I researched the archives and read one of your postings and was hoping for some advice. My inquiry relates to Twinzer / Tri setup for a small wave modern Fish.
Like you, I use FCS quite a bit. You mentioned on a Twinzer post that you have made or are familiar with using the large Occy fins with a small trailer for small Fish boards. Can you offer some fin placement direction for a 6’2 x 20.7 x 15.5T modern fish? As of now, I’m thinking around 10" for the fronts and 3.25" for center and may be purchasing either the Occys or the K2.1s for fronts.
What Im hoping to achive is a board that feels free in gutless surf (hard to drive) but still has a little drive when there’s a little punch to the waves. Maybe ride it as a Twinzer (with mini canard) when very small & weak and with small trailer (G1000) when there’s a little punch. With a combo Twinzer/Tri, Im thinking of setting the front set further back, between 9 - 10 inch, but my gut tells me this may not be a good idea…???
I realize there are many opinions, but I have read that a thruster with forward set fins is placed at 11.25 and 3.5 - a rear oriented set is 10.5 x 3.25. I have used mini-canards and like the speed during turns but found a loss of drive - I think it was because my fins are set too forward (11.5) - I think it would have had more drive if I had the fronts set at 10 or 10.5.
Your advice is greatly appreciated! Mahalo Dave, FL
PS - I was in Hanalei Bay in march 1996 with the wife and too small a board - got held under at the Bay and that was it for me. What a beautiful place to live!
Howzit crafty, I will have to look into this for you since the waves here on Kauai are quite different that what you get in Florida. One of my Shapers sends boards to the East coast so he would have a better idea of a fin set up for your wave conditions or I could talk to Steve Lis who is an expert on fishes. Aloha, Kokua
For what it’s worth here is how i placed the fins on two modern fishes that I shaped (a 6’4" & 6’6"). The front fins are 12" up and the middle trailer I set to where the tip of the fin is in line with the butt crack of the swallow. I won’t say this is the optimum fin position, but it worked for me.
on my 6’-9" modern winged swallowtail twinzer snubnose, I have the front fins(GX) set at 12.5 and back ones (GR or similar) set at 8.5 . No use for a back fin because it’s a TWINZER. works great for everything I have ridden this summer… sounds like your idea of a twinzer is not the same as mine. they all ride though. have fun!
Yes Im interested in Twinzers but have never rode one. Can you describe how the board responds as compared to a std thruster?
Does the tail drift or feel pivoty with that placement? Does it have drive?
One of my thoughts is a hybrid setup between Twinzer and Tri - using mini canards to replace the GXs and setting the whole thing further up than 8.5 inches…say between 9-10". With a small trailer like the GL or G1000 I’ll have the ability to use the board as a quasi-Twinzer or semi-Tri. I’m feeling a little experimental with this project but I also dont want to f__k it up. Thanks for your advice.