Hey windy, how are you mate? Changing fins is without doubt the biggest modification change to any board.
I have been playing around with all sorts of fins lately (although I ride quads) dont be scared to change them it will blow your mind the difference they will make.

I was going to put a small speed fin in my Glide last week to help speed it up and I'm sure it would have made some difference.

But sometimes a gain in one place means a loss somewhere else.

Coming from a windsurfing background I know that fins can make a huge diference..and I mean HUGE..

BTW.. I used a small 8 3/4" center fin on my 11'4" yesterday at the pines instead of the huge 10 1/2" stock fin.

Not so much for performance or speed but because it's so shallow and with a reef bottom..



Here's a pictures of the fin that Blane Chambers recommended that Rich use in his new 9'6" PSH and Rich said it made a big difference.



Fins aren't cheap but they're worth it trying different ones till you find one that you like.

DJ

Changing your fins/fin systems can make a massive difference to your board, you didn't mention how big your centre fin size but I'm guessing it's 7 or 8" ,try smaller rear fin 5 or 6" or change your board to a thruster set up , just pinch some fins out of your mates boards and try all different ones.

For the rear fin if it's in a box you can buy an FSC adaptor for $25 at your local surf shop and then you can run standard thruster sets

A stiffer/quality fin will straight away give you more drive and down the line speed and enable you to get the board more on it's rail and hold there , throw the plastic fins in the bin.

oliver said...

I've been mucking around trying different fins for my board and you can really notice a big difference between different combinations, sizes and positions.

I wouldn't go as far as Brooko about it blowing your mind though.

I geuss it depends on the type of waves one may be surfing

hilly said...

Hi Windy

Not taking the piss here but knowing your technique on the wave you would get more speed by developing a solid bottom turn than you would by changing fins at this time in your surfing development.

Without putting pressure on the fin in a turn you will notice little difference apart from paddle stability and paddle turning.

Pumping the board up and down the wave, riding high on the face and being close to the steepest part of the wave will help.

I put good quality 4 inch side fins in my JL and that helped with direction changes but there was no change in speed, more drive through the turn though(Kept the speed longer in the turn).

I have gone back to the original JL centre fin works well.

Cheers Andrew

I agree with Hilly
Change your style a bit more to a more natural surf stance. I think at the moment you look like you are in the foot straps on a windsurfer. Bend both knees through the bottom turn. Keep your upper body the same height through the turn. Then drive the board through the top turn by straightening your front leg but keep your back leg bent.
Having never surfed before you are doing bloody amazing. Keep it up.
I will show you what I mean tomorrow morning

yep, hilly and greeny, advice taken onboard - thanks.
work on stance, i know i'm a bit lazy in this department


going to have a muck around with the fins aswell.
got some nice glass future thrusters on my stoney windsurf board, will give em a whirl.

Those black plastic FCS fins that come standard as side fins in a lot of boards are terrible.

In my current board I'd have to say I noticed a bigger performance difference when I changed to good glass side fins (rather than the cheap plastic FCS) than when I changed my center fin. Bare in mind my centre fin change was from a good 8" glass fin to a good 6" glass fin.