Hi all,
Still relatively new to SUP surfing and not sure weather to be going quad or thruster in the surf.

I have been riding shortboards since I was a kid and have been playing on a SUP for a few months. Have been out in small to medium ( head high ) surf and have use both thruster and quad set up........I found thruster easier to handle/steer while cruising around and trying to get on the wave but slower once on the wave..........quad a lot harder to paddle straight and get in position for the wave but fast and loos and more fun on the wave........

Just wondering what everyone elses experience is???
Cheers,
Damo

This has been kicked around before but here is a very over simplified answer.

Thruster:- Pivot turns a tighter arch without sliding.
Quad:- Shopping trolley style turns , more drive down the line feel. Harder to dishpan you really need your foot on the kick.

What do I use ? I used to be 100% quads then went 100% thruster now I'm back to 50/50 mainly because of new board designs. I can really feel the difference between the two. It's good feeling that drive from the Quads again but when the board de-powers they are a bit harder to bring around not like the pivot of the Thruster. I'm talking normal boards not the new super short wide tail boards , they are a completely different story plenty of chat on that in the board review section.

It's all personal preference you get a lot more fin combo's in a Thruster set up so it's very easy to fin up and down without changing the whole dynamics of the board. Very easy to change the rear fin size in a Thruster on bigger days or increase the fronts only. The Quad will always be a 2 fin change and as a general rule it works better with larger fronts so it cuts down your options. Re the tracking when paddling I find no difference at all between the two.

As in surf: I use a thruster setup when I want to tighten my turns in the pocket more, and quad when I want speed.

As I have a board quiver, being lazy I put my fast (fish) shapes in quad and my narrow-tailed ones in thruster, to amplify their differences. With a quiver you want your boards as different as possible.

My advice: have 5 fins, and play with it :-)

Totally agree with colas. The more 5 fin options you have the better. Quads when you feel the need for speed, and to make the next section to get a half decent ride for your efforts. Thruster for the bigger days when it's all about turn and control, especially when there's plenty of boards in the water.

Thanks guys, yeah I definitely feel more in control with the big fin, especially when there is a crew in the lineup.

Try both and see what you like. I like to mix it up depending on conditions. It's like having 2 different boards with spending all that money!

I am the same as Colas... Lazy quads on fun boards and 2+1 in pulled in tails. I also like to adjust my centre fin in the water and use a self adjustable bolt so I can loosen or tighten my turns while in the water. Saves going to the car and getting a screw driver. I order them for all my boards now.

I really like the quad set up when I am on the wave but struggle to get on them cleanly because I kind of over torque and end up sideways a little before i get in.......maybe i just need to practice technique more??
Those adjustable screw look good and easy to use Tim.......can adjusting the centre fin by a couple of inches really make a big difference?? forward looser back tighter??????

I find the fin placement makes more difference than fin size. Sliding a 7 inch fin up close to my stabilisers helps tighten my turns but sacrifices drive. In tiny surf I often slide my fin right to the back of the box which turns my fuller nosed boards into fun little nose riders. Same fundamentles as performance longboards vs nose riding logs.

Select to expand quote

damogc said..
I really like the quad set up when I am on the wave but struggle to get on them cleanly because I kind of over torque and end up sideways a little before i get in.......maybe i just need to practice technique more??

Yup, that's the "trolley cart turn" feeling of quads.
The trick is to force yourself to bite the rail more before entering the turn, let's roll this board!

A 5th fin: nubster, trailer, can help too especially in overpowered conditions.

Thanks for the tips guys, I will get out there and try a few fin combos and see what goes well for me.

by the way, what is dishpan???

it's when you blow the tail and do a slide turn without any rail , some times referred to as a cheater cutback you see a lot in comps where guys try and squeeze in as many turns as they can .Check out this link it explains it all. The guy in the pic below is Keahi de Aboitiz he sort of started it and he used to wash dishes as a grom at the Noosa surf club he got nick name from that. Woogie Marsh is the one responsible for the label.

www.seabreeze.com.au/News/Stand%20Up%20Paddle/Stand-Up-Paddlings-unique-words-Dish-panning_8605119.aspx

Select to expand quote

Piros said..
it's when you blow the tail and do a slide turn without any rail , some times referred to as a cheater cutback you see a lot in comps where guys try and squeeze in as many turns as they can .Check out this link it explains it all. The guy in the pic below is Keahi de Aboitiz he sort of started it and he used to was dishes as a grom at the Noosa surf club he got nick name from that. Woogie Marsh is the one responsible for the label.

www.seabreeze.com.au/News/Stand%20Up%20Paddle/Stand-Up-Paddlings-unique-words-Dish-panning_8605119.aspx

Ha Ha Laurie pinched my pic of Keahi for that article. Hate the dishpan

So funny Hilly I knew you would bite on that

Ha, didn't know the origin: I always figured that it meant to be a analogy with the sliding movement of the cloth to wipe a plate...

Hahaha funny story. We ll I am definitely not doing dishpan turns yet, not intentionally anyway.......