglass elliptical fin, great for fishes or thrusters looking for speed and drive.

Solid fiberglass thumb fin. lots of flex, very smooth and pivoty out of turns, got to try it to believe it!

[john -]

[quote="headwax"]Dowloaded the FCS adobe catalogue last night quote]


was the url bucco?

cheers

[joe]

http://www.surffcs.com/

http://www.surffcs.com/fin_innovation.pdf
endorsed by Andy Dovell, Masters Degree in "NAVEL" Architecture

[john -]

Thanks Joe

made the long morning train ride very quick

however

im considering talking to Parkes about a custom fibreglass set to compare price (birthday soonish) though it would be worthwhile to road test from a test shop