Quobba fins...interested to hear others opinions and how you determined what size fin to buy.

From my experience and from guys using them with my boards If the board is high volume for there weight and height they have gone large and on low volume board even though they are 90 kg + tall there preferences is medium but for me at 80 kg so far I only use medium on my own boards which are low volume 21 to 22 Lt But still experimenting . Since the 1st time I tried these fins back to back with John Johns at INDO over head waves , they are the only one's I use now Same as my riders And I recommend these fins with our boards

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smook said..
From my experience and from guys using them with my boards If the board is high volume for there weight and height they have gone large and on low volume board even though they are 90 kg + tall there preferences is medium but for me at 80 kg so far I only use medium on my own boards which are low volume 21 to 22 Lt But still experimenting . Since the 1st time I tried these fins back to back with John Johns at INDO over head waves , they are the only one's I use now Same as my riders And I recommend these fins with our boards

Hmmm, that's interesting. I have been using John Johns for few years now and absolutely love them, but am keen on trying the Quaba's.

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dafish said..

smook said..
From my experience and from guys using them with my boards If the board is high volume for there weight and height they have gone large and on low volume board even though they are 90 kg + tall there preferences is medium but for me at 80 kg so far I only use medium on my own boards which are low volume 21 to 22 Lt But still experimenting . Since the 1st time I tried these fins back to back with John Johns at INDO over head waves , they are the only one's I use now Same as my riders And I recommend these fins with our boards

Hmmm, that's interesting. I have been using John Johns for few years now and absolutely love them, but am keen on trying the Quaba's.

Yes M8 John Johns were my favourite for couple years and experimented with different sizes love them two But Quobba's on Wave just stand out They even help me up wind on flat water behind waves on appropriate board volume Must get some M8 I have them available Also on line at Quobba's Cheers

Airtons been loving the new carbon ones- they available very very soon, would of been out by now but covid19 slowed that up. James Carew, Matchu lopes all riding them also- top 3 waves guys on tour all Ripped out their duotone fins and now use quobbas in them- pretty sure Mitu has been using them heaps and Reo Stevens been loving them too. Same goes for the women. I think 2 oftop 3 riding them and other rider has asked for some! They are all I have been riding for last 2-3 years . In wa Action sports balcatta sells them and may even have some demos I think. On east coast Kitepower have them and you can always purchase online if you aren't near a store that stocks them. Try some and make your own mind up .

I'm generally riding the Q plus. The orange mediums I would say is a good fin for lighter blokes and women. Most people over 75kg would probally say the lime green large are better all round size. In my little Firewire evo I like lime side fins with orange Centre when it's small just to loosen it up. A lot of crew are ordering the Q plus and then also buying a orange Centre at same time to be able to play around back fin size depending on conditions.

They don't do these with the front that I can see

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apepene43 said..



They don't do these with the front that I can see

They are currently in production - no fin company besides fcs can do the click in click out(fcs2) due to copyright infringement - but quobbas have what they are calling fcs1.5 coming out any day which exactly the same shape but just doesn't click in u have to use a screw. Only way to fit fcs2 boxes without using the packers that all the other brands do to fit fcs2. They are doing standard fcs and u can purchase them now and they come with rubber packers to fill gaps . The fcs1.5 would of been out by now but delayed due to covid 19. Hopefully they out soon- I mainly ride with futures boxes so I just use the single tab quobbas and they been great! ??

In the early 80s a concept similar to the quobbas fin on an Australian boat keel won the america s cup, around the same time the thruster was invented. Allen bond became a national hero(lol).

Ben Lexcen inspired fins for surfboards and windsurfers followed, I guess that keel evolved into the foil.

35 years on with the advantage of everything learned from foils and people kiting them without a stabiliser, we have quobbas. Exciting times ahead, whatever size you buy they will be easy to sell if you want to change sizes

I remember having one of those keel type bond fin on my surfboard back then just the centre rear vin the town and country surfboard

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simon78 said..
In the early 80s a concept similar to the quobbas fin on an Australian boat keel won the america s cup, around the same time the thruster was invented. Allen bond became a national hero(lol).

Ben Lexcen inspired fins for surfboards and windsurfers followed, I guess that keel evolved into the foil.

