Fin set up

Kell

Folks,

I am considering making a small investment in the performace of my board and was wondering has anyone any experience of FCS TC Redline fins? Basically I want to turn faster and, according to FCS, the redlines seem to do exactly that though, for my height (5'11) and weight (73kg), they might be a bit on the big side.

Anyone of roughly my proportions who rides a 6'8-7'3 fish any experience of these fins, or what setup did you find helped you best in turns?

Thanks,

K-

aongo

i'd advise unless you're getting a very good deal on the price, i'd save my money regarding the purchase of fancy fins... i don't think the everyday joe-soap irish surfer notices the minute differences between thruster fin types - certainly nothing that justifies the 80 to 120 euro price tag that some of these signature series fins sets go for, essentially 3 pieces of plastic/glass with someone's name on them

leaving aside the way you surf (which is most important, but anyway) - the speed and turning ability of your board depends on more than just fin type and area... the plane shape of your board, tail type and surface area all come into play...
fish-type boards are not generally made to be particularly nimble boards anyway - they are built for straight down the line balls-out demon speed, with long drawn-out carving turns bottom and top... see derreck hynd in "litmus" if you want an example
however purists with argue that a true "fish" is short, squat, barely rockered, almost-parrallel railed and is driven by 2 large keel fins... on a perfect walling wave the big swallowtail fish tail acts like a double pin-tail... one half (pin) buried in the wave giving some counteraction and release to the massive keel fin thats doign all the driving beneath it...

i'm not going to go all purist but if your board is thruster set-up (3 fins) then it's probably a more all-rounder shape, that gives you a bit more scope for a sharper turn, but in turn you sacrifice some other aspect of the boards performance... changes are that the swallow tail is reduced dramatically to allow for a 3 fin setup as opposed to twin keel, an depending on how much this is done will affect how she turns

i'm wandering away from the point here so i'll try get it back on track... slapping bigger fins into your board will not make it easier turn, quite the opposite as the large surface area catches more water... however this greater fin area provides more "drive" or power when you do lay it into a turn, so you would accelerate out of one... big fins need big powerful surfers to drive them properly though, as muscle is needed to make the fins do the work, think mark "occy" occhiluppo or funny that - tom carroll (TC on your redline fins)

if you are looking for a loose, skatey feeling then i would recomment getting smaller fins than what you have currently in... less fin area means easier release and looser board... however you also lose drive and power from turns on the flip side... suits smaller lighter surfers

so to sum up my ridiculously longwinded post (bored at work) don't buy new bigger fins, cos they definitely won't help... smaller is better... some shops are supposedly "fin test drive centres" so you can try a few before handing over your hard earned spondoolies

if you have some experience of fibreglassing you could always have a blast at making your own fins... use your old ones as a template, tweak as you so desire - cut out of plywood, foil and fiberglass

Kell

Thanks Aongo.

A lot of very, very, very useful information there.

K-