*** Official Fin Thread ***

[Retropete]

Thanks for posting that. I'm totally into what he's saying re fins sizes, foil and thickness. Last trip OS had me surfing really small waves on a 7' midlength that other people were all surfing longboards on. So to reduce drag I was running side bites only and relying on my rails in any turning I was doing. Running a "normal" set of even upright twins was resulting in so much drag it was hard to cover any distance on the waves.
Recently got a 6'6" Cosmic twin that has a fairly pulled in swallow tail and really had to downsize the fins to loosen the board up to have fun in a run of small swell we have been having. Used fins with virtually same template as Aipa twins but thinner and so the flex felt great with the liveliness of the fins in small waves. Scored some Aipas which are a thicker, stiffer foil and as Ryan was saying increased the drive and also the hold in waves that were a bit larger.
I'm more into running as little surface area in fins as I can since I really notice the drag from larger and/or thicker fins when paddling and catching waves and then use my rails as he said.
I do however like running Webber flex fins and similar twins with tall heights on point waves because the extra depth into the face allows for amazing hold in the top of the wave during high line speed runs. So there we diverge.
Was looking at my S wing pro 440's the other day and thought to myself how on earth I had the positive hold I did running those little fins in my 7'2" crowd killer in 8'+ waves?
Burch fin theory adherent out.

 

[jkb]

The twin fin set looks sick! Do they have any flex or super stiff?

Sorry, I missed your question.

They are all fiberglass. Slightly stiffer than hex core (or whatever that's called) but not as stiff as G10.

 

[Duffy LaCoronilla]

Thanks for posting that. I'm totally into what he's saying re fins sizes, foil and thickness. Last trip OS had me surfing really small waves on a 7' midlength that other people were all surfing longboards on. So to reduce drag I was running side bites only and relying on my rails in any turning I was doing. Running a "normal" set of even upright twins was resulting in so much drag it was hard to cover any distance on the waves.
Recently got a 6'6" Cosmic twin that has a fairly pulled in swallow tail and really had to downsize the fins to loosen the board up to have fun in a run of small swell we have been having. Used fins with virtually same template as Aipa twins but thinner and so the flex felt great with the liveliness of the fins in small waves. Scored some Aipas which are a thicker, stiffer foil and as Ryan was saying increased the drive and also the hold in waves that were a bit larger.
I'm more into running as little surface area in fins as I can since I really notice the drag from larger and/or thicker fins when paddling and catching waves and then use my rails as he said.
I do however like running Webber flex fins and similar twins with tall heights on point waves because the extra depth into the face allows for amazing hold in the top of the wave during high line speed runs. So there we diverge.
Was looking at my S wing pro 440's the other day and thought to myself how on earth I had the positive hold I did running those little fins in my 7'2" crowd killer in 8'+ waves?
Burch fin theory adherent out.

My brain hurts.

Has the “put the biggest fin you can find in the toe side box” theory I’ve been using all these years been wrong?

 

[jkb]

My brain hurts.

Has the “put the biggest fin you can find in the toe side box” theory I’ve been using all these years been wrong?

Not necessarily wrong, but you might not need a huge fin in every asym.

According to Burch, he gets away with using less fin area by reducing fin cant, having thicker fin foils, narrower board widths, relatively narrow tail widths, and straighter outlines.

 

[Duffy LaCoronilla]

Not necessarily wrong, but you might not need a huge fin in every asym.

According to Burch, he gets away with using less fin area by reducing fin cant, having thicker fin foils, narrower board widths, relatively narrow tail widths, and straighter outlines.

Yeah I watched the video. Makes sense. He also said he like to be on lowest limit of fin size and volume. I’m really interested in his TA set but those are the size he uses, a guy who’s at least 50 pounds lighter than me who likes his fins right at the line of being too small.

And he‘s way better at surfing than I am.


But really, who am I kidding? I’m going to buy those fucking fins anyway and if I don’t like them they’ll sit in a box for a year or so and I’ll end up giving them to some stranger from the internet.

 

[jkb]

Yeah I watched the video. Makes sense. He also said he like to be on lowest limit of fin size and volume. I’m really interested in his TA set but those are the size he uses, a guy who’s at least 50 pounds lighter than me who likes his fins right at the line of being too small.

And he‘s way better at surfing than I am.


But really, who am I kidding? I’m going to buy those fucking fins anyway and if I don’t like them they’ll sit in a box for a year or so and I’ll end up giving them to some stranger from the internet.

Yeah, they are probably too small for your Disorder but I liked your idea of putting them in your Ledge. I'm assuming your Ledge is a twin toe side / quad heel side and not a straight twin?

Something else you could try on your Disorder is use your favorite twin template (whatever feels best to you) on the toe side. For the heel side quads, go into your fin bin and grab some old raked fins you don't use anymore. Probably a Large front and a Medium rear for you. Copy what Burch does on his and cut out a section of the rear trailing edge on each to make them both paddle fins and give them a go.

 

[Duffy LaCoronilla]

Yeah, they are probably too small for your Disorder but I liked your idea of putting them in your Ledge. I'm assuming your Ledge is a twin toe side / quad heel side and not a straight twin?

Something else you could try on your Disorder is use your favorite twin template (whatever feels best to you) on the toe side. For the heel side quads, go into your fin bin and grab some old raked fins you don't use anymore. Probably a Large front and a Medium rear for you. Copy what Burch does on his and cut out a section of the rear trailing edge on each to make them both paddle fins and give them a go.

