Hi Guy's,

Firstly I am an industry person, we are site sponsors (I use my own name for clarity) and I am looking for feedback.

We are currently in the process of putting the finishing touches to a smaller center fin for our range of SUP Wave fins. Due to differing styles of riding we always have a very lively discussion about where to place a US / Std Box center fin in the board.

What do you do? why? and does anybody prefer / ride with the fin right at the back of the box as in the below image?



With fin placement in mind we are deciding where we should place the 120 fin blade as the chord length is shorter than the base length.

So what's your take on the below options?
Option A - Front
Option B - Center
Option C - Back



Thanks for your input and hope this creates some discussion

Cheers,
Marco

As a thruster setup, the closer (forward) the centre fin is to the side fins will make it looser, ie turns easier, further back less loose ! So A,B,C offer slight variation to that principle which the average supper probably wouldnt/couldnt detect. Big thanks to Simon Anderson circa '81 ish

Far back as possible. Anyone can dish pan a SUP! With a paddle and such a wide board you need your centre at the back if you wanna rip like Dogman

All depends on the size and shape of the board.Your center fin is your pivot point,so is your back foot.As you surf you adjust your weight from front to back through your feet.(Leaning/moving)forward gives acceleration where (leaning/stepping back)puts the weight closer to your center fin(pivot) which allows you to turn(pivot)the board in the direction you wish to go.So the center fin should be situated a little behind where your back foot would be whilst doing a critical turn.I've just mesured the distance from the tail to the rear of the base of the center fin in my 10'6" and its 11" and really I don't think it would be practical having it further back,I mean you could but you would loose a lot of turning/snap/whip/pivot ability.Try this experiment;Lay a board down on grass or carpet or whatever and stand next to it in surfstance think about where you would be comfortable standing whilst going into a bottom turn."STOP"look at where your back foot is then think about your fins(pivot point).See your back foot is a lot further forward than you thought isn't it.That's because you can't stand that far back all the time otherwise your nose is going to flap up and down like a tin roof in a hurricane.So move the whole fin setup up a bit to suit the surfers stance I recon.(P.S. if your surfing 10' indo you may want to use that back section of the box.

A retired 'pro' Mal rider once advised me that you should start with the rear of the fin at least 8" (or from the tip of your thumb to the ti of your forefinger - stretched out) from the back of the board, then move it incrementally from there, to fine tune. Works for me and a lot of the guys around use it as a starting point.

Cheers, hope you're successful with your endeavours.

Why not one like this, then you can run the fin way back.

Select to expand quote

surfgrub said...
A retired 'pro' Mal rider once advised me that you should start with the rear of the fin at least 8" (or from the tip of your thumb to the ti of your forefinger - stretched out) from the back of the board, then move it incrementally from there, to fine tune. Works for me and a lot of the guys around use it as a starting point.

Cheers, hope you're successful with your endeavours.

yeah that exactly what i do. however if a fin needs to go right back in the box you need a bigger fin. lots of drag back there and the board gets all funky.


fin size isn't just about the surfing part. it's also how it paddles, how it kick turns. stability. a too bigger fin can be just as bad as being too small. chop and side movement of water with a too bigger fin can make a choppy water session a 'pita'.


takes time to get it right on a new board.

when people say i don't worry about it means they don't know how usually imo.
i mean why wouldn't you try and make your board go better for 'you'

people pay good money for the latest surfing and racing shapes than sell themselves and the board short by throwing in any old fins anywhere

Well described Laceys.

Hi Guy's,

Thanks for the replies, some food for thought

We have been designing high end Wave and Race fins for the Windsurfing and Kitesurfing markets for the past 15 + years, so we are pretty dialed with foils etc....

Guess what I was looking for was what does the guy down the beach do when he slots a fin into his SUP board. Comments like 8" or 11" from the tail is what I was looking for.
If the majority of Surf SUP riders get a fin and back she goes then it probably makes more sense to shift the blade back on the base. There are so many variables as it is and eliminating some with basic preferences sometimes helps with reducing time and costs.

I also thought your comments might help with the office banter about fin placement and personal preferences

Oh well, 3 new samples with different blade placements it is for testing

God I LOVE my job

Cheers,
Marco