I’ve had a Rusty C-5 Desert Island board (which isn’t really a gun- maybe ‘fun gun’ to paraphrase Parmenter) for a while now and took it out on a few bigger days where it was great, until I got a new Widowmaker and then I really felt the bottom turns- the widow hauls through 'em, the 5-fin at times felt like it needed to be really pushed through the turn (although once it gets going it’s a whole lot of speed and fun). I’m by no means suring 20 ft waves and it’s a great all-round board but the widowmaker is eeeing a lot more water time this winter. I’m sort of glad to hear other people get the same feeling and will duly try a quad on it. All that said, something a long the lines of a C-5 with plenty of pliug options probably isn’t a bad choice for a mush gun- try it with 5,4,3 or 1 fin and see what feels best.
Thanks for the informed discussion gents, always happy to pick the brains of those more experienced than I and I’ll report back on the quad attempt when I make it.
Could you possibly post some specifics about the fin placement and sizes of the fins on the widowmaker? Also what kind of board were the fins set up on? Your comment about “feeling the bottm turns” sounds like something I’d like to experience too. And do post about the quad. I for one want to hear how it goes.
Just picked up this widowmaker type board. 6’10" 20" 13.5"? Double to single concave. Longboard side bites 3.75" deep 3.5" base. Bonzer center fin 6" deep 5" base 2.5"? rake. Ridden once in bad, slightly overhead surf and felt a bit tight. Listening to the swell building right now and saw the forecasted E winds. Report back soon. May move the fin slightly forward. Any advice appreciated. I’m 6’2" 195 lbs. Thanks…btw losing text and reformatting pictures is not fun but the ARCHIVES helped.
Mine wasn’t really a “widowmaker” in the parmenter sense,but a thruster with the rail fins a little smaller.
All three fins were the same depth. The base width was reduced by about 1/2 inch on the rail fins, and the toe-in was closer to 3/16". Glass-ons.
Other than that, fairly normal looking. I’d stomp on that rail fin with all my weight and get the board cooking through its turns. Massive thruster action.
My explanation for it relative to the bonzer was that planing depth was the biggest drag variable at lower speeds during turns, and the bonzer dealt with that well. At higher speeds, the planing depth was less important, and drag from the fin cluster matters a lot more. So you use smaller and less toed side fins.
David Craig made a couple like that for me…great boards…he’s in San Diego.
I would not have though to go smaller on the rail fins in larger surf, thinking that the greater speed would negate the added drag…but I will experiment. Thanks.
Sorry about the reply time lag-general busyness is killing me.
The board is a 7’6" Matt Moore shape and the fins are 7" deep/6" base big fin and the sidebites are 3.5" deep/3" base if I remember rightly. I measured it all up for another thread a while back, and will one of these days get around to posting a pic of the set-up which is a fairly standard Parmenter style one I’m told. I like it a lot more than a regular thruster and hopefully will experiment on a few boards with it. Blakestah’s explanation of why he feels bonzers don’t work as well is bigger waves a few posts back seems to sum it all up nicely, and the widowmaker is pretty self explanatory as it’s really just a single fin with sidebites for holding power and thus a best of both worlds deal. I still want a quad though.
