Author Topic: Help Selecting DW Fin For Falcon.  (Read 18526 times)

yugi

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Re: Help Selecting DW Fin For Falcon.
« Reply #15 on: December 30, 2016, 07:48:31 AM »
^ you'll get used to it. After that if you went back to the big Tracker fin you'd feel like you were on a truck.

Skills are far more versatile and fun than crutches. Lighter too.

[edit to add]
And more than anything it's learning the skills which is the fun part. Many sports have a much bigger penalty for failure. In SUP we just fall in the water. It's just so perfect for that. It's on that edge I have the most fun.

I quit paragliding, I didn't like to feel of doing a sport where you aren't well practiced on what to do at the limit. Didn't like that at all. Oh, also the huge penalty for failure.
« Last Edit: December 30, 2016, 07:52:17 AM by yugi »

coldsup

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Re: Help Selecting DW Fin For Falcon.
« Reply #16 on: December 30, 2016, 07:53:07 AM »
^ you'll get used to it. After that if you went back to the big Tracker fin you'd feel like you were on a truck.

Skills are far more versatile and fun than crutches. Lighter too.

Yup, guess so, just haven't had hardly any watertime recently....bring on 2017!

Area 10

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Re: Help Selecting DW Fin For Falcon.
« Reply #17 on: December 30, 2016, 08:54:34 AM »
I wish I could find the stability of the JL Tracker with the manoeuvrability of a smaller fin....probably why I am ending up with the Futures Californian.....bit of a half way house.

It would just be bang on for me if it was a bit more stable.....but good enough.
A 10" pivot-style hatchet might do that for you. Or JL used to do an 11" which really added quite a bit of stability. In fact Jimmy used to do a 13" version that was a real monster and I used to really like in very confused waters. They don't do that one any more unfortunately because it was a great solution for early-career downwinders in confused waters. The Purchase “Block Fin” by Christian Wach gives quite a bit of stability too and will still be more manoeuvrable than your JL tracker, although there is some compromise for sure. I can't really imagine a much worse fin than the JL Tracker for downwind, and I'm totally baffled as to why JL fits it to the M14 etc.

But everyone's tastes in downwind fin will change hugely as they do more downwinding. You get to rely on a certain degree of lateral twitchiness for steering.

coldsup

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Help Selecting DW Fin For Falcon.
« Reply #18 on: December 30, 2016, 10:15:18 AM »
Here's most of my centre fins...half are from my surfing longboards but the rest SUP fins. Guess I should stick the fat boy in sometime.


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Area 10

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Re: Help Selecting DW Fin For Falcon.
« Reply #19 on: December 30, 2016, 11:54:25 AM »
You *definitely* should stick that Fat Boy in your M14, that's for sure!
« Last Edit: December 30, 2016, 11:56:18 AM by Area 10 »

Eagle

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Re: Help Selecting DW Fin For Falcon.
« Reply #20 on: December 30, 2016, 12:07:23 PM »
coldsup - that fat boy looks like it should work for what you want.  Let us know how it goes.
Fast is FUN!   8)
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coldsup

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Re: Help Selecting DW Fin For Falcon.
« Reply #21 on: December 30, 2016, 12:32:13 PM »
I probably will at some point.....I do wonder though if that bulbous tip will slow a board down as the water might wrap around it rather than a clean surfing type tip. Not that I would probably notice!

Luc Benac

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Re: Help Selecting DW Fin For Falcon.
« Reply #22 on: December 30, 2016, 12:46:29 PM »
I probably will at some point.....I do wonder though if that bulbous tip will slow a board down as the water might wrap around it rather than a clean surfing type tip. Not that I would probably notice!
I will know next summer when our inflow comes back with the sun...and like you I might not really notice the fine points of that Fat Boy ready for my Riviera DW.
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Area 10

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Re: Help Selecting DW Fin For Falcon.
« Reply #23 on: December 30, 2016, 02:17:26 PM »
I probably will at some point.....I do wonder though if that bulbous tip will slow a board down as the water might wrap around it rather than a clean surfing type tip. Not that I would probably notice!
Nope, it won't slow you down. It will feel faster than the other fins you are using for SUP. I don't fully understand why this shape is quite so good for DW boards (or any ocean use for that matter), although I have some rough ideas (take a look eg. at keel/fin theory for sailing craft). But it is.

