I am on a Pocket Rocket Quad set up 5’5’’ in front and 4’5’’ at the back. I get the feeling that I am not making tight enough turns with this set up. I’ve been thinking of going back to a thruster set up with 4’5’’ front as well as a 4’5’’ centre fin. I've been researching and reading up on other threads as much as possible but I am not sure if I be waisting my money? Will such a set up work and result in a bit of a better performing board for pocket surfing? Will appreciate some advice before I fork out the $70 for a new centre fin. Cheers.

It's horses for courses i think mate. Love having a quad on my widebody on smaller days or when racing sections down the line. Think the thruster works better at holding in off the bottom to drive up the face in to the pocket. I dont think it will tighten your top turns as you can force the fins to drift on the quad youll get up to the pocket easier though with no slide off the bottom. Just my experience though

Yup, I do not ride a Pocket Rocket, but on 8'-something boards I always use a thruster setup to tighten my turns.

Having symmetrically foiled rear quads can also help turn a quad, kind of a compromise quad/thruster.

Small 80/20 rears can help too, like the FCS GLs

I had a 8'3" that was hard to turn with G1000 in the back but was OK with GLs.

In all cases, 5.5" are too big for front quads: these are better used as twin fins.

Check out this Seabreeze link on my VP Combo fins www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Stand-Up-Paddle/Review/New-VP-COMBO-Sup-Fins/?SearchTerms=Vp,combo,fins

The below pic is of my 8-6 with V6 Thruster set I used in Cloud Break a few weeks back and worked really well and never let go (you can see the reef dings in the fins ) .The V6 is just under 120mm only a bit bigger than 4.5" . These are all match fins.

You can just buy the rear for $60 or complete set $120 including postage. The rear fin is also available in FCS twin foiled.

i can vouch for the V6's also.
Used to run the old 2+1 and found the rear had to be quite forward yet still felt bit stiff and could nto get as vert as i wanted to, especially on my backhand.
after a couple of weeks with the V6's and rear all the way back in fin box it feels more like a real thruster, cos it is, and i now feel like i am going vert.

Going from a big centre to a small is performancebooster if your board can handle it.I,m a good 90kgs and found the standard Starboard fins feeling rather large side for tight turning.I on my Pro8.5 to FCS M7 fins and both turning and speed increased.On my 8.5 Pro I first changed the standard front fins for the FCS2 Performers and that made the board allready more turny with the 14 in the back.When I got a converter and made the Performer centre fin fit into that the board changed dramaticly.It catches later, but its turnwise like a smaller size board.Only when its 3m+ faces and really fast its not drivey enough for me, so on those days I use the 14 centre in the back.


Aboutthe quads, i think its very depending from board to board if a tri or quad works the best.My WP8.10, 8.2 and Hokua9.0 got faster and tigher turning from a quad (and the WP8.10 was for me too wide in the tail to stay grippy in the turn with a small middlefin) where m Starboards Pro9.0 and 8.5 seem to prever tri,s

I agree with mattyongoldy - Love my quads for smaller stuff up to head high but definitely prefer the thruster for the bigger days. The quad might slide a little bit but its all good fun you can play with it when its small. when it starts to loose grip at critical moments when its big its not so much fun :(

question for Pirios - do you do fins that fit future fin centre slots yet or still just the US box? and also, do you do the V6 and V8 futures to fit the newer future boxes (shallower box for the rear fins than the front)?

BF re the shallow future boxes they are designed for thin tailed short boards very rare to see them in a Sup as the tails still have plenty of meat but to answer you question no I don't.

Re the centre rear future box again no but my new centre USA box fins are coming out will have solid base so they can be cut to suit any box. There just isn't enough demand to warrant a new mould cost for a future centre rear fin. 80% of my fins sales are FCS.

cheers chaps, but must admit to being a bit more confused now shall I go smaller quads or a smaller thruster on the PR. Propably have to spend the bucks on a few fins a try a few set ups. Might be a few fins for sale on Seabreeze soon.

Just run a thruster set all same size 4.5's if you want a bit more grip change the rear only of the thruster to a 6"

cheers mate, I'll have a look at the fins you've got on offer. Do you have a web address or email?