Have been tesing some different quad fin setups on my 6’ 1" eps modern fish and well, they all work good because the quad is so efficient.
FCS Q-1 rear fins are the cats meow if you want thruster “pivot” and turn on a dime performance. Have been surfing those with the FCS FG epoxy fronts here at blacks, cardiff reef, and one great day all day session at middles/trestles (mine are the larger black ones @ weight of 188lbs.) ; a really excellent quad combo for vertical/top to bottom surfing… thruster feel with quad drive
FCS MR-TX twin fin fronts (these are the smaller twin fins in the MR template designed to work with a trailer fin (gs or gx size) along with GS fins in the rear works really good when is small/microwave performance surfing time. the large front twins offer drive and with the tiny rears, the board releases easily for nice off the top snaps and punts when the surf is dinky. also a excellent combo for doing some spins and 360’s
FCS stretch SF4 and M5: I think the M5’s release easier and are more “free”. I had the stretch fins on @ a real solid day lined up reef session, and they felt excellent, but did not like them in real small surf as much as the M5 setup.
Harry, this is a timely post for me. Could you give some of the specifics on the fish you're riding? I've been putting MR-TX's on the fish I've been selling, but with M-5 back fins. It looks like too much fin, but I can't find a template in a similar size range in FCS to the one's I've been making for my personal boards. I'm trying a G-R template with G-1000's for the back fins and gonna see how that goes. I'm building fish with a deep swallow, a not so retro rocker, something more along the lines of Clark's 6-2C. My personal board has a front fin with a five inch base and 4.75" depth. Area wise, it's probably the same as the MR-TX, but more raked. No one has complained about the fin setup, but I'm weighing the options.
absolutely… board (really hate to call a fish which seems over-used in terms) is a small wave ripper… 6’ 1" x 20.5" x 2.625" eps/epoxy roundtail with very slight vee entry, single to double concave, slight vee off tail, low rocker, moderate rocker in tail area. performance rails. I really like the MR-TX fronts with GS rears for its drive and twin fin snap, and am going to try that setup in some larger/more powerful surf (once we get some). I am 6’ 0" @ 188lbs. and also like to skateboard, so would consider myself a front footed surfer.
After doing some testing with FCS quad setups, I would think that your boards may have too much fin for a good and early, yet predictable release. try the GS rears instead of the stock M5 rears… quite a bit of difference in size. G-R fronts would probably be excellent with the M5 rears IMO.
*here are pics for all of the Q-1 rears… they are tall, narrow, and upright with a thin 80/20 foil. I really like the vertical surfing feel with them… like a thruster on steroids. they look pretty large next to the FG-7 as shown in the pic here.
**board is a Greg Sauritch, who is a excellent shaper and leaves me some foam.
hope that little bit of info. and pics helps tune your boards fin setups. dialing in fin sizes seem pretty important for my surfing and am sure most would benefit to have fun and try some different ones. a bit of a fin-fettish you might say!
I have been riding the TC Aqualine set as well as the GMB (mayhem) quad sets. The TC aqualines are a great fin so far. Im 175 lbs and when I first got them I thought they were going to be too small. As it turns out they provide an exceptional amount of drive despite their lack of surface area for my weight. The TC's provide instant speed but also a lot of release when hitting the lip. My only complaint with these is they feel almost too loose when you go to hit a big section. The board has a tendancy of wanting to slide which is something I'm not accustomed to.
I also got to ride the GMB's for a week straight when I went to the outer banks. These fins feel great also, heaps of drive. When the waves got under head high and lost their punch the fins started to feel a little cumbersome though.
I'm in the process of mixing the fins from each set. First up the GMB fronts with the TC trailers. I just need some waves to make it happen.
On my "shortboard" quads, I've had good luck with M-5 fronts and G-L backs all single foiled. I've made some G-10's to fit using the M-5 template that worked well also. I also liked Stretch's template, can't remember the FCS name for it, but they went well.
For reference im 175 lbs and this is a 5'11" x 19 3/4 x 2 1/4 Mostly ridden in waist to head high punchy inlet wedges.
So last time I reported in I had been riding the tc aqualine quads as well as the GMB quads. In my quest for getting things completely dialed in I had to try another combo. I had settled on the aqualines but didn't like the lack of hold that they had in the punchy inlet wedges that I normally surf. I think overall the front fins on the set lacked the surface area (14.4" in) that I need to stay in control of the board when I come up to a big section to hit.
To fix this I decided to combine the fin sets. I put in the GMB front fins which are bigger and deeper than the aqualine fronts coming in at (15.26) . To keep things from getting overly tight I left the small aqualine rears. I also bunched the fins closer together GMb's back in the box and the aqualines forward in the box. Even though these are all little adjustments they had a significant impact on the way the board rode.
The result was a lot of speed, a slightly stiffer feel but a world of difference in control. I was able to bash sections, still free up the fins but not to the point that I couldnt recover. I am content in my quest to get this board finned right. Hope this helps
M5's and M3's are good for fishy style , wider tailed boards ( for average size surfer ) and for smaller and high perf designs , M3 fronts and G1000's on the rear....have tried shitloads of combos....and still doing so .....
I’m liking the performance core K2.1 in front and GX rears. I also like the SF4 fins. I have a pair of the H2 quads, but they’re too loose for me. I’m going to try the TC aqualines and the Hobgoods side fins next.
ghostshaper, how did the TC Aqualines & Hobgood’s compare to the K2.1 & GX set up?
I’m running the K2.1/GX right now in a 5’4" Springfish. The only issue I’m having is speed in little waves. I’ve had the k2.1/gx out in chunky 4-6ft (great performance, hold & turning), 3-4ft (perfect! It did everything, snaps, floaters, roundhouses & held in high and tight for barrels)…and 1-2ft (worst performance).
Someone mentioned in an earlier post or thread that they wanted fins that projected more speed out of mushy/gutless surf and that a lot of quad fins dealt more efficiently with the speed the wave supplied. But in 1-2ft, you need to go much faster than the wave provided. The board I have has PLENTY of planing surface for that, I’m just trying to match it up with the right fins.
Wow, that was a long time ago. Since then, I’ve done a lot of testing. I’ve found that I like big front fins for a wide-tailed small mush buster. I’ve been using the giant mr 78 twin fins as fronts with custom halcyon cutaway trailers. These big fins give me a lot of drive in weak stuff.
For my normal good wave board with a pulled in tail, I have a set of stretch’s new quad template.
All my boards have the rears no more than 1 1/4" off the rail. With fine close to the rail, flat-sided rears work well, but I’m also liking 50/50 rears.
I thought both the aqua lines and hobgoods were too small. I like my fins to hold in on bottom turns and cutbacks.
For haul ass down the line runners, Mick Fanning fronts, G1000 rears.
Often put in a ‘Kelly’ nubster trailer fin if the wave is a bit slower and more top to bottom turning, provides a bit more leverage for more vertical turns.
if peaky and not so down the line, remove the rear fins, put in the third MF, and ride it as a thruster…
