fins for stability

[Kaihoe]

I agree with Jill that fins do make a difference. But..... 

In my experience they have a big cost. A fin that increases stability also reduces you ability to recover. The fin area resists the lateral roll of the board, but that same area makes I harder to right the board when the roll starts. 

There are also other side effects keel style fins reduce the turn on the board this has much more effect than slowing your bouy turns. It effects the ability to

• steer the board through and around chop,
• turn back towards the wind when being blown of course
• stay in the draft,
• control the board downwind

I don't have access to one of Larrys fins but I am finding using a lareg area traditional style fin gives a small increase in stability without suffering all of the other problems. And, being able to steer the board can counter a lo of stabiliy issues

The rest is TOW

[upwinder]

Agree with Jill and Kaihoe

I'm a fan of Larry Allison's fins - the Gladiator tames my pointy 14 footer in lumpy/marginal conditions and Ninja on that board if it's flat & glassy.
I use his Paddle Core Fitness fin in my 12ft allround-surf style board to good effect in flat water and chop (but it's too stiff for surf).

I've also experienced some of the side effects that kaihoe describes but I think it's a matter of degree depending on rider, board and conditions and what elements of handling you're prepared to trade off. I generally prefer a keel fin of one sort or another for everything but surf.

There are Larry's fins of course but you could also look at Curtis' SUP fins and some of the newer SUP fins from Futures and True Ames. Experiment & find out what you like - it's not going to cost you sheep stations to try a couple.

[onshore]

OP here - OK, I tried out some of the suggestions in 5-10 knot chop. Placing the feet closer together has a very noticeable effect, great suggestion. Two other things have lesser but still noticeable effects - shortening the paddle, and the "Connor" grip; I just started using these for shoulder relief, and found that they helped with stability as well. I put a rubber grip below the "T" and go to it when things get shaky. Kalhoe has also confirmed something I noticed before - it seems that while a large fin slows down the sideways tilt, too large a one also slows down the recovery, and therefore is not much help. The remarks about a smaller fin allowing quicker course adjustments, which can also aid stability, also confirm my more recent experience. On the whole, other than the paddle adjustment, I agree with the majority that technique is more important than equipment, although as I said before it can't hurt to do what you can with the equipment. For now, I'm sticking with the 9 inch fin. Next, I'll work on Talldude's suggestions about fore/aft foot placement, seem to make sense. Thanks all.