petermac33 said..
That reminds me of a funny story around 10 or so years back.

A young 19 year old or thereabouts Norwegian came down to Melville with his latest formula set up.

He was obviously a very talented sailor.

He came up to a group of us at the car park and asked if there's any shallow spots on the river - to which Norm the jumbo pilot replied - YES there's a very shallow spot only a few feet high around 400 metres out that extends for around a few hundred metres.

15 minutes later after rigging up he went full speed straight for the sand bar with his 70 or so centimetre fin.

We thought he might slow down or stop but no he continued at full speed and went straight in to a few feet of water.

After hitting the bank he stopped immediately and did a forward catapult over the front of his board.

Luckily he was not injured and his gear survived too. But you just never know.

I did that at Burrum 2 years ago on slalom gear with a 38cm fin. Hit the sandbar in a spot I knew I was pushing into dangerous territory doing 30 knots, trying to get that top 2 sec speed. Catapulted over the front harnessed in landing on my back and stood up in literally ankle deep water. Came away intact body and gear but thought I dodged a bullet that day. Scared the crap out of me. Thats why I made that previous comment in the post.

The only difference Sue is you hit the bottom quicker

*Disclaimer here is that I paid retail price so please, this is nothing else than an honest review.

Picked up the 18cm version of this fin off Mark last week.

Managed to use it on Monday up at Budgewoi in a moderate to (slightly) fresh southerly breeze. Initially launched on the 87 litre (57 wide) Patrik slalom board and a 6.2 Mach 1 sail. Whilst the breeze really didn't support this combo, I was optimistic that it would fill and I'd be fine. The first few runs I was really under-cooked and limped back to re-think. Anyway after a bit of pressure came through I though to give it another go and found it bloody perfect. Even in the relative chop of the deeper parts of the lake the fin gripped and gave me plenty of lift to get upwind. Downwind I felt super comfortable too.

After another break I decided to use the 100 litre (64.5) Patrik with the same fin and sail. This combo wasn't as efficient to windward, however everything else proved to be more than workable. Even in the larger chop, I was really suprised on how well it held.

Pros include good amount of lift, nice all round stability, limited spin-out (with a super easy flick to get back on track) and arguably most important, no hassles sailing through the weed-bergs. Despite avoiding them, I was forced to hit a few and whilst I felt a mild deceleration, that was about it.

I guess the only con is that the fin is quite fragile - especially the trailing edge so be really careful when you drop your board in the water around rocks(nothing that won't blend out).

Overall however, I think it's money well spent if you want a performance fin for shallow / weed-bed sailing that will give you a good level of confidence with.

In other words:

Second shipment of fins have arrived , the 12cm is on to of the 20cm for a comparison , just need some wind

aussieboats said..
Second shipment of fins have arrived , the 12cm is on to of the 20cm for a comparison , just need some wind

I thought that they were going to have a little bit off the trailing edge to help save the boards on a firm contact?

aussieboats said..
there is a slight angle on the trailing edge , its not that hard to put a bit more on the fin if you wanted too , i think it will be fine

Is there a size chart for these available (same as the other Tribal fins have) cos for me its just guessing what i need.

Compare Delta sizes vs WeedSpeeds.

My 18cm is proving to be my #1 fin for my 87 litre Patrik. I'm 80kg and with the 6.2 or 5.7, it is simply superb.

Last Sunday in the harsh chop it stuck like glue and gave me a 37 2-sec and a nice 27 nautical mile on a broad reach. Never once did it let go.

gpsteamchallenge.com.au/sailor_session/show?date=2018-11-04&team=34

Great fin!

Got a 16cm tribal last week and the first use was on a 70ltre board I'd only used a couple of times. It was in very overpowering winds ( gusting 25-30kts +) ..I was a tad nervous as it was a choppy bearaway to start..eek
It was brilliant!
5m - 70ltre patrick speedboard..
Never let go and cut through the weed , powered through the chop coming back.
My 2 sec was my 3rd best ( 2nd best for non LG)
5x 10 was 2nd best ( 1st for non LG)...
I must admit I also got a GW60 and was using it for the first time.
Having the feedback pushed me to do more runs hence the 5 x 10..

I had tried the tribal once before but it was only for 15mins in a very patchy 20kts with a 6.6m - 80ltre - 16cm combo...I knew this was pushing things with the large sail , small fin. It spun out a few times but was very easy to get back in except for once on the bearway where I fell in ( I had been out for 3hrs so I was tired and I wasn't sailing very well.)
So although I still love my FF.. I now have a small performance fin for those big days , one that allows me to access all the shallows of Budgy without worrying about hitting bottom..
Which reminds me I actually hit 4 logs / objects .. They were pretty big thuds and I thought it would damage something.. No damage.
The board also just rose over the objects and kept going..
It did jam the fin in very hard and it looked like the trailing edge was embedded in the tail... But no- it came out clean and there was no damage .... A1!
Of course they are more fragile than the FF's .I dropped it on the cement and it got a few nicks but it was all easily repaired. FF's have made me a bit careless with fin care...
Thanks Mark Jordan at Jordans Boating for both purchases..

Just got my Lake George 'late season' thick weed weapons.

What size did you get Andrew

sailquik said..
Water is optional. All you need is wet grass!

Yeehaaa!
Flood the village football field on the next good wind forecast!

BSN101 said..
I had a session on the 18 last Sunday but unfortunately my choice of board was wrong, too wide (JPSS 125 76cm & NP RSX 7.0)
i felt great going through the weed at Fangyland, in fact I didn't feel any of it at all. I struggled up wind taking 1or 2 extra tacks but that no fault of the fin what so ever. Heading off the wind it was absolutely great in the flat. I did have a few spin out but hey were always very easy to correct. It was a borrowed fin and I'll be getting a 20or 22 to suit my boards. Thanks to Zuls for not sailing then. Lol.

I should have posted this a few days ago, Tribal Deltas go straight through the weed without any resistance where as a more upright fin stops you dead in your tracks and makes you hurt. This was a forearm impact on boom rolling from elbow to wrist. 1 week later still numb below wrist but full movement. Totally my bad!!
Nb- Fangy mowed soon after this accident in his new pair of sandles.

I tried the 14 on Patrik 48 speedboard with 5.2 Koncept today at LG. Went very well over the weeds and also in the chop, enough also to go upwind well. Wind was around 25 knts.

Thanks Mark for the good advice !

stroppo said..
Brilliant that's all I've got to say!

Yep, it's the only fin I've been tempted to buy, instead of making my own.

Sue, you have more gear than most people have had hot dinners . Not too mention you change it so often it takes a novel for you to list it on GPSTC .