went for a demo on starboard quads on wend 76 and 81 litre ,from the gspotxtreme sports in gero on weekend.Im 90 kg and sailed with the 76 litre with a 5.0 simmer icon {nice} had heaps of litres to hold me up ,you ride smaller boards with these things ,great to jump ,tracks up wind like slalom board,really rewarding on wave if charging .everyone must go ride one at least this season ,or miss out. Go do it

I HAVE NOT TRIED ANY QUAD HOWEVER IT WAS A NICE AND WINDY WEEKEND HERE IN GERO. I SPOKE TO ONE CHAP ON THESE BOARDS AND HIS RESPONSE LEAD ME TO BELIEVE THEY ARE OVER FINNED. TOO MUCH DRAG WHEN SAILING, NOT AS RESPONSIVE AS HIS MISTRAL TWIN BUT GOOD JUMPING. SO IF YOU CAN TRY BEFORE YOU BUY BEFORE YOU SPEND $ IS A GOOD IDEA.

if it's over finned with to much drag why would it be good for jumping??

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curac said...

if it's over finned with to much drag why would it be good for jumping??

Good point curac. And if its overfinned cause it will go up wind well. Most of the current quad fins are overfinned.

There are alternatives if that is the way you want to go. These guys have a massive range of boards and are not overfinned

http://www.oesaustralia.com/products/quad-fin/

Out of all the fin setups available the single I reckon is the way to go. The twinzer was first new style in the late 70`s, then again in the mid 90`s and now in the 00`s.

Thrusters were prolly about the same time, with radical styles like the asymmetrical board, a single with a small side fin, (I spose it was a twin then)
Delta did a surfboard style thruster which worked well at Margs, but not much else.(maybe Gnarloo and sailing over 3 inches of water)

The widowmaker was good, a single with small side fins.
In the mid 90`s Precision equip, a souwest shaper made a `cluster thruster`.
That was 5 same size fins! was never going to work, I never sailed it but it looked like he had weed on his fins the whole time.

And the quad, I havent had a go yet either but if you if you put the fins end on end you`ve got 20 inches of fin.

I spose in there element one maybe better than the other, but if you had the 3 of the same boards with different fin styles I reckon the single would get the most use.

But innovation put man on the moon!

Put a good surfer on a single, twinny , thruster or quad. What do they preffer and ride? l believe a new level of wave performance will come from the thruster or quad. Relate the 3 fins of a surfboard to a sailboard and with all that extra size and sail area, 10 to 30% extra is not out of the question. Where do you want WAVE RIDING to go. l want it to mimmick surfing and skateboarding. When something does not feel right, l think how can l fix it. Not give up and play safe with what l already know. l help out a bunch of grommets in Geraldton who have been learning to sail for a few yrs on thrusters. They are ripping and out shining the majority of people who have been sailing for 20 yrs or more. Thruster sailboards are an extension of their surfboards in the way they turn. Are you happy with the way things are, or would you like to see wavesailing improve, made easier? Multi fin boards are more forgiving to ride. The most rewarding comment l have recieved was not from some hotshot saying his jumps were 2 degrees out from what he is use to on his single fin, but a 55 yr old lady who gave me a hug on the beach and said thanks , "l finally can ride a wave". Think about how many people actually rip in the waves, stuff all. If learning to ride a bike was as hard as wavesailing, l guarantee 90% of us would still have the trainer wheels on. Lets make it easier for the masses, and then let the "experts" show us the advantages of a single fin.

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stonesurf said...

