Back in the 80’s , Glen Winton and others were pushing the quad. Alright, they werent as good as tri’s. But what design limitations caused them to be bad boards. Too much fin for board length??? They work in kneeboards.
maybe not enough tail sliding?
A regular thruster with a small trailer fin gives a similar feel, plus you still had a problem with spinout at high speed and in critical sections and square turns. For some reason the center fin in the thruster set holds you.
A regular thruster with a small trailer fin gives a similar feel, plus you still had a problem with spinout at high speed and in critical sections and square turns. For some reason the center fin in the thruster set holds you in.
the quad works well as kneeboard because the way you turn. when turning kneeboard you drive your lower body into a turn with all your weight spread out on the lower half of the board.(heaps of leverage and low center) .some even lift the rail also eliminating any possibility of spin out.While a footboarder is using just his back foot over the cluster of 3 fins.I have also heard a twin or quad is more difficult backside .I have seen alot of surfers ride like MR rode his driving low into turns.I just would say surfing styles and style trends are the real reason for a preference of a tri or twin or quad or single.
I rode a quad in the early ninties and loved it. I think the only reason they went out of style is because experimentation became unfashionable in the mid eighties. Had to have a package and the skinny thruster became the package and still is. I still think twinnies have there place, along with singles. One of the great things about surfing for fun, is you get to try all these different boards without caring what the guys at the beach think. I don’t think any thruster is as responsive in gutless surf as those twin fins and even the wide tailed singles. Thrusters are still sticky feeling to me.
My first thruster felt sticky, so I turned it into a single and it ripped. More fins usually means more fin area, or more of that area spread around the bottom of the board in whatever configuration. Too much confusion … just simplify!!! Free your mind, and then go as fast as you can!
A rear center fin stabilizes you through turns - it is MUCH tougher to spin out. Kneeboarders have less turning leverage - they move much less from the waist down than a surfer. As a consequence, they are much less likely to spin out. Also, the center of mass is always back and low, which also makes it tough to spin out.
But what design limitations caused them to be bad boards. Too much fin for board length??? They work in kneeboards. Board designs are influenced different ways because surfers are more subtle than kneeboarders. We have sophisticated leverage and variable weight placement. Its all about our joints. We have full natural use of our knees, ankles, hips, legs, bottoms of our feet. Kneeboarders cant so they grab rails for leverage. Their joints’ range of motion is limited. Their knees and ankles act as horizontal load bearing platforms. They can`t pump to generate speed. Same as with sponges. The dynamics are backwards: the tops of their feet are contact points instead of the bottoms. Some fins and boards are best left to kneeboarders. http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/20031125-9999_1s25surfcol.html 
Hal Sose, I would never use the term “Fizzled” when questioning the disappearence of the quad,(I would call it squashed) people like Glen Winton had the guts to think outside the square and not be guided by conformity while surfing compeditivley, Glen could surf so many different lines on his choice of equipment, thats why they called him the rubber man - cause he was able to change direction admidst any turn with ease. the problem with the quads where the same as the twinfin era, not all surfers could handle the radicalness so to hide their lack of adaptability the claimed that the moves that guys like Buttons and Larry (and Glen on quads)where doing where tricks, I used to hear this term and look at guys like Larry B and go “but that so called trick he just did was insane” and it would amp me to go surfin and try to use my imagination to come up with a variation of what I had just seen. I have always believed that if you could master all types of boards, that you will be able to enjoy all surfing conditions and styles, it is easy to just surf one type of board because the range of scope is limited. A friend of mine who absolutley ripped on a twinfin that he shaped (Dave Morrison)would constantly get bagged by guys who where stuck on single fins and just wouldn’t open their eyes to some of the futuristic stuff that Dave was doing, shit he was doing reversals on 4 to 6 foot waves 22 years ago, he would go into the biggest carve cutty and at the last minute control break the tail and go backwards for 30 feet before smoothly spinning around to go into another beautiful turn. he was never bothered by competition surfing he just loved to try new stuff. Imagine if guys like them didn’t get pinned by the media nazi’s dictating comformity for cometition surfing, I truley believe that we would have been way ahead of where we are at now. KR http://groups.msn.com/MyKRSurf/krcomweb.msnw
i currently ride a 6ft.x20 1/4 x 2 3/8 with a quad set up- 8’’ tail block. i refer to this board as my mod-fish (modern fishy). i love the board- one note though- if you plan on making yourself one, i have found that a tucked edge from nose to tail helps with the ‘squirt’- do not soften the ‘tuck’ near the nose like conventional thrusters- board will lose the drive necessary for projecting around sections…
Just for intrest sake I should mention that I played around a lot with in-line fin systems. Basicly one fin forward, one fin back. Best fin system I’ve ever used!!! Power, manouvrability, hold, and so smooth and fast. The actual fin design I used is a whole other story for another time. Anyone else out there seriously tried in-line???