35 years on with the advantage of everything learned from foils and people kiting them without a stabiliser, we have quobbas. Exciting times ahead, whatever size you buy they will be easy to sell if you want to change sizes

The wings on keel boats mainly work by preventing/reducing/shaping the vortex that forms off the bottom edge due to the pressure differential between the two sides. Same as winglets on commercial jets. The Quobba fins supposedly reduce turbulence at the board/fin interface (same same but different). Maybe there is some lift but the surface is pretty small. A lot of attention is paid to this area on keelboats but I haven't seen winglets near the hull like the Quobbas, even on flat-bottomed planing hulls or the newer foiling monohulls like the IMOCA 60 class.

Hydrofoils have been around for ~110 years.

I have no idea what the concept is behind these fins. I'm riding my board as a thruster with with large side Quobba's with with a medium size Quobba center fin. I have found this is the best fin set up that I have ever experienced with my Tomo Evo. The planing, turning, tracking and upwind ability have all been improved over my previous best fin set up. I don't understand the unique design but I can testify that Quobba's definitely work better than anything else I have ever ridden on my kite surfboard. If you're not riding Quobba's, you are missing out.

Put Quobbas on my board a couple of weeks ago. Only used them once so can't comment too much yet. Love the look of them.

I have a new board coming from Smook that will have the Quabbas, so I too am looking forward to it. I have been on John John Florence Futures for a few years and love them, so doing back to back tests will be fun.

I'm 100kgs and recently put a set of large qubbos on my 5'3 Firewire Evo.
Only had a few sessions in marginal onshore winter wind, so can't fully say... but so far they feel great!

I was a bit hesitant at first as I'm a quad fanboi for kiting, but the thruster setup seems just as good upwind as my old quads. Which is cool because on the wave I prefer thrusters...

Looking forward (a loooong way forward ) to summer to try them in some cross shore wind

I would add another vote for the Quobbas.

I've had a large set in my Duotone Pro Sessions 5 11 for 6 months and really rate them. In conditions from chest high junky surf to 4 times overhead on the big East Coast swell last month.
I've tried them back to back with high quality futures hex fins. To me the benefits are the following.

1.Faster about 10% average moving speed in the same conditions.
2.Better upwind performance- subjective but seems to point higher especially in the lulls on what is a gunny board.
3.Absolute grip on big drops give you confidence to whip late onto a breaking wave on the way out.
4.Locked in on the bottom turn with no worry of breaking loose.

Only negative for me is too much grip on the top turn, I generally ride strapped with allot of power and like to break the fins loose off the top. Might need to adjust my timing but these fins grip so hard my knees hurt when the fins don't break out.
I need to give the mediums a try for comparison.

I'm sold though and for kite boards at the speeds we do they are great

100% on what KB7 says, running mediums in a naish skater 5'4. 85kg, strapless. Went over the handlebars a couple of times in top turns because i was expecting a bit of slide, but they just gripped and wouldn't release. Heaps more faith coming off the bottom hard.

Interesting have had no issues on Mediums On 5'6 Wave 21Lt and 5'2 " Shredder 22 Lt cut off nose board Iam 80kg But 90 % of my ridding is on my back hand . Watching top GKA riders with these fins having no issues but they are pushing there weight forward to front foot and sliding the tail on back foot Love these fins on my boards

Definitely not a criticism of the fin, operator error for sure. The skater is the wrong board for how and what i ride, but it takes the abuse. I've found the quobbas extend its range from being a fairly niche board to something a bit more utilitarian. i scored the mediums super cheap second hand and keeping an eye out for a futures set to try in some other boards.
Personally i find trialing different fins a cheaper option then trialing/turning over boards.

Been testing out the Quobbas lately here in UK.
Check out my review here - www.pastyadventures.co.uk/news-blog/quobba-fins-review

That's a solid review! I checked out my fins on my Duotone Pro Whip and noticed a few chips and dents. Do u reckon Future P8's would be a good upgrade (I'm 88kgs)? Perth small/wave wind slop riding...

I was pretty happy with Futures John John Medium on my cut off nose board Until I started with medium Quobba which were better But our planning hull is fading out at tail which gives for sharper turning and the Quobba can do there magic

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Jonny316 said..
That's a solid review! I checked out my fins on my Duotone Pro Whip and noticed a few chips and dents. Do u reckon Future P8's would be a good upgrade (I'm 88kgs)? Perth small/wave wind slop riding...

I would say the P6 wpuld be better as youll be riding mostly powered. Im 86 and the p6 are just right. P8 feel bit big for me when powered on kite. If you are 100kg p8 would be the size.

