Design is a ‘back and forth’ between creator and creation, each time I build a board or any surfcraft I learn something.
F’rinstance, on this prone board I learned that square rails are functional, that side fins don’t need toe-in, and that Bill Thraillkills “double single” fin setup gives excellent stability in hollow waves.
I don’t always learn so much from each board, but I’m sure that’s how shapers learn the best lessons… ride, review, refine, repeat…
Thanks for that, I ended up selling my twin-gle fin board, before I got to ride it much. I have been considering building another, you have convinced me! Yours look a bit further apart than his, which I think are about 1" apart.
I didn’t know what to expect when I followed Bill Thraillkills example, but having the double-single fins give the board amazing hold, it makes me arrogant in the lineup when there’s a peaking section that’s too hollow for the short boarders to tackle. The only issue might be its lost a bit of manouverablilty.
Ive set the single foiled fins 1 inch off the stringer so they are 2 inches apart.
The next step is to move them 4 inches off the stringer and just see what happens to the performance.
And maybe later move them out further into a quad setup.
Your willingness to experiment is refreshing.
How are the foils coming along? I noticed you removed a bunch of your images from your previous threads. It was exciting to see that evolve.
Thanks for the props Lawless.
The surfing foils I did before Ive adapted onto other craft like kite surfers / sail boards and posted on other forums.
The nets such an etheral thing, I figure it all disappears eventually.
" The net’s such an etheral thing, I figure it all disappears eventually. "
yep , perhaps you are right about that , Brett …
Lately I had been wondering if , every time sways gets 'upgraded ’ , all the old photos and links to them , suddenly disappear ??!!
the bulk of all my years of ‘chipfish61’ photos have all but gone , now … THOUSANDS of them , in fact ?!
As have a LOT of my photos from my ‘chipfins61’ , ‘stubs’ , and… ‘chippy61’ days.
Just waiting for the next 'upgrade ’ to cause all my ‘fins’ photos to disappear , and … voila …
[ it’s more than a bit disheartening , to say the least , when thousands of hours of photo taking [ and downloading , scanning , editing , resizing , uploading ] over nearly a decade … have resulted now in nearly nothing left to show for the effort?!!]
this , combined with my “external hardrive” falling on the cement floor here , and losing forty years worth of photography , in one second …
… ? ? maybe 'someone’s trying to tell me not to get too attached to stuff [?] … who knows …
…having whittled 52 years worth of ‘possessions’ down , to a 24" suitcase and a [‘carry on luggage’] sized backpack , back in april this year , when I made the 3000 miles move east …
Hey Chip I can relate! My computer crashed and I lost all my photos, I had copies on smugmug site, but when I didn’t have the money to renew my account during a particularly bad year, they deleted 'em all! So there it went, several years worth of photos, down the tube. Like you said, don’t get too attached.
I figure the web is temporary too - your comments should stand as a reminder to all: if there are photos or threads that you want to keep, best to copy/paste!
I notice Bill’s rail fins were small, he called 'em shark’s teeth. I’m thinking that, and with his centers being closer together, probably would eliminate some of the ‘loss of maneuverablity’ you mentioned.
I really should’ve said it was a little stiffer than ‘that there was a loss of manouverability’.
Originally I put the TC redlines as the side fins with the two smaller GL fins at the tail, thinking it would work like a thruster considering the fin area was about equal, or like a twin with a stabiliser. But that was wrong.
Then I swapped the fins around and it all worked like magic. . The 2 TC’s have a lot of area and are set 4 in off the tail so they give tonnes of stability.
The side fins are the small FCS GL longboard side bites but I think I could use a set of Knubsters and get even better performance. The deeper GLs are a bit too ‘sticky’ so a lower fin like the Knubsters or TMFs will be looser.
With smaller side fins I think the main control will come from the tail more.
Because the TCs are a big base fin, my other plan was to keep the area but move them apart to create a more " left and right" fin effect.
Hopefully moving the tail fins further apart won’t ruin the unique Thraillkill effect.
… I always liked George Greenough’s comment
" twin fins work better , the closer they are moved together ! " [he was commenting on a [rare] twin fin kneeboard he once made , and quickly converted to the single fin ]
your back two fins’ grub screws , brett ??
… what was the thinking there ?
they’re always a limit to everything like “the closer twin fins are moved together…” The double single fins, especially with single foiled fins, is a great experience.
The grub screws are sticking out just because I took the fins out, if that’s what you’re asking ?
Huck, the fins, in the Twingle setup, are set at two inches on center. Just about a one inch space between boxes, if using FU boxes.
(1) TRUE
(2) THE BOARD WILL TEND TO TRACK MORE. More resistant to direction changes.
GG made that same comment to me… however, during our windsurfing mania, he snapped a fin a couple miles off Ledbetter Beach and was hard pressed to get back to shore. I learned that when this happens you take off your harness and attach it to your back footstrap to create enough drag for “directional stability”.
Still, it’s slow going when heading for shore - as soon as your harness planes to high in the water you spin out until you slow down again.
It was too long after George’s experience that he showed up with two Greenough Stage VI tiller fins out near the rails on his little flex spoon sailboard… guess he figured a back up made sense. (He ended back up on singles.)
