Had this board for several years and always end up surfing it quite a bit. Only gripe I have with it is how it washes out in anything head high or bigger. Could this be fixed with a pair of side bites? Where would you put them? Toe in? Would you surf this board as a pure twin, twinnie, thruster? Should I just say forget it and try a bigger single? Right now it’s got a 7.75" swept back flex fin that it’s had since day one. I’ve got a stockpile of fins ranging from Rasta keels to standard thruster sets. Willing to experiment with pretty much anything. Attached pic of board and measurements.
IMO, we maintain quivers for a reason.
I think you should leave it alone and enjoy the board in the conditions for which it was designed. Bigger conditions call for a different design.
Just an opinion and everyone has one of those, right?
If I’m reading the dimensions correctly, it has a 15 1/2" wide tail. With a wide round tail like that you don’t really have the same amount of tail edge ‘bite’ as you might with something more parallel in the tail area.
I’d start with a 9" fin and see how it goes before adding plugs or glassed-on sidebites. You might find that a board like that responds well to a quiver of fins to accommodate various conditions.
If it’s still washing out, go bigger still or go with your original idea of adding sidebites. A center fin with a screw tab in front and a cutaway in back can usually approach a thruster set-up. If that is the case, put your sidebites in the normal 12" or so from the tail and 1 1/4" in from the rail position with slight toe-in and cant outward… something like 3/16" toe and enough cant to give you about 1 1/4" greater distance at the tips than the bases when measuring between the sidebites.
You are on Swaylock’s. If the board has some sort of “Classic” value leave it alone. If the board rides great in small waves “as is”…leave it alone and build a big wave board…a quiver is a good thing.
I would rip out that small center box and install a 10 inch box. …and install side bites…and maybe a quad set up too!!!
… Ha,ha…What I would really do is rip a template and build my own with a 10 inch box and side fins. Then I would sell the first board to get my money back…
here’s a vote to add single FCS plugs with True Ames 2.6" single foot sidebites - think it would give you the additional hold you’re seeking.
