twin-fins-or-more-on-a-race-board/so it begins

[Larry Allison]

I'm not so sure about the multi-fins for racing. The superman board guy Robert Norman is obviously very fit, but he was pretty far off the pace (9th of 10 racers) in the recent Battle of the Blueway race where he went with 4 fins. Winner Ryan Helm finished in 1:16, I finished in 1:22, Robert in 1:31.

https://paddleguru.com/races/BattleontheBlueway

In a shorter length race earlier this year Robert went with a single fin and beat a lot of the same racers that beat him in the blueway race.

Not sure if you are talking about a Race that it was so HOT that people were falling like flies, Robert had mentioned. Never the less Robert took first last weekend in a Melbourne Race:
Robert Norman
June 18 near Melbourne, FL  ·
 
Fun race in Melbourne today. TEN laps on a race course for 6.25 total miles. SIX turns per lap for a grand total of SIXTY. Every 8th of a mile was a sharp turn.

Lots of fun, ending up taking first overall which added to the fun.

Also a second place this last weekend in Delaware with no ventral and triples only! Out of control conditions. Sandy Deeley.

[FloridaWindSUP]

Hmm, those are great results by Robert! Maybe it just took him a few races to get dialed into the new board. I'll have to ask him to let me borrow the next time we race together.  

[Larry Allison]

Hmm, those are great results by Robert! Maybe it just took him a few races to get dialed into the new board. I'll have to ask him to let me borrow the next time we race together.

Florida windsup. I forgot to add that this guy Robert has been paddling for a little over a year, is my understanding compared to Ryan Helm who is at a higher level Pro. With knowing that is even more impressive that Robert went to the extreme 21 wide Race board and open minded about using multiple fin set up allows him to have a bad race once in awhile.

[Larry Allison]

Happy to finally say the fin designs match the board after Dave Boehne came from 6 board lengths behind Sergio and caught the same wave in to finish the Race coming in 2nd using all 4 fins: Ventral, Twin and center Kick, in the pic below with a 14' Board between the 2 Racers.

Also a shot from San Clemente Pier this last week end of Dave flying across a left running all 4 Fins at the San Clemente Surf Fest.

[Larry Allison]

Also happy on Canada Day Ryan Knysh took 1st in a 10 mile Race and this Last week end Ryan took 3rd with Ventral and Race Twins. On Canada day 3rd place also went to Gregory Reeb running same set up as Ryan all 4 fins in 10 mile Race.

[ukgm]

I'm fascinated to see if there is anything in this. At face value, adding more fins is going to be disastrous for flatwater drag but if the board width can be trimmed down, I wonder where the gain could prove worthwhile or whether the shallower depth of fin would pay off. Taking the 2017 narrow race boards that are driving down towards 21 inches and then putting extra fins on would be an interesting experiment - even if the boards weren't designed for it.

Simply stating the results of a paddler using multiple fins isn't enough (thats merely either pseudo marketing or poor science) - their result could be 'in spite of' rather than 'because of'. Surely someone can field test this stateside with actual numbers ?

I wish someone in the UK could fit these. I'd love to try the mod on one of my race boards.

[burchas]

I'm fascinated to see if there is anything in this. At face value, adding more fins is going to be disastrous for flatwater drag but if the board width can be trimmed down, I wonder where the gain could prove worthwhile or whether the shallower depth of fin would pay off. Taking the 2017 narrow race boards that are driving down towards 21 inches and then putting extra fins on would be an interesting experiment - even if the boards weren't designed for it.

Simply stating the results of a paddler using multiple fins isn't enough (thats merely either pseudo marketing or poor science) - their result could be 'in spite of' rather than 'because of'. Surely someone can field test this stateside with actual numbers ?

I wish someone in the UK could fit these. I'd love to try the mod on one of my race boards.

This setup works very well under many conditions. I did my testing on flat lake water to see if there is speed difference
between 4 fins (6 inch center fin) and single fin (10 inch) setup... I could not get a consistent speed difference between the two setups.

