I have a tabou rocket 125 which came with a 44cm fin.

There are time that I become overpowered by the board since I am 72kg, so I wanted to know if there are any alternatives to a smaller fin that will make the board bounce less when the wind builts up.

Thanks

Agree with W4W, I did exactly that on exactly the same board and it made quite a significant difference.

Anyone tried the opposite, adding something like 48 for light wind days on this board?

Good point also! Usually board come overfined in majority of the case, so your feeling must be right. I asked my friend at Makani fin what he think about that and I will let you know later. However, it's true also you can't just buy any fin based on the CM, their is a 3 dimension to think about when purchasing a fin, so better check with the fin company, website etc.


cheers.
nord_roi

Brett Morris said...

my 2 cents: Fin size is usually relative to the size of the tail. If you put a smaller fin in the board it can have the opposite effect i.e. the board becomes "sticky" and the windward rail tends to drag. It can become difficult to get onto the plane.

Different brands of fins vary in power, might be better to move your mast foot forward 1 or 2 cm as this has a huge effect on control. Cheers

Brett Morris said...

my 2 cents: Fin size is usually relative to the size of the tail. If you put a smaller fin in the board it can have the opposite effect i.e. the board becomes "sticky" and the windward rail tends to drag. It can become difficult to get onto the plane.
>>>>

True but it's also relative to riders weight, and wind strength, something that's not always recognised, but as a 70kg sailor myself I'm well aware of it.
The standard fin probably works very well for your average sailor, 80/90kg I guess.

A light weight has the problem of leeward rail down with a standard fin, especially once the wind picks up.

I run a 31cm weedy with my 105l 65cm board,
If possible I'd try borrowing some fins and see how they feel.
You can probably get under 40cm, may be 35 or so, in higher winds.
Depends how many boards you've got, it's much more comfortable to drop down in board size once wind really picks up.