This is what’s in the Ledge now…



Disorder has NVS Tallboy toe and Stretch fiberglass quads in the heel - not the Futures ones.

 

[Aruka]

Burch is a skinny guy Duff. I dont think his fin set is gonna be ideal for us bigger fellows. Maybe Im wrong, i havent checked them out.

 

[Duffy LaCoronilla]

Burch is a skinny guy Duff. I dont think his fin set is gonna be ideal for us bigger fellows. Maybe Im wrong, i havent checked them out.

At this point I can’t see a high enough potential benefit over the various options I already have to risk the expenditure.

Once I get some waves on the Ledge I’ll reassess.

 

[trifish]

Never tried or fondled a Burch. Is there a theme with his rockers?

 

[jtourito]

Burch is a skinny guy Duff. I dont think his fin set is gonna be ideal for us bigger fellows. Maybe Im wrong, i havent checked them out.

The Parallelogram by Ryan Burch

From ryanburchsurfboards.com WHAT IS AN ASYMMETRICAL SURFBOARD An asymmetrical surfboard can be any shape or size, as long as both sides are not the same. The asymmetrical boards I have built were conceptualized in pursuit of high performance surfing. The long-straight toe side rail has one fin...

www.hansensurf.com

WHAT RYAN RIDES:
Shortboard 5’7” + 18.5” + 2.25”
Step Up 6’2” + 18” + 2.5”
HIS HEIGHT: 6’2”
HIS WEIGHT: 169lbs

 

[Bob Dobbalina]

The Parallelogram by Ryan Burch

From ryanburchsurfboards.com WHAT IS AN ASYMMETRICAL SURFBOARD An asymmetrical surfboard can be any shape or size, as long as both sides are not the same. The asymmetrical boards I have built were conceptualized in pursuit of high performance surfing. The long-straight toe side rail has one fin...

www.hansensurf.com

WHAT RYAN RIDES:
Shortboard 5’7” + 18.5” + 2.25”
Step Up 6’2” + 18” + 2.5”
HIS HEIGHT: 6’2”
HIS WEIGHT: 169lbs

I know he has claimed that his hi performance Asyms can be ridden narrower than a typical shortboards, but he is a highly skilled string bean at 6'2 and under 170. Hence his near glass slipper style widths.

 

[Duffy LaCoronilla]

The Parallelogram by Ryan Burch

From ryanburchsurfboards.com WHAT IS AN ASYMMETRICAL SURFBOARD An asymmetrical surfboard can be any shape or size, as long as both sides are not the same. The asymmetrical boards I have built were conceptualized in pursuit of high performance surfing. The long-straight toe side rail has one fin...

www.hansensurf.com

WHAT RYAN RIDES:
Shortboard 5’7” + 18.5” + 2.25”
Step Up 6’2” + 18” + 2.5”
HIS HEIGHT: 6’2”
HIS WEIGHT: 169lbs

He’s heavier than I thought.

Now my brain is hurting again.

 

[claw87]

Did any of you guys ever break an fcs plug? This just happened doing a bottom turn. Lost the fin in the process

 

[jkb]

View attachment 190746

Did any of you guys ever break an fcs plug? This just happened doing a bottom turn. Lost the fin in the process

Woof!

That's the first one of those I've seen from FCSII. Does it say "FCS" on the plugs? I know there's some fake ones out there that are poor quality.

 

[claw87]

Woof!

That's the first one of those I've seen from FCSII. Does it say "FCS" on the plugs? I know there's some fake ones out there that are poor quality.

yeah it's a genuine FCS product. I have another twin on order and am now wondering whether to change the order to futures

 

[Aruka]

Ok, no more deadlifts for you @claw87

I haven't had a plug blow out on a bottom turn since the OG FCS plugs. I was actually under the impression that these FCS2 plugs were as good or better than Futures for twins. Futures definitely have their own problems with cracking around the box from the stress of big side fins. The advantage of Futures is the abundance and cheapness of different fin templates. I think regardless of whether you go FCS2 or Futures, the box install needs to be reinforced, especially for bigger guys.

 

[Sharkbiscuit]

I think regardless of whether you go FCS2 or Futures, the box install needs to be reinforced, especially for bigger guys.

 

[Aruka]

one of my best friends is not a super big guy but he is super strong, a total gym rat. every time he bottom turns it looks like he's going for a squat PR. he got this good wave keel fish that he loved and he blew the box out like 3x during one trip down south. we got so sick of repairing that thing with my limited supplies out in the desert. we finally ran glass under the box and two layers over top and it held for the rest of the trip but I think it did eventually start to crack again. this is why I mostly avoid good wave twins anymore.

 

[jtourito]

Ok, no more deadlifts for you @claw87

I haven't had a plug blow out on a bottom turn since the OG FCS plugs. I was actually under the impression that these FCS2 plugs were as good or better than Futures for twins. Futures definitely have their own problems with cracking around the box from the stress of big side fins. The advantage of Futures is the abundance and cheapness of different fin templates. I think regardless of whether you go FCS2 or Futures, the box install needs to be reinforced, especially for bigger guys.

I think you can say that for fusion boxes but I think fcs II has not been truely tested yet because most use normal fcs twin set with grub screws.