I see your point Roy but my thoughts would be that the fin would be more vertical when lent over on a rail…
The current curve would make it slip a bit, perhaps a straighter fin wouldn’t… like bonzer setups…
I like that tunnel setup above, how does it compare to a tunnel by itself?
Hi Hicksy,
I’m totally delighted with the tunnel setup, it’s a rocket !. . . it’s a big challenge trying to explain how good it feels.
In dry terms compared with the single tunnel plus flat plane fin setups it’s way faster, much looser rail to rail, and more responsive to pumping . . . although that’s partly due to the flex, added lift angle on the tunnel and very thin board ( 1.75 inches thick) . …
The two 1/4 tunnel side fins add a lot of lift. . . plus they spread the lift fore and aft. . . which makes the board more able to ‘foil’ . . . rather than the single tunnel which lifts all in one place. . . hard to explain but it feels SO friggin good, can’t wait to get back out on it on Monday (actually the board belongs to James, but I am pulling rank and riding it anyway)
When the board is placed deck up ijn the grass it looks like it has no fins at all because the setup is only just over three inches deep and the tunnels tuck themselves away out of sight… . riding the board is like some finless board fantasy, only it flies, weird and wonderful !
Just bought another 3D Redtip to replace my first. Amazing that the price went down like $20-$30 USD already…
All the shops told me that they come to life in juicy conditions but will slow the board down in gutless waves and I’ll have to agree. In gutless waves the tail felt much stiffer to deal with…
Your setup was supposed to be Ben Aipa’s fave for longboarding the past couple of years (although he’s venturing into quads and 5 fins now), I’ve used it on my merrick flyer, home made compsands and on a Keone Downing Slipah (a nugget imitation) with the most success.
Your next experiment(should you take it Mr Phish…) and if you can afford it (but you make your own anyway) is to pair the 3D rear with H2 sides which was supposed to be the “magic” setup a couple of years ago on the northshore when they both came out. If you buy them its’ at least $170-$180 fin combo to “tweak” your board to the next level. I wouldn’t mind trying it on a round pin minigun in some hawaiian juice to see what happens. It didn’t go so well on my 9’ Parmenter longboard on the south shore.
The H2’s have a completely opposite approach with their 8-10 degree out-board cant and low profile design compared to the CRVs which curve in and stand straight up. Some guys are using four of these CRVs on their quad setups on their Gemini’s.
Imagine a picklefork Gemini with 4 CRV fins.
Sound like something you would do…
To each his own I guess…
not been on for a while, how are you doing?
following my previous threads my question is have you tried a twinny set up
with crvs?
you’ll remember i have but am interested to hear your experiments.
especially as you have more plugs than i do you could fine tune
better than me.
g’day skater !
nup , haven’t tried it as a twinny yet , the waves haven’t let me . While it is so small at the moment , if and when I do get time for a surf , I’m riding the surf mat , mainly .
But hopefully in autumn …
cheers
ben
So how hard would it be to make some fins like this? Using a mold or something to get the curve?
Lay them up on the side of a plastic garbage bin…
Hey Chip, Mate I wished I had one of those Multi fin wings, actually I have one, the one that got me back into the wings, only I carved a couple of plugs in it to fit F.C.S. You know that that fin was from the one I carved out of the block of foam in 83’. We sold 10,000 in the first 3 months, maybe the biggest selling single [different design] fin ever. The biggest problem I have ever had with the F.C.S. plugs is that you cant move your fins, once you get the sides right, it’s not as important, but the back one is very important, solely because of the different degrees of power in even say a 3 ft wave. When you can moove your back fin , even 1/2" the difference is big. I have 3 plugs in all my boards, at the back.That makes a 2" difference though and is only good in gutlees surf [with the red tip]. What I have been using is a 5 1/2" back wing fin five 1/2" up the board. In powerfull, sucky waves I resort back to the normal thruster setup, although the other setup goes fine as well, Snapper, Ulu’s etc. I tried the curved fins with the red tip about 5 years ago at D’Bar and did’nt like it, I felt there was too much going on. I tried the H 2s in Mentawiis last year and although it went good , it lacked the drive of the normal fins I had been using. To the bloke who asked about the 3 3ds, hav’nt tried that as such, but had some great success with 3 winged fins in the mid 80’s, only had the side wings smaller. I have got a bunch of different side wings I have been mucking around with the last few years, to varying degrees of success, I’m gonna get my computer guy to show me how to pst some photos of them, now you guys are interested, excuse my computer knowledge, cheers H.
how about a thuster tunnel set up?
3 tunnels in thruster formation with the forward two meeting in the center and the rear tunnel starting where they end.
this would spread the lift over a much bigger area and drive the whole tail, might effect rail to rail a bit though depending on how deep the tunnels are…
did you make those tunnels and fins from pvc plumbing pipe?
riff
Mate, you need to talk to Roy about the tunnels, not my department, H.
how about a thuster tunnel set up?
3 tunnels in thruster formation with the forward two meeting in the center and the rear tunnel starting where they end.
this would spread the lift over a much bigger area and drive the whole tail, might effect rail to rail a bit though depending on how deep the tunnels are…
did you make those tunnels and fins from pvc plumbing pipe?
riff
Hi Riff,
Have done a bunch out of plumbing pipe, they work well, the ones pictured are resin and glass, not keen on closed tunnels out on the rail for the reason you mentioned. Those two quarter tunnels provide lots of lift though, and also spread the lift.
At first I thought that you meant that the two front tunnels would meet in the middle to make one wide elliptical tunnel from rail to rail, there might be a case for doing that.
Cheers,
Roy
Quote:two front tunnels would meet in the middle to make one wide elliptical tunnel from rail to rail, there might be a case for doing that.
Cheers,
Roy
Nice!
flat and lower than the rear tunnel maybe 2" rear at 3" also not too long 2.5-3"
ok… enough thread jacking :))
So how hard would it be to make some fins like this? Using a mold or something to get the curve?
I was just thinking today …
with the extra foam I have , I might try carving them out of one piece of foam , instead of moulding them , then either carbon fibre them , or tint / pigment/ or spray them , before glassing with normal 'clear 6oz layers …
I reckon some coloured curved fins could be the ticket …[maybe even a matching "prawn " colour scheme spray , eh ?!]
cheers
ben
Lay them up on the side of a plastic garbage bin......
55 gallon drum has a curvature some people prefer to get their curved fins, so a fiberglass layup on the drum is used.
Laid these up on a resin drum, came out alright
http://www.swaylocks.com/resources/detail_page.cgi?ID=870
cheers Joe
How does that board ride Joe, do you have a Campell bros to compare it against
Hi Burnsie
Got rid of it a year or so ago, had a few good surfs on it and got it in to 5th a couple of times, but I’m a fish man who surfs a crappy beach break!
My mate Guy is the man who brings the bonzers into the UK, so I got him to give it the once over and he rated it a 8/10 which I was stoked at he said that mention the fins to the campbells next time he spoke to them, don’t know if he did but it felt good to hear him say that.
cheers joe
Thanks Joe,
I know Guy, if he gave it 8/10 it must be pretty good. Did he feature it in his Bonzer DVD “Surfbawding The Movie” ? 
I wish!
Cheers Joe
hi Joe !
they are nice curved bonzer fins , mate , thanks for posting those !
…did you by any chance get some photos of them being laid up on the curved surface , when you made them ?
and , how did you separate them from the surface ?
Also did you use polyester resin , or epoxy ?
cheers
ben