dont see many around and the boards with box's for 3, 4 or 5 fins seem to all run thruster set up's.
Used a quad fish for prone and kite surfing until it snapped. Thought it went pretty good except at 191/2" it was bit wide for kiting, great upwind.
Noticed over the weekend the new Rawson BWS Boards designed for prone and kite no longer have a multiple fin option.
It's possible to only have one board for both but how many do??
looking forward to the opinions of the wise......

kelly rides quads. must be something right with them

Now that I have a choice, I only ride quads.

Plenty surfboard shapers and kite companies still doing quads. Boards are usually quad or thruster only as there needs to be changes in the concave to suit a quad's lack of middle fin.

Some of us try the prone/kite combo. As always it's a trade off with any area of board design altered to favour one or the other.

www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Kitesurfing/General/Surfboard-quiver-dual-purpose-kite-and-surf/

Thruster fins are cheeper.

cheers Ben, missed your post last yesr but agree with the 4x board choice.
Plus a 9' mal when its clean and small.
just cant decide on best dimensions for a one board quiver.
good news that 4 fins aren't a fad...

For my small kitewave brd 5'5" i use quad , on my 5' 8" use thruster ,But surfing i love quad on my natural side for more speed And 3fin for back hand for big snap turns??

I went to a quad setup about 3 years ago after resisting for a long time and have not gone back to the thruster setup.
In my experience quads give more drive and speed but are a bit harder to break the fins out on the lip.
I wouldn't mind going back to a three fin setup just for a session to compare going back the other way

interesting...I find quads easier to break the fins out than a thruster.

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anoldman said...

dont see many around and the boards with box's for 3, 4 or 5 fins seem to all run thruster set up's.
Used a quad fish for prone and kite surfing until it snapped. Thought it went pretty good except at 191/2" it was bit wide for kiting, great upwind.
Noticed over the weekend the new Rawson BWS Boards designed for prone and kite no longer have a multiple fin option.
It's possible to only have one board for both but how many do??
looking forward to the opinions of the wise......

Changing fins out is a pain in the arse (especially futures as they can get jammed up with sand), I had a 5 fin configured board but now have both quad,s & thrusters.

I have been using a quad for a couple of years now and like it. I haven't used a thruster.

I thought thrusters were preferred by most but a young surfer I met recently had a quad and said they are all the go now.

Quad's weren't a fad, its just that the initial excitement has worn off. When they first came out everyone was nuts over them because they were the new thing but now they're more common place and surfers seem to just see them for what they are. They're awesome, but not for every condition.

Someone above said that a quad was harder to break the fins out of the water with, and someone else said it was easier to break the fins out of the water with. I think it depends on the relative volume of the fins. For example, you could get quad fins that, in total, have less volume than you standard thruster set.

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vendeavours said...
For my small kitewave brd 5'5" i use quad , on my 5' 8" use thruster ,But surfing i love quad on my natural side for more speed And 3fin for back hand for big snap turns??

Yes.

Surfing in the pocket = thruster

Down the line and speed = quad

Quads......A great way for fin companies to increase sales by 33%

Saw a YouTube clip recently done by Jimmy Lewis back in 2008, his take on it was that his thrusters pivot near the tail end of the board when carving hard but the quads tend to pivot a little further forward. Different preferences for riding style I guess.

I think the link for that clip came up when I watched another video...... Not sure now if it was Jimmy Lewis because I can't find the link.

I ride the same board to kite and paddle surf.

If your kitesurfing down the line, towards your kite in the same way that you would regularly surf a wave, why would the requirements of your kiteboard be different to a surfboard...other than construction?

I seem to find wide tail boards go better with quad (kite, surf and SUP included) whilst narrow performance board feel better as thruster. The shaper and fin position can change all this though...