LB1/LB4
Griffin
Stretch
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thanks Tom , and everyone else !
…keep 'em coming eh ?
I reckon that there must be THOUSANDS of combinations / variations on the four fin setup out there !
cheers ,
ben
Hi chipfish61, Love to see your creations having fun.
Mahalo,Larry
Robin Mair Elliptical Quad set
Spitfire Quad by Solosurfer
Guy Takayama Floral Quad set
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OKAY , then , “thread resurrection” time !
ben
DP Twin with Bobby Owens Quad
Black Night Quad
Turbo Quad
I've built 4 quad kiteboards this year (race and wave boards) using a Jeff Kafka lay out (POW) which is basically rear fins 5" from tail, 2.25" from rail with 1/16" toe in and front fins 11" from tail. 1.125" from rail with 1/8" toe in. They are made for pointing upwind yet will still break loose for a hard cutback. Since I started building/riding quads I only use trifin boards in big waves for the glide.
Hey Flynbri…!
I’m buidling my first quad kitesurf board (for waves) after a couple of trifins and could do with a little input on tail shape
my posts are here if you got a few spare mins! cheers
http://www2.swaylocks.com/forums/quad-tail-types-tail-volume-discussion
http://www2.swaylocks.com/forums/balsa-kook-box-fish-bump-quad-thingy
somebody can tell me what this fins do???
I dont have a pic, but I have been having a pretty good time doing reshapes of those crappy black FCS fins everybody has lying around for the rear fins on a quad. I had in mind to do low-aspect fins for 80/20 drive/hold.
Thing is, with the black plastic fins, if you cut them down short enough, depending on what your planshape ultimately looks like, the crapload of flex they have up high isnt a big concern, because you delete the tip twist. (I know they still flex a bit, but if I push on the “GlassFlex” rail fin at about the same height as the tip of the reshaped black fin, the overall deflection of the fin is about the same. The black fins have really bad twist if you deflect them at the tip.
Bigger than the sidebites I was using before in every dimension, but was especially concerned with base, for drive and speed on smaller waves. I may reshape them again, as I ended up with a pretty stout little keel-fin looking thing, with kind of a hooked Stretch leading edge / tip.
4.5 inches of base now, vs the 3.5 I had using sidebites. (Fullsize rail fins didnt work for me in the rear positions. Tracky.)
Tools: Sidebite fin to template the leading edge curve (I didnt mess with trailing edge), a hacksaw, an old skateboard with good 3M griptape (concave and kicktail are kinda useful), and something to smooth the roughed out foil and bevel off the finer square edges on the leading edge.
A wise man told me they melt if you use powertools on them, and using these tools and this approach made me take it slow enough to hit the target without overshaping them.
Everybody must have some old black FCS fins laying around, and I bet you could score a bunch off friends and acquaintances for cheap or nothing since everybody knows theyre so flexy.
It was fun, and quick, and I’m pretty hopeful these things are gonna be good in the rear positions. I have a bunch more of those fins, too.
Oldy,
I like to use a more drawn out tail shape with pretty conservative V-notch to minimize drag, similar to your first 5'9" shape. The reason being it eliminates "hopping" on the rail when you're pointing and smoothes out transitions on big faces. Pulling the tail in makes for sharp turns but also makes it difficult to get there powered up and unstable underway. I found adding a little tail rocker and tuck in the rail is more effective than wings or pulling tail for kitesurfing. Using Vector II quad fin set will cause the board to actually lift and accelerate in turns which is pretty amazing the first couple of times you push on the tail..a little harder and they let go at will which more than compensates for a pulled tail. Really fun off the lip tail slides are easy while still having the ability to point upwind well.
I had this discussion with Bob Dill 20 years ago that always repeats in my mind, he said" Look at nature: dolphins, sharks, and seals, their naturally evolved shapes are the cleanest, most efficient, low drag designs on earth...you don't see channels, wings etc on any animal because they are not efficient. Try to shape your fins and boards like evolution did."
Happy shaping and riding!
No kidding!
;-)
Thanks FlyinBri!
So, a bit more volume in the tail to stabilize when going upwind and at speed and Vector II quad fins to help the board turn (due to increased volume)
have I got it right?
any experience with diamond tails at all - kinda thinking that might go with my shape…
Cheers for the input!!!
Hi,
These fins are excellent for extra wide boards like fish or even wider they prevent them from spin out as well as other things. Plus they are very good on normal boards as well.
The worlds first…Adjustable Wing Twin Fin…will go into production in a few month.
AU.PAT.APPN 2011902833
Thank you
Awesome lookin Fins man
I would LOVE to try these on some of my kiteSurf boards - espesially the board I’m building now!
http://www2.swaylocks.com/forums/balsa-kook-box-fish-bump-quad-thingy
Hi, i’m surfing on my favorite fish board ( 5"10x 21x2.5 ) this fins :
The board is Faster than any board and with this fins it takes 20 % more speed !!!
Anyway i prefer classic fins as F.C… but this one are amazing and looks crazy, a little bit dangerous also … I use this board in 1’ onshore waves to overhead barrels and sure it’s the best fins for this one !! The rocker of the board is very low, and it’s more difficult to use this one, i surf it with G5 + GL fins and the turns are very easy but the speed is not the same …
Thanks Larry for those fins !!! AMAZING !!!