Another fin question.

From my observations it appears that the fin size required for a FSW board in single fin mode is
significantly less than that required on a freeride board of the same width. eg. 2021 SB Kode 105 litre is 65cm wide. Fin supplied for single fin use is 30cm. A freeride board 65 wide would be supplied with a fin >=34cm.

Why is that?

One of them is wrong. My bet is the Kode is underfinned (for Qld use anyway). A better metric is to match fin to sail size.

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Orange Whip said..
Another fin question.

From my observations it appears that the fin size required for a FSW board in single fin mode is
significantly less than that required on a freeride board of the same width. eg. 2021 SB Kode 105 litre is 65cm wide. Fin supplied for single fin use is 30cm. A freeride board 65 wide would be supplied with a fin >=34cm.

Why is that?

because freeride board at 65cm is meant to sail with large sails, above 6m.

while FSW at 105l would handle 4.5 as the smallest sail.

depends on your weight as well...

The problem with beginners is they learn on 140L freeride board with huge fin and small sail below 5.0 and then they wonder why is it so difficult to get plaining....

In general a FSW board will have a narrower tail than an equivalent Freeride board so will not handle as bigger fin or sail.

I can think of a couple of things, freeride boards are set up with out board(ish) straps compared to a fsw, which generally has an inboard strap set up which promotes a more upright stance. Even in power mode, theyre not expecting riders to lean on the fin on a fsw like they would on a freeride board.

It may also be that the tail width is skinnier on the kode, and the max width is further back on the free ride. I could be completely wrong on that one though...

I've have a starboard flare 116 with a 28cm freewave fin and it works great with a 6.3m sail in 15knots. That freestyle board does all the hard work in light winds. In the end it feels easy.

The fin length and the fin shape for the type of sailing and sail size is important. So a Kode 103 with a 30cm freewave fin will work great for 6m sail. For say a Fox 105, I would run a 32cm freerace fin for a 6m sail and a 36cm for a 6.5m sail. This is from experience from both of these boards and sizes.

What fin is supplied with the boards is typically leaning towards the ideal sail size for that board. So a Kode might be a 6m freewave sail and a fox a 6.5m freerace sail.

Freeride board has 2 rear straps so needs a bigger fin.

Single rear strap suits smaller fins better.

Board width hasn't got much to do with it. More about sail size.

All good points posted, also, fsw fins tend to be wider chord, so has more surface area for it's length compared to freeride pointer fins.

Out of interst ive experimented with single rear strap setups and found 38cm w 7.2m sail was about as big as i could comfortably go.

Any bigger fin / sail needed dual rear straps.
That was on a freeride / freestyle board w wide tail.

Would others agree that the freewave category has been drifting more and more to the wave side of the equation as the years go on.

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Gestalt said..
Freeride board has 2 rear straps so needs a bigger fin.

Single rear strap suits smaller fins better.

Board width hasn't got much to do with it. More about sail size.

Most FSW boards on the market have an option for outboard straps but with narrower tail widths the straps are closer together...so tail width does have a bearing on what fin size and sail size a board can carry.

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mr love said..

Gestalt said..
Freeride board has 2 rear straps so needs a bigger fin.

Single rear strap suits smaller fins better.

Board width hasn't got much to do with it. More about sail size.

Most FSW boards on the market have an option for outboard straps but with narrower tail widths the straps are closer together...so tail width does have a bearing on what fin size and sail size a board can carry.

indeed they do.

but i'd put it to you the straps are closer together on fsw boards because the sail size most people are using is smaller. to get the correct balance straps don't want to be too far apart. still you have the option to increase the boards wind range a sail size at the lower end.

freeride on the other hand has a wider rear strap spacings.

in the old days plenty of boards suffered from not enough tail width for the straps but i don't think that's an issue for contemporary freeride and fsw boards. they all have plenty of width.

If that works for you, then it's correct.
Me, I use the same width of stance on all my boards....foil, wave, fsw, freeride, slalom, and a freestyle I never use.
Even snowboard!
22" center to centered.
Wave and freeride you ride bumps and lumps, so need balance in rough conditions.
As said, slalom to hold big sails powered.

Ha.....well is it a case of chicken or egg. I would suggest the tails are narrower on FSW boards as they are more manovuer biased designs suited to crossing over into waves. The narrower tail then means narrower strap placing and therefore cannot carry as bigger sail and fin as a similar sized Freeride board...they are not designed to. We are both saying the same thing it's just I think the tail width is the driver of the sail size range not the sail size range driving the tail width.

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mr love said..
Ha.....well is it a case of chicken or egg. I would suggest the tails are narrower on FSW boards as they are more manovuer biased designs suited to crossing over into waves. The narrower tail then means narrower strap placing and therefore cannot carry as bigger sail and fin as a similar sized Freeride board...they are not designed to. We are both saying the same thing it's just I think the tail width is the driver of the sail size range not the sail size range driving the tail width.

yeah what is your philosophy to design.....
....i was thinking specifically along the lines of your last post recently so it's an interesting chat.

i used to buy into the idea of maneuver biased boards needing narrower tails but i'm just not there anymore. there are too many examples of boards that make me question that idea. stubby boards being a prime example.

same as i generally agree when talking about slalom boards that tail width is tied to sail size but i don't agree when talking about freeride / wave gear. its a different set of rules.

so many variables.

Yep, lots of variables..... I also agree with you that wide tailed boards can turn.

So ok,

SB Kode 105 Ltr, 224 x 65, tail width 43, stock fin 30 for single fin use

Fanatic freeride 98 Ltr, 239 x 63, tail width 40, stock fin 32. (Edit: stock fin 34)

If you stick a 34cm good quality fin in each with a 6.7 two cam sail, which one will perform better free-riding with that sail on predominantly flat/small choppy sea state?

i.e. because the Kode is FSW shape will it perform as well with that sized sail?

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Orange Whip said..
So ok,

SB Kode 105 Ltr, 224 x 65, tail width 43, stock fin 30 for single fin use

Fanatic freeride 98 Ltr, 239 x 63, tail width 40, stock fin 32.

If you stick a 34cm good quality fin in each with a 6.7 two cam sail, which one will perform better free-riding with that sail on predominantly flat/small choppy sea state?

i.e. because the Kode is FSW shape will it perform as well with that sized sail?

probably about the same =) with fanatic freeride slightly better I'd bet because I used to own 100L eagle and it was awsome board.

as the same time 105L FSW boards are more freeride oriated so I would be about the same I guess.

It's more about which brand do you prefer and where is the most volume in the board. The fanatic freeride would have just a little bit more volume towards the tail that's why there couldn't be much of a diference.

My money is on the kode