Author Topic: What difference a fin makes, and pay it forward Southwesterly  (Read 5122 times)

SUPcheat

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What difference a fin makes, and pay it forward.

Yesterday, Steve (Southwesterly) did a “pay it forward” and left a pair of SpeedWing Futures fins on my car to try in the front fin slots with the Prowave.  These have the little tilted end like the airplane wings at about 4.6 inches. I gather as in aircraft, they enhance lift and reduce eddies and turmoil around the fin tip.

I have been using the 5 inch Prowave thruster fronts that came with the Prowave with Gerry Lopez G1 rears in quad formation.

Today was windy and mushy waves, but I was surprised that I could tell a difference.  Compared to the stiff Prowave five inches, the smaller SpeedWings seemed to stabilize the tail and the rails, while shortening the turning arc.  That is counter intuitive to me because I would equate a skater, turnier board with lower stability.

Waves were sheiss, but I did do a bottom turn on one and got to go lateral so fast, I had trouble keeping up because I was doing my standard maneuver. I was also doing turns on small waves that I thought might not have enough energy for it.

My most surprising observation is that the board is more stable in general, maybe halfway to the stability of my Vernor.  General rail stability was better, I could lean onto them more without destabilizing. I was even feeling a bit frisky on the Prowave rather than hesitant.  Entry on the mushers was a little easier.

I have been trying to perfect a four second 180 degree snap around by putting one foot deep on the tail. That way, I can monitor the proners and then snap around without dropping in on an incoming wave.

 So far, I got it down to six to eight seconds with points of rail instability in-between. With the SpeedWings, voila, I got the four to five second snap around with much less instability right away.  The turn around is smooth without the cogging instability of the five inch Prowave fins.

I rewarded Steve’s generosity by breaking the wing off of one of the fins, I don’t know how.  What did he do?  He gave me another replacement fin.  Thanks, Steve, for the generosity and for turning me on to the new fin.

I’ll have to try it out some more, but if i didn’t have them, I would definitely buy a pair now.  I told my neighbor, but he thinks it is placebo and I am just learning my board better.  I don’t think it is placebo, but if it is, it is OK with me if it is able to psych me into the illusion.

I am having a hard time wrapping my head around how such a minor change can make such a big difference, I don’t have the surf brain cojones to figure it out.

Makes me curious, too, about the Elevon fins that act even more like foil lifters.
2013 Fanatic Prowave LTD 9'3"x30.5x@134L
Sunova Speeed 8'10"x29.12@131L
Sunova Flow 8'7"x30.25"@121L
Carbon 9.3x32@163L Hammer
Me: 6'1"@230 lbs 68 years old

SUPcheat

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Re: What difference a fin makes, and pay it forward Southwesterly
« Reply #1 on: May 24, 2015, 03:54:41 PM »
Well, it wasn't my imagination.  Either that, or I took a sudden, stepwise up in my ability to manage the Prowave, which I doubt.

My impression is the previous Prowave forward fins were excessively stiff and caused cogging instability i.e. it would hold, then when releasing, would cave in suddenly creating rail instability in turnarounds. The SpeedWings have a more or less continuous feel without any sudden give or catch allowing a fast and smooth turn around with stable rails.

The SpeedWings also seem to have enlarged the balance sweet spot on the Prowave and increased the rail stability in general.  They have moved the Prowave a pretty good notch forward in being manageable for me in snap arounds, riding the rails, stepping off of waves without falling off etc.

Bottom turn is snappier and riding lateral on the wave is quick. I *almost* got a nose ride today.

I am still having a little trouble understanding how such a small thing seems to make a noticible difference like that, but it certainly increases my respect for the role of fins.

I felt confident and compatible with my Prowave today, which was pretty cool.
2013 Fanatic Prowave LTD 9'3"x30.5x@134L
Sunova Speeed 8'10"x29.12@131L
Sunova Flow 8'7"x30.25"@121L
Carbon 9.3x32@163L Hammer
Me: 6'1"@230 lbs 68 years old

Subber

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Re: What difference a fin makes, and pay it forward Southwesterly
« Reply #2 on: May 24, 2015, 04:58:20 PM »
Good to know about those, I may try to pick some up
if I see them in FCS.  I love to try different fins.

I do have the Cheyne Horan Star Fin also known as the "Winged Keel"
which is a 9" middle fin with winglets like on modern jet carriers:



which acts similarly to what you describe with the Speedwings - it
lets you really whip the board around (even a big noserider) with no surprises. 
I assume part of it is the winglets but I think it being a pivot type fin is also
part of it.  The problem with it in Santa Cruz is it is a kelp catcher.

