he said he used to be stuck on fixed fins. then he started riding futures for 6-8months
he said this the day of signing with futures.
I’ve been riddin the fins my 6’6 funboard came with and they work great…
so i’m just wondering…how much of a difference do different fins make? I mean really. no BS
Mark is pretty right, I personally like futures, but they arn’t significantly different from FCS. Out of the two major fin systems there isn’t a ton of difference. Neither has significant adjustablity (fcs fusion has maybe 1/8" fore/aft movement) neither can adjust the cant or the toe-in or position. Jordy does seem to be pretty into his equipment as his dad was a shaper, so he does know something about boards and fins, but I garauntee the biggest decision in endorsing futures over FCS is the contract.
That said, different fin templates can make a huge difference in a boards performance, my board sucked with 437 vectors, literally could not hold in on a wave over waist high. When I got a set of EA’s fins and the board was magic. In that case, it was a because of fin size. To a certain degree it is preference, the EA’s are a similar size to the WCT template, but the WCT fins were terrible with that board.
An athlete who performs at the level of Jordy Smith notices the difference in every board and every fin combination. Just like a nascar driver, professional sprinter etc…any displacement in board design, fin design, or construction is going to make a big difference to someone at that level. The average guy is just stoked to have some good glass on, FCS, or Futures fins under his feet. But in the end the $25,000 doesn’t hurt!
FGH is spot on about Jordy and other pro's
noticing even the smallest difference in their equipment, I'd venture as far as
to say the average guy wouldn't even notice the diff. between composite fins
vs. fiberglass and definitely wouldn't notice the diff. in a
carbon/RTM/fiberglass fin.
@Riderofwaves FCS and Futures are pretty
different, futures having the entire base seated and locked in vs. FCS with
just the 2 tabs. Also in strength the futures seem to stand up better. Of all
the dings I've seen futures have had the least amount of damage done to the
board and I've never seen a box cracked or split. I know it seems one sided and
I do really like the futures system but that’s just my experience with them.
PS. I love the EA template as well, it's a well
rounded template...for me anyway.
My only complaint with the futures is if you want a 5 fin option the entire tail section of the board is routered out and full of ridged, heavy, ghastly looking plastic fin boxes.
Well, the good news there is that there’s no rule against throwing some FCS X2 plugs in the center position to keep weight/flex alteration down. I’m actually doing this on my new board. I did the quad with FCS Fusion plugs, but I have a lot of vee in the tail so installing the center fusion plug there would’ve drastically altered the shape of my board. Because of that, I’ve decided that when I do opt to add the 5th fin, it will be an x2, and most likely a single plug for the knubster fin - that way I can mantain my tail vee without scrificing fin options