Paddled the leviathon today for the first time out in the harbor…
Everything was cool but I was a little frustrated that the board was difficult to keep straight. I had to switch sides every 5-7 strokes…I tried moving forward and back but the nose just tends to drift away from the stroke side…
I was wondering if anyone has tried putting a fin in the middle of the board to help with the tracking?
Kinda like Mike Eaton puts on his paddle boards (see photo)…
If you’ve done this does it work in the surf as well or only in flatter water???
I was thinking about that same thing the other day and your line of sight is one thing to think about but think of another.
When you get lost in the desert and you try to walk in a straight line you will enivitably walk in a complete cirle due to one leg always being stronger then the other. Mabey this is true also with your paddling and your arms. I know from when i was a younger teenager (12-15) that i had a stonger right arm due to … Haha
Just a thought comming from the mind of a sleep deprived lunatic.
Typically, the paddleboards that have a small center fin as shown on the Eaton also have a steerable rear fin, or rudder if you prefer. This allows for a lot more control on the much longer boards that these typically appear on. Sort of like a yacht with a keel and rudder. Having the smaller fin gives you something to pivot around using the rudder.
I have a 17’ paddleboard with a rudder that is foot controlled and I can tell you that thing is a nightmare to keep going in a straight line, lots of correcting with the old foot, especially in a crosswind.
I’m seriously considering putting a small keel fin under where my center of gravity would be located to help improve the tracking.
I once paddled a 19’ Eaton that had the setup shown but without a rudder and that was very hard to keep going straight, but a lot better than the board I currently have.
I have found that the fins can make a huge difference. I have designed fins for paddle boards and for the longest time I made them very upright and they worked well in certain conditions but they did not work well in downwind swell.
Lately I have designed a 6.5" elliptical fin that is reasonably swept back that a few people have tried and really like. Hopefully two of them will be entering the upcoming Molokai race so we will see.
Depending on the length of the board I think the center fin makes a lot of sense, kudos to Mike Eaton for starting this idea, well I think he did anyway.
Does any one have any thoughts about the fin in the center of the board???
My thoughts are that it will hinder your attempts at surfing once your technique improves. I paddleboard also on a 14’er (no rudder set up) I do well keeping my eyes on the horizon, but I don’t know very much technically.
My 16’ Eaton Unlimited just has one fin. He’s gone away from two, inline, in recent years. The steerable rudders are a nightmare in a following sea or trying to ride swells down stream. Mine has one keel, about under my knees if I’m prone or right behind me if I’m kneeling. It works perfectly, but, of course, with a paddleboard you have propulsion on both sides.
I think it just takes more work on the J-stroke. I can canoe all day paddling from just one side. And canoeing standing up is the best way to cruise along the shore of the inlets trying to find the cockles among the oysters.