Put a good surfer on a single, twinny , thruster or quad. What do they preffer and ride? l believe a new level of wave performance will come from the thruster or quad. Relate the 3 fins of a surfboard to a sailboard and with all that extra size and sail area, 10 to 30% extra is not out of the question. Where do you want WAVE RIDING to go. l want it to mimmick surfing and skateboarding. When something does not feel right, l think how can l fix it. Not give up and play safe with what l already know. l help out a bunch of grommets in Geraldton who have been learning to sail for a few yrs on thrusters. They are ripping and out shining the majority of people who have been sailing for 20 yrs or more. Thruster sailboards are an extension of their surfboards in the way they turn. Are you happy with the way things are, or would you like to see wavesailing improve, made easier? Multi fin boards are more forgiving to ride. The most rewarding comment l have recieved was not from some hotshot saying his jumps were 2 degrees out from what he is use to on his single fin, but a 55 yr old lady who gave me a hug on the beach and said thanks , "l finally can ride a wave". Think about how many people actually rip in the waves, stuff all. If learning to ride a bike was as hard as wavesailing, l guarantee 90% of us would still have the trainer wheels on. Lets make it easier for the masses, and then let the "experts" show us the advantages of a single fin.

Well put Mr SSD ... ......The current quads and fin systems you are using and experimenting with riders like jager ,hendrix and others is revolutionary.

The SSD shape, and rocker line,and the volume distrubution is sweet and balanced.

Now to attach some fin bling .................

My 2 current SSD CUSTOM 3 fin hand foiled thruster SIDE fins does it all ,can it get any better and easyer to rip a wave apart in all conditions...........................gettem down the beach..... boys im ready to cast an opinion and ride these beasts with 4 heads and attitude.

Untill then i am a sword short But challange you to slaye the dragon

Hope you get some wind to get that extra sword out Langy

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stonesurf said...

l help out a bunch of grommets in Geraldton who have been learning to sail for a few yrs on thrusters. They are ripping and out shining the majority of people who have been sailing for 20 yrs or more.

That is true, if you weigh 60 kgs the multifin combos will drive better, but, a 85+ kg dude will not experience the same drive. More like a slash then a out of control slide. 12 times world champ (he won the wave title on a number of occasions too)
Bjorn Dunky, a 105kg rider is a single man. (fin wise i mean). He cant make combos work either.
So, I think your weight is a big factor when choosing fin styles.

Two of them weigh 85 and 95 kilo.They will get the same drive, if everything is put together properly board design wise to scale. Good tal kick and multifins with a pin tail will prevent the slide. It is designed to hold and control the speed of the turn. What has Bjorn got to do with it? Aus 301 photo of the 4 finner is a classic example of " oh we tried that in the 80"s".

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Paul Yeomans said...
More like a slash then a out of control slide. 12 times world champ (he won the wave title on a number of occasions too)
Bjorn Dunky, a 105kg rider is a single man. (fin wise i mean). He cant make combos work either.
So, I think your weight is a big factor when choosing fin styles.

Sorry Paul but I disagree.

It has to do with what works best for you. At 105 kg I have a 95litre twin and love it. Also used to have a 100 litre stoney thruster that ripped.

King of the point is 105kgs plus and shreds on his stoney thruster and would give Dunky a run for his money in Gero.

Because Dunky chooses singles does not mean multi fins are no good, he just likes singles better.

Weight is all relative and being a bigger guy I am excited that there are some custom manufacturers catering for the big guy and using multi fin boards.
Those guys on singles, great, thats your preference and if it works, good for you.

But again I choose my windsurf gear not on the pro rider that uses it (and has won upteen world titles) but what gives me quality time on water and suits how I sail

mmmm.... 4 tip vortexes......

Don't take the photo I posted incorrectly, it was a real photo posted with a sarcastic comment.

I ride a twin and I am not a light weight by any means... and I love it.

The photo was a piss take on those that say it was done before and didn't work, well take a look at what was done before. Channels, A heavy poly board and nowhere near the development in the sport as a whole that we have now. The detractors can say what they want, but the real facts are that multi fins work well.

I got a thruster lately and the turns just feel steadier with a lot more drive than my old single fin (which was still a really good 2006 board).

Also, probably due to the way I ride, the single used to spin out at some point in the long turns.

Upwind ability is good, board feels no different in the air. Total thumbs up!!

Speaking of Stoney Thrusters Langy,

Have you still got that Stoney that you were offering me a go on last year? I might be ready for it now...

See ya end of next week and don't forget the Coronas ;)