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smook said..
I was pretty happy with Futures John John Medium on my cut off nose board Until I started with medium Quobba which were better But our planning hull is fading out at tail which gives for sharper turning and the Quobba can do there magic

Yeah im not sure why the Quobbas don't seem to work fof me on the 2020 5'5 Pro Whip. It might be different on the smaller sizes.
I know the Quobbas work well on the Firewire Evo but the Pro Whip has much more aggressive channels around the fins
??

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leepasty said..

Yeah im not sure why the Quobbas don't seem to work fof me on the 2020 5'5 Pro Whip. It might be different on the smaller sizes.
I know the Quobbas work well on the Firewire Evo but the Pro Whip has much more aggressive channels around the fins
??

It doesn't say why but Quobba writes this on their FAQ quobbafins.com/fin-combinations/

We however do not recommend these fins are used as a true quad set. ie. use two sets of Quobba fins to make a quad set.
They may also not be suitable for some boards with deep channels.

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leepasty said..

Jonny316 said..
That's a solid review! I checked out my fins on my Duotone Pro Whip and noticed a few chips and dents. Do u reckon Future P8's would be a good upgrade (I'm 88kgs)? Perth small/wave wind slop riding...

I would say the P6 wpuld be better as youll be riding mostly powered. Im 86 and the p6 are just right. P8 feel bit big for me when powered on kite. If you are 100kg p8 would be the size.

smook said..
I was pretty happy with Futures John John Medium on my cut off nose board Until I started with medium Quobba which were better But our planning hull is fading out at tail which gives for sharper turning and the Quobba can do there magic

Yeah im not sure why the Quobbas don't seem to work fof me on the 2020 5'5 Pro Whip. It might be different on the smaller sizes.
I know the Quobbas work well on the Firewire Evo but the Pro Whip has much more aggressive channels around the fins
??

Nice review M8 Even our bigger guys 90-100 kg on our cut off nose boards 5'3" Shredder like the mediums but our boards are low volume / thin rail / full surfboard rocker Yes Chanel's are a issue at tail area change of flow through the fins Enjoy

Thanks - sounds like the P6 are the go! I don't know why I've never really thought about upgrading fins on a kiteboard/surfboard - I used to do it all the time on sailboards and it made a massive difference. Cheaper than a new board too!

After reading this and other threads I've bought a medium set. This is my experience.

For the context. I am not a surfer (probably too lazy to paddle). I started to kite way before wave riding was possible, but now I am only on waves. I ride surfboards with straps, powered up with frequent old school jumps from the lip, and I jibe both ends. I mostly ride the relatively short waves of the Perth coast which rarely go overhead and are often choppy. On the waves, I drive and lead the ride with the kite (no park'n'ride), so there are lots of kite movements that make the coordination between the kite and the board essential at every second.

The fins definitely made my board better upwind and this was my primary purpose for buying them. As others, I also noticed the increased grip and smoother turns. While these characteristics are great for old school surfers, I found their "side effects" problematic.

1. They definitely slowed down the board, that is not surprising given the increased grip. This is likely welcome on larger speedy waves, but I had to slow down my kites to prevent them from overflying, and, generally, they made timing a bit tricky.

2. While the increased grip certainly made the bottom turns smoother and more stable, they also made radical turns and rail to rail moves more difficult, i.e. needing more effort / force. Again, this would not be a problem on long predictable waves, but on less predictable, short waves quick radical moves are part of the play.

3. At jumps, the board was noticeable reluctant to leave the surface of the water. At first I though it caught some weed, but no, it was probably the increased grip which held it back. Again, most surfers never want to leave the surface of the water, and strapless jumps are beyond most surfers' skills. So this is not so much of a problem for them, but it was rather limiting for me.

In summary, as these fins were developed for surfers, they likely suit kiters with traditional surfing styles, on traditional surfboards, and on larger and longer waves.

Cheers

Good honest review.

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shi thouse said..
Quobba fins...interested to hear others opinions and how you determined what size fin to buy.

I am 95 kegs def prefer large. Prob under 77kg I would go medium

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AndreC said..

shi thouse said..
Quobba fins...interested to hear others opinions and how you determined what size fin to buy.

I am 95 kegs def prefer large. Prob under 77kg I would go medium

I just go a new set of medium Quobbas and am similar weight to you...
Wish I went larger. :-(