Congrats on the "almost noseride!"
 ;D
Jimmy Lewis Black & Blue Noserider 10'1"x31"x4.25," 164 liters, 24 lbs, 1 box
Pearson Laird Surftech Longboard 10'6"x23"x29.75"x18"x4.375," 154 liters, 24 lbs, 3 boxes
Takayama Ali'i II Surftech 11'x21.375”x28.5”x17.25”x 4.25,” 162 liters, 26 lbs, 3 boxes

SCruzSUPr

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Re: What difference a fin makes, and pay it forward Southwesterly
« Reply #3 on: May 24, 2015, 06:53:17 PM »
Good to know about those, I may try to pick some up
if I see them in FCS.  I love to try different fins.

Rainbow Fin Company right here in La Selva Beach has 'em in Futures or FCS...

Stoked For Life!

10' x 32"        Bill Foote  Triton
9'5" x 31"       Sunova Speeed
11'2" x 32"     Bill Foote 'Geezer Sled'

Subber

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Re: What difference a fin makes, and pay it forward Southwesterly
« Reply #4 on: May 24, 2015, 07:54:45 PM »
Good to know about those, I may try to pick some up
if I see them in FCS.  I love to try different fins.

Rainbow Fin Company right here in La Selva Beach has 'em in Futures or FCS...

Stoked For Life!

Hey SCruzSUPr,

I wondered, can you just walk in & buy fins down at their location in La Selva?
Jimmy Lewis Black & Blue Noserider 10'1"x31"x4.25," 164 liters, 24 lbs, 1 box
Pearson Laird Surftech Longboard 10'6"x23"x29.75"x18"x4.375," 154 liters, 24 lbs, 3 boxes
Takayama Ali'i II Surftech 11'x21.375”x28.5”x17.25”x 4.25,” 162 liters, 26 lbs, 3 boxes

TomKat

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Re: What difference a fin makes, and pay it forward Southwesterly
« Reply #5 on: June 02, 2015, 06:54:40 PM »
Have you tried them in a thruster set up?
Thanks
TomKat

SUPcheat

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Re: What difference a fin makes, and pay it forward Southwesterly
« Reply #6 on: June 02, 2015, 06:59:31 PM »
Hi, Tom,

No, so far just quad on the two front.  Couple more sessions, yes, I like them.  Still can't understand them, but I like the way they feel and allow more stable turns.
2013 Fanatic Prowave LTD 9'3"x30.5x@134L
Sunova Speeed 8'10"x29.12@131L
Sunova Flow 8'7"x30.25"@121L
Carbon 9.3x32@163L Hammer
Me: 6'1"@230 lbs 68 years old

OUTSIDEWAVE

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Re: What difference a fin makes, and pay it forward Southwesterly
« Reply #7 on: June 02, 2015, 07:25:20 PM »
I have been using the redfin 3d on my  C$ and I love them I have the elevon on my king   liked them too but the fin box is wrong so i had to do some serious monkeying around  to get them to stay in..   I think I am going to switch back to the elevons  though  Try the red fins 3d    they are sweet
SEA BIRDS THEY DO TOUCH AND GO AS THE WORLD JUST TANGOES BY.... SO I SADDLE UP MY SEAHORSE WITH MY FLYROD IN MY HAND.... 10'3 King custom  10'6"  c4 da beachboy

OUTSIDEWAVE

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Re: What difference a fin makes, and pay it forward Southwesterly
« Reply #8 on: June 02, 2015, 07:31:30 PM »
I can't seem to find them anywhere.
SEA BIRDS THEY DO TOUCH AND GO AS THE WORLD JUST TANGOES BY.... SO I SADDLE UP MY SEAHORSE WITH MY FLYROD IN MY HAND.... 10'3 King custom  10'6"  c4 da beachboy

supthecreek

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Re: What difference a fin makes, and pay it forward Southwesterly
« Reply #9 on: June 02, 2015, 08:11:44 PM »
Kudos SW, for helping out the grom. ;)
love the "Pay it Forward" stoke on the Zone :D

Good assessment cheat!

southwesterly

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Re: What difference a fin makes, and pay it forward Southwesterly
« Reply #10 on: June 02, 2015, 08:32:19 PM »
Glad you like them Carl. I've been using them for so long I forget just how cool they are.

It seems to me that I can get the same grip and drive from these fins that are just a hair bigger than 4.5 inches than big 5 inch side fins. The added side effect (pun intended) is that I can get the same drive as using big fins, but with more of a loose turny (and fast) feeling.

With the big ass tail on the Hammer, a micro nubster in the center position keeps things tracking down the line without adding any stiffness that I've associated with other 5 fin set ups.

The Speedwings are a classic example of looking weird but working great in real world surf conditions.

https://youtu.be/fBu_ROSImzM

southwesterly

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Re: What difference a fin makes, and pay it forward Southwesterly
« Reply #11 on: June 02, 2015, 08:37:10 PM »

 


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