does Cheyne Horan make surfboards…and do u have pictures of one of his boards? I have one of those starfins you were telling me about, and I wanted to see what kind of boards it would work on. I figured that you would be the expert. Any info on what board type works with the star fin, and I would be stoked…thanks Rich! Sling
Hi, Hope you dont mind my 2 cents, but I had the pleasure of meeting Cheyne Horan this past winter just days before he had that epic session at Jaws. The day I saw him at Haleiwa he was riding a 7’0" Geoff McCoy shaped Nugget, with a gull wing fin. He mentioned that he still used the Star Fin a lot too. You might want to check out his website to see what kind of boards he rides and the McCoy website too (www.mccoysurfboards.com). http://www.cheynehoran.com.au
Hey Slinger, Cheyne more of an expert than anyone and he has a website (( http://cheynehoran.com.au/starfin.html )) He has a new son that’s only about a month old so he’s as busy as a man gets right now so don’t expect a quick answer. I think Geoff McCoy (( http://www.mccoysurfboards.com/ )) has been making Cheyne’s boards for 20 years or more. In my opinion the best outline for a starfin is a board with pretty wide round tail. When Cheyne was runner up to Mark Richards 4 years running in the world championships. He surfed the starfin on a Lazor-Zap, which is an exaggerated swallow tail and on a 5’9” that was like a miniature egg. It works really well on egg style board. I know he blew some minds at sunset on the little thing. The Lazor-Zap didn’t turn out to be the kind of performer that he hoped it would. I’ve tried the fin on several of my boards. I have a Wayne Lynch style 8’0” egg that John Mel shaped for me that it works great on. It works quite well on a full (15” - 16”) round or rounded pintailed longboard between 9’0” & 10’0” if you move it pretty well forward in the fin box. Turning with one is kind of like pivoting around the fin. So moving it forward makes it turn quicker. And it’s great for nose ridding. The fin is very fast and positive. It holds great on steep walls and lets you power through sections of mush as well as any single fin ever conceived IMHO. If you’re surfing reef breaks in with kelp leave it home. It’ll stop the board dead when you hit kelp. You also have to be careful with you surf cord. It’s best to use one longer than you ordinarily would and check it regularly to keep it from hanging on the fin. I’ve created a modified version of it but haven’t built it because I find myself at reef breaks more often than not. Take it along next time you go to a beach break and have some fun. Good-on-ya, Rich
Thanks Rich, foamdust! you guys rule! gotta Love swaylocks!!
ooops…I am thinking of using it as a 2+1 first…I want to have my training wheels on before I go big!
Hey Slinger, Don’t! It would be better to surf you’re board single with a good sized fin with a fairly wide base to get used to a rather stiff feel and then see the difference in speed and drive you get from the starfin in the same place. A starfin surfed with rail fins will just kill the action of your board. No Worries, Rich