The SIC Weedless is another good fin. But the squirrel/fat boy designs have the same sort of speed and manoeuvrability but better stability and surf better in rough conditions. If I could only keep two fins from the scores I have it would be a SIC Weedless 7.0 and a 10" squirrel/fat boy. Together they cover most eventualities.

dns

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Re: Help Selecting DW Fin For Falcon.
« Reply #24 on: December 30, 2016, 05:59:54 PM »
 8) Wow, a lot of good info here. Too much, in fact. Basically it seems to boil down to, "Try them all and see what you like." Based on what I've read (on this and other threads) I'm going to try and grab a LA Ninja and a 9-10" Squirrel; Whatever pops up used for cheap. Ride those for a bit and see whatever feels best then make modifications from there.  ;D

Eagle

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Re: Help Selecting DW Fin For Falcon.
« Reply #25 on: December 31, 2016, 12:51:50 PM »
These pics clearly show the track differences btwn 2 completely opposing fin designs.  First a very straight tracking Elite vs a very quick turning 7.0 SIC.  The speed using the Elite was 6.9 mph and 7.2 using the SIC on full max sprint.  On the water cutting across waves the effect is exactly the same.  The 7.0 has much less drag and this can actually be felt.  It turns whenever you want and does not stall or broach.  The small speed difference btwn 6.9 feels very sluggish -> whereas 7.2 feels about right for me.  Really like it when my boards free up.  And that is really is the appeal to me about DW.  The board frees up and releases its suction to the water.
Fast is FUN!   8)
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dns

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Re: Help Selecting DW Fin For Falcon.
« Reply #26 on: January 01, 2017, 01:44:56 PM »
LOL, change of plans, found a new HI Downwinder for $60 delivered so I snatched that up for testing.  8)

@Eagle, very interesting post. It seems to really illustrate how much fin drag makes a difference.

dns

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Re: Help Selecting DW Fin For Falcon.
« Reply #27 on: January 08, 2017, 02:21:54 PM »
So I had a quick run yesterday with the Hawaii DW from FCS. HUGE improvement. I really didn't notice any loss in stability in washing machine reflected chop from the 10-11" dolphin I had on previously, but the surf ability was vastly improved. I could easily catch sideways bumps and hold my line without the board broaching or trying to carve up the face of the wave like with the dolphin. No loss in tracking, I could easily go 20+ strokes on a side without turning, but when I wanted to turning the board was much easier. Trying the LA Ninja next. We'll see how it compares. It's a REALLY big fin, but most of the area is concentrated in the base. So.....

Eagle

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Re: Help Selecting DW Fin For Falcon.
« Reply #28 on: January 08, 2017, 04:47:39 PM »
Good information dns.  The Hawaii is quite an upright fin design - so should turn ok.    Will be interesting to see how the Ninja compares.  The DW fin design approaches from different manufacturers can be quite varied and is quite interesting.  For the most part -> any fin can work - just that some have different pros and cons depending on what you need to get out of the fin.  Have used all my 8 different fins for DW and AW - and each has a slightly different feel.  Basically I use a tracker if I want to go straight AW - and a small fin for fast turns and fast speed on DW bumps.

https://futuresfins.com/en-us/hawaii-downwind---carbon-honeycomb---carbon-green-9003-427-12-detail
« Last Edit: January 08, 2017, 05:14:36 PM by Eagle »
Fast is FUN!   8)
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coldsup

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Re: Help Selecting DW Fin For Falcon.
« Reply #29 on: January 11, 2017, 02:26:26 PM »
Just out of interest....has anyone used the FCS Spitfure fin? I notice one of the guys in Greece uses this fin on his JL sidewinder.

 


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