I surf a 10 6 and an 11ft surfer always as a single fin. Love the board and it's style of surfing. Was surfing a reef the other day and was struggling a little making sections on a faster wave than I usually surf. Does the board get a bit more speed with either a tri or quad set up. I know I should try it out as I will but it was just the other day and haven't had a chance yet. I know it could quite possibly be me, or to get more speed does it mean going to the hybrid, but then it might not be so much the long board style of the surfer. Thoughts appreciated. Thanks
Hi broadman, I definitely find it easier making sections with my 10' surfer set up as a quad. Fun too!
Didnt try the Laird (but tested a Pearson longboard some years ago), but retro longboard shapes tend to adapt their speed to the speed of the wave, so that you just put them into the trim line and they slow down to keep close to the curl, letting you run back and forth to style around and pilot the ride. From the pics (high rear rocker) it seems that the Surfer is this kind of board, so it may have some kind of "speed limit" built in.
I guess the secret of their speed is in finding the good trim line, rather than relying on fins to leverage on in turns.
Totally agree with Colas on the "speed limit" comment. On the same wave my 10'6" Nalu would race away, whereas the surfer is a great deal more leisurely. Quad set up does help though, dependent on the size of the wave and how steep it is.
Completely agree with Colas & Brenno whereby I had the 10'6 Laird x 32" & I also found her a bit sluggish setup as 2+1 so I changed to a quad set of large SQ7 Shapers fins & I definitely noticed an improvement although to be fair, I didn't test them out in large surf.
Fins definitely make a difference. Twins are probably the fastest.
I tried some 5.125" deep, 7" wide twins in my Pearson/Laird/Surftech 10'6"
(3 boxes), pretty fun and somewhat different than as a single -
definitely different off the top and they would pull out if I got too far up on the nose.
I don't have quad boxes, but probably also faster than a big single.
Just putting in different single fins can make a difference too.
And, it isn't just size but shape and, my experience was especially
the thickness. I had 10.5" Kevin Connely Nose Rider fin that was surprisingly much
faster than some of the smaller fins I had. It was so fast, I could
barely noseride with it. The trailing edge was very sharp and I decided to dull
it down and ah ha, dulling down the tailing edge of the fin slowed the board down rather remarkably
versus with the sharper trailing edge. Now it is one of my favorites
to noseride with.
In your case, you want something that lets the board go faster,
so, if a single fin, then probably smaller and also thinner with a sharper
trailing edge. I've used a single as small as a 7.5" Fins Unlimited Swept Fin.
Very little drag. Too small on larger waves but lots of fun on smaller
waves. It feels kind of like the twin setup, sliding around doing top turns
and it pulls out if you go far up on the nose.
Plenty of talk in the board talk and reviews section on this.
Just my two cents.
I ride a ten foot composite Surfer sometimes.
Currently running Solus sides by Futures and 9" Benda centre by Shapers.
If you go straight and want more speed, no fins, twin, quad and then thruster will be fastest. A ten foot board has a lot of drag and if put in poor positions on the wave will be slow. Personally I found when it gets up momentum it goes real fast and controlling it's vast weight at speed requires solid back foot pressure to turn before you outrun the wave in some cases. A large center fin allows this more pivot/power turning off the back foot. If you like to create speed out of tighter turns like a steep late drop into bottom turn or fast down the line into cutback twin, quad or very small thruster will slide. If slide is your aim, that is great. Probably just me but a board feeling fast and loose does not always mean your surfing is faster and looser
Some argue noseriding requires certain fins, rail design etc. The wave shape and riders set up is probably the biggest determining factor but a large, high tip volume, stiff center most advice suggests would expect to hold better.
One thing for sure. Playing around with set ups is heaps of fun and different lines keep it interesting.
Enjoy
Thanks for, all your comments. I couldn't ask for or get more info than all that. I think it's a little of my surfing and a little of the single. Really keen now to try some other set ups. Cheers all.
geeze, i don't know about the 10-6x32 being slow. i found it to be a speed demon that i could barely contain. i'd stall like crazy, trying to get it back to the curl; but the second i let up on the stall, the board took off rocketlike for down the line and the shoulder. and i had a 9.5" single fin on it. got so frustrated by my inability to slow the thing, i bought a jimmy lewis black and blue. now there's a board you can easily slow to a crawl, if you want.
anyway, that's just a contrary-to-most-folks opinion on the laird. as ever, ymmv.
One fin is enough for anything!
Fins create drag. On the Laird, if you want to go faster, get on to the front third of the board (front of the grip deck), it flies. To slow it down, go further forward to the nose, or run right to the back and stall.
