fin advice

Ive got a 9’0 “performance longboard”, with a 2+1 fin setup. O’fishl sidebites and a fin box. Its 22.5 wide, 2.75 thick, 18" nose and 14.5" tail, and a good amount of rocker. I probably shouldve ordered something longer, thicker and flatter for my weight, which is about 215, but its what Ive got. Im looking for a different set of fins though and dont know enough about base width, foil, flex, length and all that. What about cutaways? Any and all help is appreciated.

Hi Mike, I can send you some photos and we can discuss what might work best for you if you like. You can email me at . I’m just finishing up a set for a 9’2" Yater longboard of similar configuration to yours. I’ll post a photo on the resource file here in a day or two. As far as cutaways are concerned I think the right one would be a good call. Fin choice has everything to do with conditions, the board and the rider but I’d say a good 8.0" to 8.5" cutaway with 3.0" to 3.5" side fins will do just fine. Gone Surfin’, Rich

Rich(Halcyon) makes awesome fins. I highly recommend his work and opinions on the subject. Steve

Yes, talk with Rich. I have a 9’0 Greg Nichols surfboard (shaper out of Laguna) which share similar dimensions 9’0x18x22.75x14.5x3. It does good when the waves get over shoulder high. The bottom is flat save for the nose concave with a chine at the nose that wraps into 60/40 rails. It has enough nose rocker to want to find anything other than a straight line. So naturally it works best when the waves have some size and juice. I’m stoked because after 3 years of surfing this board, I’ve finally found the right fin for it (the board’s a single fin). It turns out it likes the 9 1/2” Velzy Classic, pushed all the way forward in the box. The glide, drive, and overall speed out of the turns is unreal (it’s almost like it’s skating across the water with no drag whatsoever). Needless to say the fin made it feel like a totally different board, so yeah, fins can make all the difference. But next time, I’d go with a longer and slightly thicker board.