I’ve ridden with the soft edged but stiff Surfco fins for years, primarily for their safety, but I’m happy with their performance too. They don’t come in too many sizes though. For the sake of experimenting I’m planning to modify a 7" center fin to loosen up my 9’0 Takayama Noah Ka Oi a bit. There’s two possibilities to make the 7" fin smaller without losing the soft edge: cutting it shorter from the base and making a new mounting base or making a cutaway slot to the base. The first route would result in a fin with less depth and smallish base, the other one would keep the depth but lessen the base area.
In a 2+1 performance setup, what’s the difference between a deeper cutaway and shallower dolphin? Noseriding, carving, big waves, small waves…what to expect?
Just curious, how many times has the soft edge really saved your ass? Personally, I can’t recall getting more than a bruise from a fin and can’t remember the last time that happened.
With the wide range of high quality, high performance fiberglass fins available from quality manufacturers, you could try any number of options to get the “performance setup” you’re looking for.
IMHO, fin development for performance has evolved in the last few years almost more and better than longboard design itself…
Fins are like clamps in a woodshop…You can never have too many…
Safety’s o.k. but I don’t know that Surfco has such a “performance” reputation.
As for setup. With side bites in small to medium/head high, I like a 6 or 7" cutaway for cruising/carving. Single rake (no sides) for noseriding. Sure there’s lots of opinions out there.
Thanks for the tips. I’m a big fan of a compromise (2+1) setup that rides from tip to tail, mush to hollow, without too much adjusting or switching fins.
As for safety, I’ve hurt myself in so many ways, in so many sports that I’m just bored of it… I know just rounding the leading edge of the sides makes a big safety improvement, but after landing belly first on my surfco fins with just big bruises in my inner thigh I realized it’s good these fins don’t cut. It wast too close;) And I haven’t had a single cut in my wettie after getting them either. A friend of mine has cut his eyebrow badly with a regular fin and another one split his thigh muscle almost in a half on a remote Norweigan beach. He was lucky, just got a full leg plaster cast for a couple of months, but he’s still surfing with us. Back to the subject, keep the cutaway vs. small dolphin fin views coming.
I’d like to second what Biarritz said. The ProTech/Surfco fins are excellent. Before switching to them, I sliced my hand so deeply I needed 16 deep stitches and another 16-18 external stitches. Also dissected a few nerve ending in there that left me with permanent numbness. Fortunately, I was able to drive myself to the emergency room, get immediate attention, Lidocaine etc. What if I’d been in the Transkei, deep in Baja, remote Oz desert etc? In my humble opinion, not enough thought is given to the possible radical outcomes of sharp fins.
I surf in Hawaii and Tahiti.I switched to Surfco fins some years back after a classmate of my kids(pro longboarder Noah Shimabukuro) gave me a set for my longboard.He was using them because he liked the way they surfed,and I have been a fan ever since.I put them on all my boards,thrusters and longboards alike.They are real loose I have seen another friend,pro longboarder Dino Miranda ,surf Pipe and Taapuna,with the floppy one(I think only he can do that!).As for injuries,fins are like knives.Search the internet for fin injuries,it’s like looking at a butcher shop!Anyone that has been surfing for many years has seen many fin cuts I see these boards with 5 sharp fins,add powerful waves,it makes me shudder,it’s like a blender!As for your question about the 7" fin, IMHO it’s better to make that notch that’s at the base bigger,although I find it good as it is.I use the 9" for single fin longboards 9.4 and above,the 7 center with the side bites works great on high performance longboards.the thrusters work real good.If you look at the fin on a fish,the way those surfco fins are,that back edge is just like on a fish,that’s what makes them so loose.I use the regular edge in summer,the stiff edge in winter.Don’t wan’t to keep dropping names and sounding like a kook,but L.H was in my friend’s shop picking up some surfco fins and telling him that they are good fins.I know they don’t look like works of art,they are not custom made,but you gotta use your common senses,not your ego,surfing is already so dangerous as it is.Aloha