Hi All,

I have an Isonic 97 (2013) with a series of G10 fins I picked up second hand over the years. I have been trying to optimise the setup on my gear recently and I find my mid range setup (2023 NP V8 6.2 with C3 Sting 34cm) seems to work quite well. The board feels lively and free and fast. My larger setup is an older NP Hellcat 7.2 with a Tectonics Maui Gold Wing Slalom 36cm or Tectonics Maui Talon 38cm. This setup just does not fly like the other. I tried everythihg with boom height, mast base position etc. Part of my problem is that I tend to pull my front foot out of the straps as I put base back or boom up too much, but that is same for the other setup. Wish I could work out how to solve that issue!

I did a fair bit of research on how to get it working better. There seems to be many suggestions of better fins with many suggesting a Carbon fin makes a huge difference. I'd like to try a Carbon fin and have been looking for any available second hand with no luck. They are expensive, so don't want to spend heaps to find it does not work for me. So can anyone suggest a fin that might work well for me? Preferrably a good value option on the lower budget but still good enough performance to see what the fuss is about.

Probably 2/3 my sailing on the 6.2 and rest on the 7.2. I am getting a new 7.2 soon (NP V8) which will change things a bit. I find the C3 Sting 34cm works well for my with the 6.2, but probably a bit much in the upper end of 6.2 sail range... but could be more my lack of technique. I also have a 32cm C3 sting I have been meaning to try on a strong day with the 6.2. Ideally a fin that will work well on both 6.2 and 7.2 would be great, but not sure if that is possible. Oh... I am on the lighter side at around 70kg. Not sure if a Carbon fin would need to be bigger/smaller than the fins I already have for the same sail range?

Thanks for any help!

Hi Adrian on that 97l isonic with a 7.0/7.2 size sail and your weight, a 36cm fin should be a good match, if you can find a c3 sting 36 would complement what you have for the 6.2. Or look for a 36 vector volt if you can find one, I used those on my 97l Isonic and loved them. A carbon fin in similar size would be nicer in feel if you can find one but not essential in that size. Look for the carbon drake fins, carbon sonntag fins, also T10 carbon fins go well on the Isonic.

Just had a look at the buy n sell and hardly any slalom fins there in that mid size which is surprising given how many have moved to foiling.

Thanks Dezza!

Yeah, I was thinking a good 36cm fin would be good for me. I am not sure if the Tectonics Maui Gold Wing Slalom 36cm I have is any good. It could be the sail that is letting the setup down. I am getting a new sail shortly so will try that first.... and also with the 34cm Sting I have.

If I were to buy a new Carbon fin, is there any recommendations for a good bang for buck option? I see Atomic surf fins were being discussed here a few years back, but I can't see any carbon options on their website.

It turns out Martin had a leftover 36cm atomic super slalom carbon fin I was test fitting to my board last night. Looking forward to getting it out on the water at the next oportunity to see what I have been missing!

I did use my C3 Sting 32cm with the 6.2 on the weekend in some strong very gusty conditions, and it was great (I normally use the 34cm). I thought it would not be big enough but it was not lacking any power for me getting upwind and was much more controllable going off the wind in the gusts. I did have a couple spinouts I don't believe the larger fin would have had, but easy to recover. I really like the feel of the C3 stings I have compared to anything else I have. They feel about 2-3cm larger than other G10 fins I have which makes my other larger fins pretty much redundent. Hopefully the carbon is even better!

HI vosa ,I managed to get lucky and score a 33 S Max select carbon fin for my 98 Isonic
it has so much grip for its size ,and super quick I just use that for all my sails on it ,6,0 and 7,0
yes carbon is better ,

Select to expand quote

Tardy said..
HI vosa ,I managed to get lucky and score a 33 S Max select carbon fin for my 98 Isonic
it has so much grip for its size ,and super quick I just use that for all my sails on it ,6,0 and 7,0
yes carbon is better ,

I have a feeling I might be after something smaller thant the 36 I just got for maxed out conditions. I like the G10 fins I have in this range.... but not sure if they are holding back my speeds. I suspect a good carbon 32cm would be suit me!

without a doubt smaller fins are faster ,less drag blah blah ,when I'm on my 98 its usually 18-25 knots 34 down is what I would be looking for ,it just depends how heavy you are really ,go as small as you can without sliding ,
a carbon 29-32 weed fin is always handy to have too ,seems to settle your board down in chop .

First use of the Atomic super slalom carbon yesterday with my NP V8 7.2. It was much better than the other G10 fins I have in the same size range. I got higher speeds on my "big" gear than I normally do and had good control at speed. A couple of spinouts pushing on it too hard at slow speeds. It seems to need some speed before you can really load it up compared to the C3 Stings.

If I compare the feel to the C3 stings (which I have in smaller sizes), it is less powerful in the bottom end but comes up nicely with a bit of speed on board. The top end is more controllable and the fastest runs I just wanted more wind as fin control was not an issue. The wind and chop were smaller than when I use the smaller gear, so can't really say if it was better in chop but I had no issues. One tail walk where I was a little overpowered in larger chop (beyond my ability to commit and not feather the sail a bit).

Overall I went around the same speeds in about 5-10knots less wind with the bigger sail/fin as my normal setup. I think in choppy water I just hit a limit at around 33knots. I have only gone faster than that in very flat water with weed fins on weed beds. Need to work more on the sailor ability to get the most out of it.

i went from Drake 56 to Tribl G10 52 to Tribal carbon 44 on 95 wde board. Carbon is better. I will use 1 fin for all sails unless conditions are extreme.