Saturday, February 8, 2014

Feeding my fin fetish...

As many of you may have noticed, I have a weakness when it comes to surfboard fins. I'm always looking for that magical fin set-up that will move my surfing to the next level. This time, I may have discovered the ultimate 2+1 fin set.

Manufactured by Shaper's Fins in Australia, and distributed by Block Surf here in Ventura County, these fins are made using state-of-the-art composite construction. The fins pictured above have a honeycomb foam core, with carbon fiber base and leading edge. The trailing rear-half is fiber glass. Shaper's calls these fins "Carbon Stealth". The end result is a light fin that has a variable flex pattern from base to tip, and from front to back. Surfing these fin in slightly overhead conditions at my local point break, I was amazed by how smooth and fluid my turns felt, but with more than enough drive and hold.

I was so impressed with the performance of these fins that I ordered a quad-keel set for my new 7-3 Widget (big brother of the Mini-Widget) I shaped that board last week and now its waiting its turn at the glasser's.
The wide base and upright rake of these fins will give it plenty of drive and a more "pivoty" feel. The cutaway base will also help reduce the stiffness normally found in low aspect ratio fins. Shaper's Fins are available in either single-tab (Futures) or dual tab (FCS) styles. Get the full story on these fins at http://shapersfins.com.au/
Posted by Thomas Patrick Haugh at 5:16 PM
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4 comments:

  1. UnknownFebruary 28, 2014 at 10:34 PM

    Thomas been following blog for sometime and started shaping last year just have a quick question for you. How do you think those keels would work in a kneeboard? It's single to double with a 19" tail. Boxes are on rail with 1/4" toe, currently running AM2 as a quad. Thinking of using these for smaller days or hightide mush conditions. Thanks Paul

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    1. Thomas Patrick HaughMarch 1, 2014 at 8:58 AM

      The 19" tail seems pretty wide. What's the outline shape of the kneeboard? How close to the rail are the front fins? the back fins?
      The rear fins of this set are 80/20 foiled, meaning they are not flat on the inside. 80/20 fins work best when they are set closer to the stringer than the front fins.

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  2. UnknownMarch 2, 2014 at 1:09 PM

    The fronts are an inch and rears 1.5 off the rail so pretty close maybe to close. I would say its pretty close to a sweet potato baked potato outline. The tail is pretty similar to Roberts CG model. I don't think these keels would work and the AM2 rears do feel like there is some foil to them.

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  3. Thomas Patrick HaughMarch 2, 2014 at 5:08 PM

    Personally, I don't like quads in small mushy surf. I think a tri-fin set works better, especially when the center fin is 1/4" to 1/2" smaller than the front fins. In small surf you need to minimize fin drag as much as possible. There's less power available in the wave.

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