In-Line and Fin Design...at last.

General Discussion
41

Mpcutback, love the name, love the move. Sorry I didn't respond sooner.

 

I reckon this system, like every system, would work on pretty much anything.

 

Longboards were generally single fin oriented anyway, and now people use all fin set-ups on them. I see no reason this wouldn't go well on a longboard.

42

Thanks for the reply .I have a tired long board-9’8’'- which has been put out to pasture so i was thinking of of playing around with that and see how it behaves with the inline .Will keep you posted on results .

cheers

Mpcutback

43

Greg , i templated a small set of two small 'wildy' side fins last night ....red on the inside edge , carbon fibre on the outside ...with the 'speedneedle ' -sent 'chip' logos on them ....

 

  i'll get some shots up here , if it's not hijacking your thread ?

 

[maybe i can give em to simon to use on his next overseas jaunt eh ?]

 

  cheers mate !

 

  ben

44

Thanks for all the sharing Greg - looks and sounds cool.

I’ll not “hijack” by rambling about my latest quad thoughts…  

Looking forward to more ride feedback.

45

Taylor, no worries. Actually you are the only person I noticed who posted that you used some turbulator fins.

 

Are they worth the effort? Do you think they made a noticable difference in perfromance?

46

I’m in southern california and want to try these out!

I’ll buy you beers…

47

 

Tubercles!!!  Hope you enjoyed those reads.  Get in contact with Frank Fish and let him know how the ride is, what performance advantages you have found.  This is his research in practice…

48

Durbs, for sure. Hope to try everything at least once.

Thanks again for the info.

49

hi Greg !!

not wanting to hijack your thread [but] I reshaped the glow in the dark ‘sways inspired’ '747’s, into “mini wildys” [sideys] two days ago , and took them for a surf in fun , glassy , chest- high waves early yesterday morning . They felt FAST , held in well…

i’m STOKED !!

cheers !!

ben

50

 

Hi, I don’t want to shit on your thread, and I may be going out on the limb here, because I know that it is not the prevailing, or intuitive opinion. But I think that if you consider the flow of the water in a surfing application (on waves), where the water in the wave is moving up toward the hull of the board, and the hull deflects the flow toward the fins, you will find that the flow closest to the base of the fins is moving “predominantly in the direction of the cord”, and the deeper flow toward the fin tip, which hasn’t been “as” defelcted by the hull is moving in a direction more perpendicular to the chord.

If you take that into account, from the perspective of the flow, and the change of the angle of the flow with depth, the depth of the fin shape does taper to the tip.

Cool, boards and concept, by the way!

51

I can see your point but it seems only relevant at really low speeds where the actual pressures flowing across the cords are less allowing the flow you speak of.

It also explains why it is easier to tail slide most modern multi fin surfboards, which a lot of people think is cool. These tail slides are usually done at low speeds anyway, and yeah, the board moves fast, but actual speed is quite low.

 

It was the characteristic you describe which I didn't like the sensation of, which is why I continued to go in this direction.

 

With deeper fin tips this is less likely to happen, so this set-up will not expect too much popularity with full tilt tail slide fans. My goal was to turn easy at low and high speeds, drive with more projection at any speed, and generally have better controil in all conditions.

52

"My goal was to turn easy at low and high speeds, drive with more projection at any speed, and generally have better control in all conditions"

 

yes , a GREAT idea , i'm with you there greg !!

 

  i was watching 'busting down the door' ,

 

  'free ride' ,

 

  'five summer stories'

 

  and

 

'going surfing'

 

  this week , and MUCH preferred the full rail turns and lack of slide ...perhaps that's why i still ENJOY  riding a single fin from time to time .

 

  i love the modern surfing , the speed generated by guys like fanning ,

 

  but

 

  the continual sliding during turns [taj , especially !!] does make me long for the occys, the sunny garcias, the dane kealohas , the johnny boy gomes' of yesteryear

 

  speed carves with no slide , plus amazing aerials and deep tube rides i guess would be my favourite combinations to watch in surf vids oops dvds nowadays ,

 

  and i always enjoy watching power surfers here

 

  others may vary , of course ,

 

  but i still reckon dane , the toms [carroll and curren ] and occy are among my three  or four favourite power surfers of all time .

 

  i'd be keen to have checked out their fins and their boards when they were at the peak of their powers ...

 

  cheers greg , keep up the GREAT work , i'm definately a FAN of these 'wild[y]' fins of yours !!

 

  ben 

53

how come i missed this thread?! dang! hmm luckily this came up after i googled “in-line fins” hehe

howdy mpcutback, any updates on the retrofit?

btw wildy,

i fully agree with your idea of placing the fin right under the surfer’s center of effort (or gravity, or mass) to allow greater board control-- especially on a longboard. given this setup, shouldn’t the fin box be closer to the board’s midpoint than to its tail tip? would appreciate further clarification on this setup

cheers,

54

When I started playing with these I put the front one way too far forward. There's a spot somewhere between your feet, everyone is different, so the adjustment of a long box helps. Then the size of the rear fin will come into play. Getting the fin size, position and balance is something personal, so have fun and go play with it.

 

Grasshopper.....sounds very philosophical saying that.... I didn't use any glass between, but I did have it under vacuum after the lay-up to cure. Glass will work but it will be heavier in the end, not much though.

55

Greg do you think you’d make these fins for the general public?

Very interested in the design for singles, and thrusters. I had something George Downing called the Bong fin as my center fin in the mid 80’s and I loved the way it seemed the give the board a bit more bite. It was basically a normal fin with a torpedo like shape sticking out from the tip. Kind of what the racing yachts do with the keels. 

Your fin design takes it a bit further and I sure would like to try that out (with out the 2 center fins for now).

56

Good job, they look really clean. And did you find the bamboo easy to foil? I did.

57

Here is the result of my second attempt - 7 layers of bamboo veneer with 6oz between each layer. Pressed in vac bag while resin cured. Foiled, then add 2 layer 4 oz each side (this is 1/4" thickness - perfect fit for FCS/Probox). Glass onto board with another 2 layers 4oz each side with roving and 4 extra layers each side on base.

Thanks for the inspiration WILDY!

fins

(This board is a wedding present for a best bud!)

58

I first tried a smaller trailer behind my main fin in my longbard fin box back after that article came out in surfer in the mid 90’s.  It really seemed to help improve control when trimmed 3/4 up on the nose, and hold more speed through the turns.

 

I had just modified the trailer to hang well past the end of the box with only about 2.5 inches between the fins.

 

I still have that fin, but in a different longboard now, and for the same reasons.  This longboard without the trailer is slightly looser, easier to initiate a turn, but feels slower.  I cannot get the projection that I can with it.  Also during a hard cutback without the trailer, the tail has a tendency to lift out of the water.  With it the tail remains planted, and it holds the speed through the turn.

 

Also when unweighting in trim across the flats trying to connect to the next section, it starts accellerating, almost unnaturally, unfairly.

My longboards are more traditional with softer rails.

 

I tried the trailing fin in my shortboard behind a 7.5 inch single, with and without side bites, and just couldn’t get it to feel right 80% of the time and just wentback to the thruster with a smaller center fin set up for the open face squirt and big sweet spot, but still think about putting a small trailer behind that smaller center fin and experimenting. 

59

…has anyone else been using this fin setup, during these years since this thread ?

60

This fin by Alfred Maldonado makes a lot of sense... a basic 'in-line' single with the trailing flap cut through at the base and a pivot pin installed.  I assume the trailing flap would act something like a rudder.