Recently I made a wood fin (Beech and Koa) for a guy and asked to get an honest opinion as to the fin’s performance. I don’t know the guy and we barely talk, so this is all I have to work with.
Here is what I got in response…“I took my Eliminator to PB point this morning in shoulder high waves and it performed well overall. It held on the nose and turning was fine. The only thing is it lacked projection out of the turn. Maybe fatttening up the foil a bit might help.”
I am happy with the review, however how do I fix the “lacked projection out of the turn” on the next fin? I thought projection had more to do with the base length on the fin.
This happens to be my pet peeve in production LB fins. The panels are laid-up with just slightly more glass than the thickness needed to make the base fit the slot. I guess this speeds up production, but leaves a thinly foiled base to the fin. A certain American manufacturer (who posts here often) uses thicker panels and his fins are a thicker foil and have good drive & projection. As far as this applies to your fin, I would sugest that you add glass to the base area, refoil & then have your test rider try it out again. The base appears to be wide enough already, so I would suggest that you go with what you have. A nice looking fin overall tho.... just my 2c.