Gee Dub, I’m interested in the in-line fin concept. How far apart did you place the fins? Far enough to place two center fin boxes in a longboard? What size fins, and in what configuration worked best. Just trying to think outside the box. Thanks, Doug
FIRE IN THE HOLE …! fizzle? the cowboy movie everyone waited outside the mine behind a rock wait ‘in an wait’in an waitin…no blow then sombody has to go down the big black hole in the earth to see if… the highest sophistication in design is the most simple an clean …the most timeless designs veritably disappear before the eye like a rounded stone on the beach they become more and more subtle until the final modification makes them peerfect …the emulators and copy cats and distortionists dilute the impact of the originality of the real thing the simulations don woik so good and the glut of poor renditions become landfill and compost bed liners and canibalism candidates…the originator…and their progeny show up in the figurative cloak of invisibility and rip fecum accross the global wave scape with abandon but people deem the moves that of the tecnician an not the quipment.and generate their attention to the latest demonstrative “wow gee whiz” Foley rode boards under 8’ for years but MAC (donalds) Tavish AND GNAT were the short board revolution? Packcage and promotion drives our collective immagination…design is simplicity in function…more fins more pads more spray on ,stick on glue on …will fade away like the bright sun behind a passing cloud no one will promote a board thats bigger …heavier…more expensive without a little difficulty…Dirko said he heard Quigg say that every one would come back to 8’6"…well I think eventually we may all come to a simular conclusion about fins and eventually eliminate them all together once we really know how to surf …I wish I was that good that I WASNT DEPENDENT on the fin crutch for turn validation …dont get me wrong I too am just a dreamer sharing a dream time reverie …maybe these parameters will be over thrown like all the others … allowing us unqualified successes yet undreamed… mele kalikimaka … ambrose…the surfing accessories drive the “INDUSTRY” if surfing was surfing it would still be a sport pastime … as a lifestyle market place billions of dollars are/will be generated to fund the fantastic…achivements of quick and bong and rip and soon to market… " stoke "making it litigious to say like “Boogie” when speaking of board in the same sentence but its ok we can invent somthing new and interesting to say 23 skidoo kiddo… an a Haoli makahiki Ho
I ride my quad Spitzer Fish 6.1" all da time in 2-8 ft. surf the fins are as important as the shape on these sticks, Herb used old Dyno fins for the larger one and old 80’s thruster fins for the others also the smaller fins are in the front of the others…Nuuhiwa saw this shape and really liked the fins/tail design and you won’t find it in any shop or in anyone else’s quiver i’d give the width points but why should I…Ride your thruster and old school fish in 2-6ft. faces and we’ll see who’s getting the most for their bucks…old school fishes are just that yesterday’s design and thrusters don’t work for me in chest high surf…merry x-mas…p.s. popouts suck…
“Hal Sose” seems to be “somebody else”. In the archives he says he`s not a longboarder: Hal Sose – Tuesday, 8 July 2003, at 3:30 p.m. Actually I’m not 6’6" and 310lbs… I am 6ft and of normal weight. However, I am a current kneeboarder from North Orange County.
…whats the prob??
I definitely got a bit lost there!