Hi,
I ride in a spot that can be extremely shallow, I have been using the kode as a thruster when it's low tide so that I can use a smaller center fin. How would a freestyle fin feel compare to the thruster or regular single fin? hoping to get the smaller possible fin without sacrificing too much low end. kode 125
thanks!

Your board might perform better with a single fin vs thruster setup regardless as the extra side fins won't generate lift but will cause some drag.

There's only one way to find out how a freestyle fin will perform, just try it out! See if you can borrow a fin or otherwise if you need to purchase good fins generally sell well second hand if it didn't work.

The side fins help when going upwind and when carving hard in a gybe. A Freestyle fin as the centre fin, while keeping the side fins in, might be a good option.

a little freestyle fin with such tail width is going to misbehave a lot. Better off with smallest FS fin and the biggest sidies you can, so to try and get 3 x equal length as much as possible. So min depth with max area

I use freestyle fins on my 125lt board for general sailing. Works a treat!! The cons are, you loose some upwind performance and you'll need to run a single rear strap and don't be afraid to sail with your rear foot out of the strap from time to time.

The caveat is, not all fins are made equal. Some freestyle fins loose all grip the minute you load them up and probably only suit an handful of top flight sailors and some freestyle fins work like fins should and allow grip in a straight line.

how small are you talking. With my numpty skills, 125lt board I find 24-26 good with 5.6m sails, 110lt board 18-21 with 5m sails.

talking flat water. If it's bumpy small fw fin or tri fin setup Is better

Using side fins with a freestyle fin works too. You get more grip but you do loose the slippery speed feeling of running a single fin. So it really depends on conditions

I figured if he wants a smaller single than the thruster setup, he's talking under 21 .?

Could be.
I looked on the starboard website and they have 36cm for the 125lt model with sail range 6-8m. multifin 25+13
As a comparison, I use 4.5-6.2m on my custom 125lt board and fins from 24-32cm. 20+11 tri

Same on my older custom freewave 122
on the 132 version the guy uses 2x 21 and 2x 13 for wave sailing with 6 to 7.5.
I can't imagine using only a single freestyle fin on either it would be bloody hard work. A delta speed, maybe

Yes the idea is to use the smallest possible center fin. I didn't think about bigger sides. I could probably try that and just cut one of my freeride fins and see how it works. For some reason I always thought that freestyle fins had better low end than regular fins.

Select to expand quote

cris21 said..
Yes the idea is to use the smallest possible center fin. I didn't think about bigger sides. I could probably try that and just cut one of my freeride fins and see how it works. For some reason I always thought that freestyle fins had better low end than regular fins.

www.mauiultrafins.shop/Style-Weed_1

Select to expand quote

cris21 said..
Yes the idea is to use the smallest possible center fin. I didn't think about bigger sides. I could probably try that and just cut one of my freeride fins and see how it works. For some reason I always thought that freestyle fins had better low end than regular fins.

Depends on the fin really. They are all different.
I've got a 24cm muf style. The muf website says 24cm for 110lt board and I reckon that's pretty accurate as on my 125lt board it feels too small. lacks grip off the mark.

you can't avoid area really so a wide short fin will work. Cut down slalom fin or fw wave fin will work if you find something with a wide base. Have a look at the choco royal flush. Fantastic fin no longer made but the outline is worth looking at.

I'm currently using a 26cm flikka freestyle fin which is such a good fin in flatter water.
Surely you don't need shorter than 26cm? That's very shallow for general sailing

Look at a weed fin or delta.

Select to expand quote

Grantmac said..
Look at a weed fin or delta.

+1

I have played with different fins for general blasting in flattish water. I have a freestyle board but I don't do intentional tricks. I have found the smaller freestyle fin to work well when I am a bit overpowered on a broader reach. It stops the back of the board getting too much lift and becoming less stable. The smaller fin seems to be less suited to when I want to plane more upwind. The freeride fin holds the line better. When there are sandbanks in dangerous places I would go the the smaller fin. A tail slide is better than hitting a bank at planing speeds. The only way to really know is to do your own testing. Your level of enjoyment is the barometer for what you will prefer to use.