Okay I know its been discussed and i’ve read all the archives about it but a bit of discussion never hurt anybody.
So here’s the thing, I love riding a 10" single fin in my 9’1" x 18" x 22 1/4" x 14" x 2 5/8" comp longboard. with a single fin i love the way it drives and goes rail to rail and paddles with minimal drag, great for wave catching.
However when i’m doing comps in 4’ + surf and bigger waves on my backhand i sometimes feel like i have to much speed and often find it hard to stay in critical sections. also stability on sketchy takeoffs could be improved.
Thing is i dont like 2 + 1 Widowmaker setups on shortboards or longboards. There too unpredictable and i find them harder to go rail to rail and do a big verticle bottom turn into the lip.
so with this I wondering about a thruster setup. say 4 5/8" sides and a 5" back fin. would i be suffering from a large increase and drag and decrease in drive or would i be sweet in say 4’ waves?
feel free to give some input and tell me what works for you also! : )
Thrusters are all I ride, when It comes to performance LBs. I’ve tried pretty much everything imaginable over the years, since I was about 17 (I’m 27 now… yikes) …You have to have the proper amount of rocker in the board, and the correct curve. On top of that, they have to be ridden on rail, just like a shortboard. You also have to be heavy on your back foot, and make sure you are riding the board in the right place. Where your back foot is vs. fin placement is critical. -C
9-0,9-1,9-2, mine are all thrusters. either 4.5" all around or sometimes 4.75" on rails and 4.5" in the center. For 4’ waves, I’d go with 4.5" all around.
Carl, that looks suspiciously like a disguised compsand…any coments on those perimeter rails you’d share with the peanut gallery here?
I’m also keen on hearing the numbers from the tail to the trailing edges of those three fins, especially if they’d fit in the parameters I set out in this thread:
The trailing edge is 5” – 5.5” off the tail. That’s w/ a 4 ½” thruster. With a larger center fin 6” or 6.6” I ride up further, sometimes at eight, but depends on the fins. I generally like the back fin set back pretty far for drive.
8-10+/- I made it from an 8-10S Clark blank. I had them add an inch of rocker nose and tail and put a healthy bit of concave almost full length. Good glide, gets into waves well and loose for a longboard.
After being enlightened by Carve Nalu when he was driving his Munoz boards with 4 ½” thruster fins I tried it and really liked it. I pretty much ride full size side fins all the time now, whether with a thruster center fin or not.
The 4 ½” side fins have evolved to 16 ¼” on the trailing edge. But, I have a couple that are in the 15" range.
After being enlightened by Carve Nalu when he was driving his Munoz boards with 4 ½” thruster fins I tried it and really liked it. I pretty much ride full size side fins all the time now, whether with a thruster center fin or not.
The 4 ½” side fins have evolved to 16 ¼” on the trailing edge. But, I have a couple that are in the 15" range.
Can you go 4.5" with 6.5" center?
I tried a 9" single several times this spring and did poorly.
Might be conditions or me not surfing during the winter.
Going back to 3.5"+6.5" but now thinking of trying larger
I have a Rusty electraglide 9’5" with a thruster setup as you specified, use it mostly when the surf is way overhead, and love it. This board does not need to be surfed off the tail. I have a SKip Frye 9’2" eagle model with a glassed-on thruster setup. The Frye does need to be surfed form the tail and works best in lined-up chest high surf or bigger. Both boards have plenty of hold on steep faces, but are loose feeling and responsive. I’ll add that I don’t like the feel of single fins as they tend to track.
I tried a 9" single several times this spring and did poorly.
Might be conditions or me not surfing during the winter.
Going back to 3.5"+6.5" but now thinking of trying larger
sides. Larger sides will be looser?
Thanks
Yes, absolutely. But, not looser, more drive and greater stability on the nose. But, but, I’m 220 lbs. and when that bulk gets going in the right direction it works great, I like it. What I see on quite a few longboards is the side fins being too far towards the tail, IMO, for thruster applications.
As some like to say, “with that said”. I like 2+1 set up’s as well. It’s more a feel for the mood and the waves. Singles rule, tri’s rock, and 2+1 fit in-between.
On a 10’ 2” custom longboard, and a 9’ 4”, I have experimented with the thruster side fins and many different center fins. When there were bigger waves with consequences, I’ve tried 5”,6”, 6.5”, 7”, and 7.5” fins. But, boards around nine o, I like to stay under 6.5. I hope this helps some.
Contemplating an Electraglide to handle anything south o.c. can bring to the table, but also want to have some waist to chest high fun at San O. From your experience on the board…what size would you go to at 5’10" 175lbs and what fin set up? Thanks for the input.
Kickout, I’d get around a 9’2" with the 2+1 fin setup and put a 51/2 inch center fin in. Talk to Hoy, the shaper at Rusty who really has this design dialed in.