The payoff however, came in the form of superior tracking and oversteering control  which the 4 fins won hands down.

The problem with this setup in my experience is not if it works or not, it's whether you can get your hands on the fins to begin
with. It takes time to dial in the right fin setup for your board, but every tweak that I had to make took 2 months on average 
until I can get my hands on the fins. I'm now in the 9th month waiting for my last batch and it's already been 2 months
but still no fins. I'm starting to wonder if this is really worth it. It takes longer than having a baby.

Unless you're sure you can get your fin supply in much shorter intervals. Be aware of
what your getting your self into. That was my experience, I can't speak for others.

[burchas]

So I had a little chat with Larry today, he took pity on me as he saw my rant about the long wait periods. I got a little look inside the process and have a better understanding why am I one of those who get to wait a longer than usual.

Apparently, most of the fins I have are custom made specifically for me and are not the usual production fins (with much faster turn-around times). Every custom fins that goes out, is being finished specifically by Larry, add to that the specific color templates that I've asked for (with lead time of up to 4 weeks if not in stock) and the fact that its the middle of the busy season and you'll get a sense of the timing.

The other factor is that my board is unique (2-piece SIC FX 12'6 custom) and first of its kind to go with this setup plus the installation of the fin boxes was done by SIC and not by Larry (he never phisically saw it since I got this board before SIC released it to the market as production) so that added some guess work and trial and error to get closer to dial-in the right setup for me.

To sum it up, if you have a regular production board that was modified by Larry or one of his affiliated shops, your route to fin nirvana may be a lot shorter than mine. Copy that Larry. Thx for the compassion.

[supuk]

Larry what what would your thoughts be on putting a three fin set up on a dw board. The 16' fixed fin I just built works good it has a very surfy feel to its however length when going slow it some times gets twisted around a bit but cross chop so thinking spreading out the fin area will help and maybe do a thruster or quad setup as it is basically just a big gun at the end of the day?

[Larry Allison]

Larry what what would your thoughts be on putting a three fin set up on a dw board. The 16' fixed fin I just built works good it has a very surfy feel to its however length when going slow it some times gets twisted around a bit but cross chop so thinking spreading out the fin area will help and maybe do a thruster or quad setup as it is basically just a big gun at the end of the day?

Supuk: I would like 4 measurements on this board.

1) measure across the center of the exsisting rear box from rail to rail and give me that width:
2) Give me the length from the back of the existing box to tail:
3) measure from rail to rail up from the tail until you reach 15 1/2":
4) then tell me the distance from the tail to that line measuring 15 1/2" from rail to rail:

Below is a pic of a Savage River Needle 18' running Twins with Ventral

[supuk]

1)15.56
2)18.50
4)23.8

My aim is to increase the tracking of it when going slow but keep the surfy feel when on the bumps which is why I was wondering about a thruster style set up, it is obviously a pure down wind board.

best regards

[ukgm]

1)15.56
2)18.50
4)23.8

My aim is to increase the tracking of it when going slow but keep the surfy feel when on the bumps which is why I was wondering about a thruster style set up, it is obviously a pure down wind board.

best regards

Would you be able to fit this kind of a fin set up in the UK ?

[supuk]

Yes no problem

[ukgm]

Yes no problem

Thanks. I'll bear thins in mind as I quite fancy having a play and doing some testing of this mod to a contemporary flatwater race board.

[Larry Allison]

I am Stoked to see people from the other side of the world understand the benefit of Allison Multiple Sup fin set-up.

Quote from Mattias on my Facebook Page Sup Race Fins:
Mattias Unander to Sup Race Fins
4 hrs · Kungsbacka, Sweden ·
Borrowed my wife's board this weekend, the Bark we bought from Henrik Friberg. 3+1 setup took the gold spot in the amateur class of the Swedish Championships over 3kms. Just for fun and none of us were dedicated athletes but I still like the fact that I outpaddled several people on 14' boards on a 12'6". Thanks Larry!