Jeffreys Bay FIRING! Sean Holmes and 4 Way Fin System: check it out!

for those of you out there ever wondering about 4 ways or considering it's performance benefits, check this link out!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_Qu9W253AE

 

 

This performance by Sean Holmes at the recent Billabong Pro 2009 J-Bay was probably some of the best surfing

that went down this year in a WCT event! the waves were on FIRE! and the surfing was out of this world!

 

Even more impressive, was that Sean decided to change his splay disc-settings from and additional yellow 4 degrees splay

back to the original blue zero degree boxes (remember there's 6 degrees built into the fin).

 

this gave him the speed he needed to make the fast sections at Supers ...

 

Enjoy!

 

Best regards

 

Deano

 

loving the jbay show for sure

sean was on fire, your board, AND your fins, pretty proud - i would be!!

 

great footage Deano , and some classic J-Bay !!!!!!

glad u enjoyed it!

it was amazing to watch and be a part of it!

 

cheerz

deano

 

was this a standard 4wfs install?

any special sauce going on there to reinforce?

Wow Deano, Sean was on fire you are right my friend. Smoke was coming from my lab top watching the vid. Thanks for sharing nice footage. Mahalo, Larry

This was a regular round-box install,

no extra re-enforcements at all.

But they were done in epoxy,

They showed no signs of stress at all.

i have checked the board's out in my shaping bay and not a crack from stress so far but then the guys who install them do the installs perfectly, and don't try taking any short-cuts, that's key!

Regards

Deano

 

Thanx Larry,

cheerz

deano

 

hi Dean, in your first post did it mean shaun normally  runs 10 degrees cant ( yellow ,plus 6 built into fin) then changed it to 6 degrees, ( 0 degree disc plus 6 on fin) ,

also would there ever be an advantage at somewhere like jbay or other long points where you would run the wave side fin at a lesser cant and toe than the outside fin?the idea being less resistance for maximum speed but still have the turning ability on the outside fin for cutbacks etc, pete   

 

So the board in the vid is an epoxy?  got any info on the dimentions/specs?  Is it a stringerless fiberflex type thing?

 

10 degrees splay is fairly extream isn’t it?

hi Pete,

thanx for the question! interesting one!

yes, Sean had 10 degrees of splay but along with his concave he lost 1.5 degrees as the box sits flush with the deck. so for the comp he change his splay from 8.5 degrees to 4.5 degrees...

 

i personally love using the extra splay, combined with bigger side fins, but for the waves and the conditions on that day Sean felt it was better to have the fins more "upright" , and it showed!

 

regarding different splay on outside and inside fins... i haven;t tried that personally, but with 4 ways i suppose i could try any number of configurations... i agree. with your suggestion, and this would probably work for someone like Sean who pushes the board hard onto the rail through those top-turn arcs!

the extra splay there would give him the hold through those arcs, with drive and speed.

cheerz

deano

 

Yeah, it's one of my NEW TECH Epoxy boards, using XPS foam and UV clear epoxy resin...along with 4 ways...

it has a stringer, so on the surface the boards look like regular PU boards.

6'1 x 18 3/8 x 2 3/16" r-sq

laminated 1 x 4oz top + 1 x 4oz bottom, toe-heel patches...

has hardly any dents so far!

as i said earlier now, he was running 6 + 4 = 10 degrees of splay but along with the concave, the total splay was 8.5 degrees

it's extreme but not totally, if u know what i mean...

it's pretty much the standard on my personal boards, as i am a light-footed surfer, which allows me to get the board rail to rail supa-fast and work up speed quickly as well as allow me to put the board on the rail like a "back-footed" surfer as the extra-splay helps sink the rail as u go through your top-turn arcs...

but then again, what works for me personally and for my other riders maybe different, the key here i think is that each board has it's own "unique" feel, the way the surfers react to that feel is HUGELY dependent on what fins they use and where they are located on the board as well as toe/splay etc...

All the 4 ways has done is allow surfers/shapers to find the sweet-spot faster in every board.

cheerz

deano

 

 

 

I'm gonna watch the vid, but with the usual scepticism.  Remember:  the difference between a pro and the rest of us is that the pro surfs better than we do.  Even on a friggn DOOOR.  That's why they get the big bucks and chicks for free... oh never mind.

Rant off; now to watch the vid.

I’ve seen the footage of kelly on a door (and some other pro) and it’s really not that impressive. With the right board under my feet I might even be on par with kelly on a door.

Thanks Deano, that’s some great surfing, Sean really found that drive with 4wfs!

Love to check out that place with you once!

It would be great! J-Bay is a special wave!

it really defines one's surfing, and as Taylor Knok was saying in his one interview,

J-Bay can really define the "weaker" surfer! good surfer's shine in Jbay and the others just "flounder"

let me know when u plan on coming over down.

regards

deano

 

[quote="$1"]

I'm gonna watch the vid, but with the usual scepticism.  Remember:  the difference between a pro and the rest of us is that the pro surfs better than we do.  Even on a friggn DOOOR.  That's why they get the big bucks and chicks for free... oh never mind.

Rant off; now to watch the vid.

[/quote]

 

u got me thinking....

a door with 4ways installed....

wonder if it woudl go better????

he he!

nice one!

;-)

cheerz

deano

 

 

 

[quote="$1"]

I'm gonna watch the vid, but with the usual scepticism.  Remember:  the difference between a pro and the rest of us is that the pro surfs better than we do.  Even on a friggn DOOOR.  That's why they get the big bucks and chicks for free... oh never mind.

Rant off; now to watch the vid.

[/quote]

 

u got me thinking....

a door with 4ways installed....

wonder if it would go better????

he he!

nice one!

;-)

cheerz

deano

 

 

 

hi Deano, are the blanks the chinese ixps ones , i only make a few boards now and then but i have tried the ixps blanks and i thought although they are hard to shape they were something quite special , really low weight ,good flexural feel ,totally waterproof  and high compressive strength, they seemed to have all of the qualities that you would want in a surfboard blank,

i probabally put too much glass on the one i shaped and killed any flex but i could see the total benefit of these blanks, pete

i have used both IXPS and XPS locally,

 

bottom line is, if PU blanks had the benefits of XPs i'd be over the moon.

 

the weight comes out 15% LIGHTER than PU foam, but harder and with "memory".

 

the IXPS is harder to shape but has amazing deck strength. A shapers Barrel is a MUST!

 

definitely DO NOT over glass... the best feeling is when these blanks flex and "spring-back" the way they do...

 

i reckon the most important thing in the "modern" shape is understanding flex and it's relationship with fins and the surfer/conditions...

it's actaully amazing what can be achieved, compare to regular PU

 

best regards

 

deano