anyone playing with fin shape size?

[willli]

i bought a set of fcs mrx and am grinding down a small trailer set cause its way too much fin area but my goal is to change the rotation moment on the blast round pin they're going in. been looking for way to unweight the resistance to sliding the tail around while maintaining most of the drive of the quad setup. when flat on plane the water should flow normal but on the rail turning hard the tail should have some predictable slide point, at least thats what i'm aiming for.

[Beeline2.0]

..

[willli]

actually sometimes i wish i was in florida, the water there is warm. here in the north its still 40 deg. the mrx is a big skeg with a different profile than those bud ships his boards with. i actually bought them to use when i pull the trailers completely and surf ala twin which may still end up being their only use to me... but then i thought why not experiment. maybe by reducing the height of the trailer progressively i can find a point where the board pivots off the forward fin but has some quad drive kick in coming out of turns. i'm dealing with inconsistent fickle wind shifty bar frigid beachbreak surf so any help is greatly appreciated. also... has anyone ridden asymetric fin placement?

[albert]

I wouldn't say that I wish I was in florida, I spent 7 years living there while going to school and all I ended up with as far as board design is a 5'5" 23" by 2.5" and let me tell ya, I look at that thing now and I cringe. the whole time in florida I did learn how to surf crappy waves well, but the compromises I had to make in order to get a board that worked in those conditions were many and large. Any time I would go home to Puerto Rico and surf those boards I couldn't even get a bottom turn in...
Go figure, at least now I know what kind of board to get if I am to surf a contest in really small crappy waves.

Albert

[Bud]

It's fun to experiment and tune your boards fins to give the effect and feel you want.

You can take the FCS GL, GX, or the kids G2000 fins and cut them down.
If you don't foil fins very much, it is a bit of a chore and difficult to get them right.

I make and sell 2 different smaller back fin sets for just that effect you are after. Contact me if you'd like a set.
I'll try to post some pics of them soon.

Great to see there's so much dedication and enthusiasm out there.
No matter where you make your living and surf, todays equipment (boards and wetsuits), are getting better all the time and making it easier and the whole experience a joy.
It's all good!

[scoop]

hi bud

i ride a parkes quad fin with fcs ...g-r's on outside and gx's on inside but inside ones are foiled both sides (its how it came)....the board was modeled of a board i picked up after riding and falling in love with at the "worlds" in QLD off craig ashdown....i feel the inners should be foiled one side only and even smaller as this board is 3" longer(6ft) less rocker as dave parkes sugestedand should be a great small wave board...but goes great in larger stuff as we have been getting here in sydney over last few months....i still love the old one....its so loose...so keep as a small wave board....i would like to try smaller inners though
on the flashpoint i had at the worlds a thruster i used the fcs curved fins and for the second time at a critical time they broke under what i believe was bottom turn pressure....they loosened up the board but didnt perform under pressure
one of the americans over here at the timehad fcs fins he had played with and cut out the center
im wondering if they would work better to loosen up my new board
dave did put in extra fin blocks so i can adjust the fins but as i keep them...(the inners) always forward i want for something looser
any ideas?

tony

[scoop]

does anyone who was here for the worlds last year remember the person who had the hollowed rear fins on his Blast board...im wondering if they worked to give loosness or what
i just got some fcs "gl"s smallest here but set back abour 1/2 way through the front block.....i figure the more forward and closer to the forwad fins means looser

any answers?

tony

[MarkM]

If you mean the center areas were cut out that was me. I used Bud's bigger rear fins and yes they were looser but lost a lot of drive.This is a carry over from something I sued to do on my glassed on fins. With bigger fins it worked well and when you rode high in the wave it "seemed" to diminish that getting pulled up to the lip feeling. I also ride sometimes w/o the rear fins on my Blast that's very loose. Recently I took my Stubb Vector (it wasn't called that when I bought it 2.5 years ago and had a center plug put in it so I could ride it as a tri. With Bud's wisdom I test drove the Simon Anderson FCS fins and it was pretty fun. But for me the tri didn't have the drive of the quad. It's was Bud's suggestion before I committed to one of his tri's. If you like loose the SV is a good choice I really like mine in meager surf it gets in super early, planes quickly, and doesn't bog much. If you want to try it or my the "hollow fins" let me know.

[MarkM]

Sorry, I'm used to auto spell check. To many meeting and this humidity in FL. is draining my brain. I'll be back in So Cal. soon.

[scoop]

hi mark

thanx for the offer....but im in sydney so maybe difficult for a try
i found a pic of those fins so ill post it below

tony

[MarkM]

So it's a long paddle. I'll be back someday and we'll get some greenrooms. Are you going to South Africa ? Funny you got a pic of that board with those fins in it, I forgot using them in that board. I mostly used them in my Subb Vector (that's what they're called now).
See you someday.

[scoop]

Mark
im not sure if S A is still on....
there is discusions now of the worlds being in Tahiti next july i think...
if so its a posibility but i also want to go to Buds gathering in may
be only able to do one....well if im allowed...she wants to go to Fiji
but im off to Vanuatu in 4 weeks so im looking forward to that

cheers
tony