The WSSRC seems to have somewhat changed it's rules regarding water depth. 50cm does not always apply with smaller, narrow craft - like windsurfers and Kiteboards. Something about half the maximum beam of the hull or something.... whatever...... the Luderitz canal is definitly not 50cm deep all the way.
But to me, it seems there must also be a gain, as Decrepit says, to the efficiency of the fin when the tip is very close to the bottom. Close enough to interfere with the tip vortex. I believe I have experienced this - inadvertently - a 'few' times, where I seemed to have got a turbo boost just before I came to a sticky, painful stop.

But flirting with the shallows on the Sandy Point strip has always been my game.


Sometimes it does not pay off as I alluded to above, and as Mat found in this day: (Any excuse to see this again!

)
And yes. I definitly think running a fin in weed must do some very nice things to make it more efficient.

Perhaps continue in a new thread Ian??