Recently shaped and glassed a 5’8" * 19 1/2" * 2 1/2" single fin. round tail with a slight single concave throughout (I attempted to shape the last foot into a prominent vee but when I was through glassing, it disappeared and turned into a single concave…).
One foot off the tail measures a width of 14 1/2" identical to a foot off the nose.
As of now, I am riding it with a future fins 6" performance fin and is working alright. incredible speed in the pocket, but dreadful loss anywhere else. I’m only 20 so the boards I’ve ridden have been thrusts and quads.
If you know of any fins that could open up my eyes to single finning, it’d be much appreciated.
I hate to break it to you but your single is doing exactly what most singles do. I don’t know that going with a larger fin is going to do much for you. For the most part you can’t surf a single the same way you surf thrusters and quads. You’re pretty much going to go for the bottom turn and setting into the pocket, go with the flow and milk the wave for everything it’s got as opposed to generating your own speed by pumping a fin cluster.
Look around for videos of Donovan on his Doc Lausch singles, or maybe Tudor on his Karma - that’s about the most you’ll get out of most singles. It’s a different style of riding the wave.
I’ve seen several guys with the Merrick singlefins and other similar designs who have come back and added sidebites or bonzer (style) runners in order to get more drive out of the 2nd half of their turns. That works okay - I’ve got a 6-4 single that I added sidebites to and it was an improvement for me, but not exactly inspiring.
Some years back I had another singlefin with dimensions somewhat similar to what you’re describing, only a couple inches bigger. I tried it for several months but I could never really find my groove on it. For the conditions I was trying to surf it in I had better options, so I shelved it. I almost gave it away. On a lark I later converted it to a twin and glassed over the center box. At that point the board came alive for me and I used it as one of my daily drivers for a couple years. I still have it but I rarely surf it because I’m afraid it’s going to break. The funny thing is that I wouldn’t have ever set the bottom and rails up that way for a twin.
I still surf singles a lot, mostly stubbies - I currently have a 6’0" and a 7’0", both set up to ride fat slow mushburgers. But when the conditions speed up I go back to the twins and quads. Sometimes you want to go with the flow and other times you want to get more aggressive. Different strokes.
A 5’8" with a 14-1/2" tail won’t get a lot of speed from a 6" fin. We learned a long time ago that wider tails need deeper fins. Plus, a bigger fin will hold better when you put that wide tail up on a rail.
I’d go 7-1/2 to 8" fin. Fairly narrow base + a lot of flex. I’ll assume you went with a box and not a glass-on? Borrow a few sizes and profiles if you can. See what works. Ya won’t know unless you try.
either increase fin as said above or add side bites, the 6" fin may be good with some litle longboard size side bites.... if you go bigger, template and flex is important to get that little extra out of a single....I shape a few with side bites, if interested, have a look at www.moresurfboards.com , this isnt meant to be an ad, just easy to send you to have loook, the designs called MP3 ...
singles are fun, I have 11 currently....but they have to be surfed a certain way and they have their limitations, as does any design, some less than others.....
I use a 9" Greenough stage 4a, a 9" liddle flex, a 7.5 Greenough stage 4a, and I just got a Brewer 7". I also use a 9" cutaway on my single fin boards. Up until recently all my single fins were 8" or 9", but this year I’m trying the shorter fins on some of my shorter boards.
I haven’t found the same magic that I get in my longer single fin boards (over 7’) in boards that are only 6’ with wider tails. I end up adding side boxes and they ride better with a 2 + 1 or thruster setup. The narrower tail boards work just fine, good drive and glide.
One problem with the 9" fins is that you will hit the reef paddling out at low tide. I paddle my board backwards to avoid that.
"Mike, If the fin is glass-on, the base is aligned with the mid-line of the board, and then moved fore/aft, until approx. 25% +/- extends beyond the rail line. If a box fin, you align the base that is above the box, with the center line of the board. With a box fin, after the position is determined, set the box so that fin, in the chosen position, is in the center of the box. This will allow max adjustment fore/aft, to fine tune the board to you taste, feel, style. Once I adopted this method of fin placement, I NEVER had to deal with spinouts again. That was 1960. Does this help?
EDIT: Ken has stated it a little more simply, and perhaps clearer than above.
One of the surfers I look up to at my regular break told me that since the advent of thrusters, he would never again ride a single fin… I can understand the frustration, especially with the style of surf today but the reason I jumped on the single fin was to better my association of my feet to any type of board… Read so much on pocket riding with a single fin so I decided to try it.
Anyway, thanks again for the heads up and here are some photos of the awkward board. criticisms welcome, its the best way to learn.
You might drop some side boxes in and start playing with sidebites. Keep the 6" center fin. Set the side boxes so the trailing edges of the fins are about even with leading edge of center fin all the way up in the box. Then you can slide the center fin back for bigger waves. You might have some fun with a smaller center fin to go with the side bites in small waves.
"sidebites sounds good. by any chance, would that increase drive at all?"
If you set your side fins nearly straight ahead (parallel) there will be little drag and better drive. Spreading out the cluster by moving the center fin back will definitely add drive and lengthen your bottom turns. The down side is it will feel stiffer. You will need to experiment to find a happy medium that suits your style and wave situation. The possibilities with a 2+1 are nearly endless.
This photo doesn’t really show it well, but it looks like you used a really short fin box. Having a longer box would allow for more options in placement. I can’t see why anyone would use a short box for a single fin. Too limiting. Sometimes, just moving a fin up or back can make a world of difference. Seriously.
Its a really small box. i really dont know what i was thinking but the fin in it right now is extremely small so there is about an inch to move forwards and 2.5 back.
its my first single fin ever so i’m waiting for the stoke to settle before adjusting anything and blowing it off.
I thought that single fins were simple boards but i now realize that its simplicity is what makes it so fun.
they are simple coz they only have one fin, but not simple to ride and definitely not easy to shape a really good one, thats why the fin options with side bites and fin boxes and finding the optimum placement for you is critical to the boards performance.....
I really respect the older crew who really ripped on singles, try doing a full rail cutty like MP used to on these things, near impossible, and if you grew up riding thrusters, it is something you really should try to appreciate the surfers of the past in my opinion....especially with the older rockers and voume distribution and down rails that the older style singles had....
nice looking boards in above pics....definitely agree with longer boxes for more options of fin placement, although does add weight and alter flex as well as adding the old weak spot at box ends, extra cloth is wise but again adds weight......
It looks like the fin screw tab is located forward? That's good. You could cut away some of the fin tab base at the rear and redrill/position the pivot pin to get a little extra aft adjustement out of it.
What I do is use a long box and put it as far back as I would have the rear thruster fin. I have several small fins for that purpose.
Then I place the fin where it looks right to me usually in the middle of the box. I’m using 9" fins, so they can go a little further up, but I also have an 8" and I just got a 7.5" stage 4a and 7" Brewer fin. We used to move our fins forward to make the board looser, and place them further back for bigger days. That’s back before thrusters of course. Changing the location makes a lot of difference in how the board handles, and changing the fin will do even more.
