Anyone surfed a Winged Keel fin? Heard many mixed reviews from providing heaps of lift in the tail and drive to people not liking it.

vid of Cheyne Horan surfing his "starfin"

I had an 8'6" mal at one stage - it was one of the early modern mals. Thick and chunky.
I bought it 2nd hand and it had a Lexan winged keel the one Cheyne designed with ben lexan.

On a decent wave this board flew and when bottom turning you could sometimes hear the fin hum. It really hung in there nice on a decent bottom turn - as you'd know turning a longer board can be sketchy especially after a late take off.

Also, remember watching carroll v horan final at Bells in the 80's. Cheynes board was really planing well on the nice little 2- 3 foot offshore Rincon waves. Tommy carroll was surfing more vertical but cheynes surfing was more interesting (i think) and he was really flying with the keel.

I reckon it would be worth trying one on a single fin mal or shorty but in my opinion the waves should be reasonably wally and clean. If you use it in much you won't appreciate the planing and bottom turn stability that the winged keel was designed to offer. Good luck.

P.S I still have the fIn and it's in a piece of surf art.i i retired it due to damage. A great piece of memorabilia designed by 2 innovative Australians.