Author Topic: Asym Fin Configuration  (Read 2727 times)

Southbay

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Asym Fin Configuration
« on: November 25, 2014, 12:09:29 AM »
HM woke me up this morning with a call to head to Kanaha.  Head high and off shore.  On my second wave, I hit something hard on the inside.  At first I thought, I hit a turtle!  I turned around and saw the culprit, a large piece of driftwood....I flipped the board over, and yep, I broke off my heel side trailer fin.  Luckily, it just broke out the fin, and nothing happened to the fin box.  I was pretty bummed, first of all my session was just starting, and secondly, these Lopez quads are $115...dammit.  Figured I would paddle out and try to catch a few more waves.    I am a goofy foot, so I figured if I only went left and I took it easy on the top turns, I'd be ok. 

Turns out it was freaking awesome!  The toe side fins held well on the bottom turn, and the top turn out just snap right around.  Fun little slide and the fins would just bust right out, then again on the toe side, solid push off the bottom, and snap right around up top.  I stayed out another hour a a half, and I liked it more with every wave.

So...where do I go from here?  The obvious drawback is that you can really only go left.  Going right would be a sketchy bottom turn and a long drawn out cut back. 

Has anyone else experimented with a Asymmetrical fin set up? Should I put a really small fin in the broken out fin spot?  Should I just make the trailers smaller on both sides, so I get the same snappy feel on both sides? 

If I lived near a point break, I would go for this set up for sure...but here I need more versatility.   Anyway, fun session, and a great accidental way to mix up a otherwise fairly nondescript day.

supthecreek

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Re: Asym Fin Configuration
« Reply #1 on: November 25, 2014, 05:08:12 AM »
When I was playing with my board last year, trying to loosen it up, I ran it as a twin fin. Just the front set. I made a post on here, about how well it surfed.
I know your waves are seriously different, but I found that even on a juicy head high wave, I could actually lay down a hard turn without any lost grip.
A friend was doubtful... said it was just rail control, but whatever it was, it worked on all my boards.

Give a twin setup a go for a couple of waves, maybe you will find that your asym setup will work better backside than think.... if you have confidence in it.

Southbay

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Re: Asym Fin Configuration
« Reply #2 on: November 26, 2014, 10:49:48 PM »
I was thinking the same thing Creek.  I LOVE twin fins.  My favorite board of all time is my 5'9" fish with classic straight keel fins.  That set up would totally work with the right 2 fins, but I think this set up would be a little under finned for the waves that we had that day.  Definitely something to think about.  Thanks for the input!!

magentawave

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Re: Asym Fin Configuration
« Reply #3 on: November 27, 2014, 10:59:43 AM »
I haven't tried different sized fins on opposite sides of the board but that seems like a fun experiment. I've been riding quads a long time and I like em with big drivee fins in the front and much smaller fins in the back. I think the biggest mistake most quad users do is by putting fins that are too big in the back which makes the board waaaaay too stiff.

I hope you'll keep us posted on what you discover.  :)
« Last Edit: November 27, 2014, 11:39:15 AM by magentawave »
Pluto Platter: 7-10 x 29.25 x 4.25 x 114.5 liters

supsurf-tw

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Re: Asym Fin Configuration
« Reply #4 on: November 27, 2014, 11:03:26 AM »
A forgotten factor with quads is the ability to use 4 different fins if you want. Talk about really dialing in the fin setup. People go to asymmetrical boards when much the same can be accomplished with the fins.
Boards:

 
8-10 x 31 Egg
8-11 X 32 Double wing Fangtail Tom Whitaker
8-6 X 30 1\2  Inbetweener Tom Whitaker
8-4 x 30 Hyper quad Tom Whitaker (wife's now)
8-4 X 31 1\4.  Round (wide) Diamond Tail Quad Tom Whitaker
 9-4 X 30 1\2. Swallow Stinger Quad Tom Whitaker (ex wifes now)
10-0 Brusurf for teach

magentawave

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Re: Asym Fin Configuration
« Reply #5 on: November 27, 2014, 11:40:08 AM »
Good point and something I hadn't thought of until reading this thread.

A forgotten factor with quads is the ability to use 4 different fins if you want. Talk about really dialing in the fin setup. People go to asymmetrical boards when much the same can be accomplished with the fins.
Pluto Platter: 7-10 x 29.25 x 4.25 x 114.5 liters

Southbay

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Re: Asym Fin Configuration
« Reply #6 on: November 27, 2014, 11:38:40 PM »

A forgotten factor with quads is the ability to use 4 different fins if you want. Talk about really dialing in the fin setup. People go to asymmetrical boards when much the same can be accomplished with the fins.

That is exactly right.  Not sure why I never thought of that before. Big hold on the bottom turn and loose off the top.  Being able to hold on a good size right would be nice too....What would that look like?

I'm gonna have to experiment with this one.

 


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