I just bought another board and it came with a 5 fin setup. I've been wanting to do a thruster vs quad test on the same day, same conditions, same board for a while.
Today was the day. I got the GoPro ready and brought my fins down to the beach. Tried to show the differences. Day was light offshore winds with knee high sets. Had a blast on both setups and enjoyed both of their qualities. Here is the video that I made.
Here is a link with pictures to both of the setups and measurements on the fins (quads & thruster) future fin boxes.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/dJ57hALBxqpA4LNJ9Here are some of the notes I wrote down after the session.
A bit about my surfing style. I am heavy back foot, prefer surfing top to bottom and really hitting the lip. I mostly surf thruster setup on all my boards I have struggled in the past with quads. I have ridden quads on my wide tail boards (L41 SimSup) but don't seem to enjoy them on my other boards.
Board specs. 8' x 28.25" x 3.5" - 95 Liter SurfTech Superfly
I had to run larger than normal thruster and quad fins to prevent the tail from slipping. Possibly due to wide tail 18.25" wide at 12" up from the tail?
My biggest gripe about quads going into this is the lack of standardization. It seems every board I own had a different spot on the tail for quads. Most being right on the edges of the rail. This board has the rear fins closer to the center like a Mckee setup I've heard so much about. I hope this becomes more of a standard since I enjoyed the quads in this board, but quads in my other boards just did not work for me. Thrusters seem to all follow the same template making them my go to for confidence and consistency.
QuadsWider board is gonna like quads more. You get more fin area where you need it. Maybe 18” and wider at 12” off the tail needs quads?
It seems like I need to surf bigger quads than thrusters. Bigger fronts and big rears which is more total fin area compared to thruster.
McKee fin setup with rear fins closer to the center of the board works much better for me rather than having them on the rails which makes them too loose for me.
Pros
Faster down the line
On a cutback you can push with your rear leg, blow the fins out and throw some spray.
Keep speed in a hard turn.
Cons
I’ve had issues sliding out on hard bottom turns on bigger waves. Bigger fins and McKee setup could help?
Has a tendency to lock up on me when I’m not on rail (when all 4 fins are engaged tracking straight)
Can’t pump the board for speed.
ThrustersI mostly surf thrusters. Standard g5 template has worked for me on most boards. This board need a bit bigger fin setup. I move the center fin up about an 1” for smaller days. Makes turning in a small pocket easier.
Pros
Can pump the board. Love compressing and decompressing to build speed
Very accurate and quick turns. Top to bottom surfing.
Easy to put the board on rail and hit the lip. Never get that locked up feeling
No slipping out on hard turns
Can confidently commit to your turns in bigger days
Cons
Can’t blow out the fins nearly as easy (fun on small days)
Lose significant speed in turns. Hurts you on small waves.
Feels stiff if you’ve been surfing quads (I felt this right away when I switched)
Doesn’t work as well on wide tail boards
Overall the quads felt like they had more speed and flow on the smaller knee high waves. The turns were smoother and carried the speed back into the pocket. With the thruster I could really whip the board around, at the cost of speed. Quads let me play around more and throw some spray. I look forward to doing this test again on waist-chest high waves to see the difference.
I can see a benefit to quads on days where the waves are fatter and more crumbly where you have more time to do turns with more flow and arc. And also on days where the waves are hollow and barrelling where you just want that speed and there is no time to pump the board. Just drop in and go. For barrelling waves I've also noticed with thrusters it's harder to hold into the face of wave when it starts to get really steep. Having 2 big fins engaged will probably help with that. I play on testing this in the future and get out of my comfort zone.