So i Just put in my order with surf prescriptions for the new toy with FCS Fusion boxes. Im a bigger buy, 6’3" 205 lbs. Im looking for some discussion on what others are using for their quad setups and tri setups.
My board dims are 6’0" x 21 x 2.75. The template sports a very wide round tail. This is an ambitious jump down in size as i have been surfing for 2.5 years and typically ride a 6’6" full bodied shortboard. Anyways, Im in need of help getting a few setup ideas going. With my limited experience i have not spent time experimenting with fin setups.
My initial thoughts are to ride this thing as a quad in small surf (i live in san diego so this is what i will mostly be seeing during the summer) but also was thinking to ride it as a thruster in larger surf. I would like to get a setup going for both small gutless surf and medium+ (head high) surf. Again, my style due to lack of experience tends to include sweeping cutbacks and pretty loose turns.
Any advice as to fin types and the reasons for the suggestions would be great. Otherwise just throw some options at me and ill do my research!
had good success with the simon anderson large quad set. the trailers are set with no cant and only 1or2 mm toe in. i cant remember distance from tail tho i think it was about 10.5 and 5 ish
the trailers were set about 2 to 2 1/4 inches from the rail
I’m about 205 and have found that the FCS Hynson Quad (HQ) set worked wonders on my wide tail small-wave board. Front and rears of the HQ have alot of area which I think you need to control the float of a big wide tail. I initially ran PG5 quad set on this board and the HQs were better (looser, more drive) hands down. Don’t know the fin placement on your Doc, but on mine the rear fins were up and out on the rail (7" from tail; 1 1/4" from rail; 3/16" toe). I haven’t tried the HQs in a McKee type placement (further back and closer to the stringer) but in my experience the McKee setup works better in bigger/steeper waves and the “up and out” setup works better in smaller/flatter waves.
Since you have fusions and a little bit of fore/aft adjustment you should at least try the quad setup for bigger waves. Just spread the fins as far apart from each other as you can. As for a thruster setup, I don’t know anymore. My last few boards (before I started making my own) had the thruster/quad option and I rode quad the whole time. For fun, I tried the thruster setup one day and it seemed much more sluggish right out of the gate. So I haven’t gone back since.
Since you live in SD I’m sure there are tons of shops that have the FCS test drive center so you should be able to experiment to your heart’s content.
I have a convert able 6’10’’ i had made up for me a year or so ago with fcs fusions. Havn’t found a quad set i’m super stoked on yet, however the FCS TC Redlines are real nice.
