Foiled fins or centre fins?

TimM · Post by **TimM** » Wed May 26, 2010 1:28 am

I have always used foiled fins (side fins from a trifin set) as the rear fins on my quads, obviously for the front too but slightly bigger. Having just recieved my new board though I recieved a complete set of fins according to Bud's specs and the rear fins are centre fins, GXs to be specific and M7s up front which are my alltime favorites. Any remarks as to the pros and cons of either set-up? I have tried centre fins previously but I seem to feel that with 4 foiled fins in the water I get insane drive.. but maybe I'm missing out on other attributes of the centre fins..

I'll soon find out as I've yet so surf this board.

Just interested to hear some of the differing viewpoints...

Andy · Post by **Andy** » Wed May 26, 2010 5:07 am

Im of no use to you whatsoever

but have an interest in quads as an alternative to the good ole 3 fin/pintail setup..nearest I ever came to riding one was when my middle fin broke on the way out , instantaneously turning my board into a twinnie....board definitely felt quicker thru the water but of course spun out with ease

.

Im tempted on my next board to install 5 fcs plugs so I can alternate between 2, 3 and 4 (or even 5 ) fins.

cheers

Andy

Terence H · Post by **Terence H** » Wed May 26, 2010 5:47 am

Andy wrote:Im of no use to you whatsoever

but have an interest in quads as an alternative to the good ole 3 fin/pintail setup..nearest I ever came to riding one was when my middle fin broke on the way out , instantaneously turning my board into a twinnie....board definitely felt quicker thru the water but of course spun out with ease .

Im tempted on my next board to install 5 fcs plugs so I can alternate between 2, 3 and 4 (or even 5 ) fins.

cheers

Andy

Andy howzit will never go back to a 3 fin set up after getting a quad , even on a very steep face i never feel like i am going to spin out.

Regards
Terence

TimM · Post by **TimM** » Wed May 26, 2010 6:31 am

Likewise Terence, I also think quads are the business.. rode tri's for a few years but since I've gone back to quads I doubt I'll ever go back.. you can push it so much harder without the fear of spinning out, also way way faster..

KenM · Post by **KenM** » Wed May 26, 2010 6:52 am

Tim, most quad shapers use single foil front dual foil back set ups and Bud has been making quads probably longer than anyone. The dual foil fins in back should increase your drive and hold, single foil should loosen it up. Nice thing about having plugs is that you can experiment, let us know what you find out.

TimM · Post by **TimM** » Wed May 26, 2010 8:21 am

I found this interesting page on the Bruce McKee website listing quite a few quad combinations of well known fins and their respective strong points...

http://www.mckeesurf.com/brucemckee/multisystem.htm

Kev · Post by **Kev** » Fri May 28, 2010 4:58 pm

also from Mckee

http://www.mckeesurf.com/brucemckee/ind ... system.doc

it's a word doc
so it will want to save to your hard drive
pictures and dimensions for a five fin system ... M5

Bill F · Post by **Bill F** » Fri May 28, 2010 8:20 pm

i kinda like quads better than tri's.Do you like swim fins or no swim fins??Can a standup shaper make a nice kneeboard???

KenM · Post by **KenM** » Sat May 29, 2010 9:07 am

Bill F wrote:i kinda like quads better than tri's.Do you like swim fins or no swim fins??Can a standup shaper make a nice kneeboard???

DON'T START.

Terence H · Post by **Terence H** » Sat May 29, 2010 12:32 pm

Bill F wrote:i kinda like quads better than tri's.Do you like swim fins or no swim fins??Can a standup shaper make a nice kneeboard???

Fins/flippers fo eva , no they cannot

coelacanth · Post by **coelacanth** » Sat May 29, 2010 4:35 pm

Tim - as someone else mentioned, let us know if you experiment with this. I'm interested because I have a bunch of glass-on center (dual foil) fins from thruster sets going to waste in the garage from quads I shaped. A guy in the shop where I buy supplies said that the dual foil rears will make the board transition more smoothly between direction changes compared to single foils. This seems makes sense since the single foil is more "neutral", being symmetrical. Another factor may be the location of the fins, i.e. on the rail or closer to the stringer. It seems like a lot of stand-up quads and some kneeboards are putting the rear fins closer to stringer and using less toe-in compared to the front fins. In this position, the fins are more closely related to the tri-fin setup, in which case a dual foil may make more sense (sort of splitting the difference between the tri-fin and the all rail-fin quad). Anyway, I'm no expert, hence the request for feedback. Thanks, Craig.