Following is my review of the small fins known as Superchargers. The model is the glue-on, the board is a very familiar 6’3 Channel Island Black Beauty model pintail, reverse vee, down-the-line speed prior to Supercharging: 9.5 out of 10 (subjective scale), and manueverability 9.0. The Superchargers were installed in the recommended fashion, and affixed with Conap Epoxy. Surf was 4-6 foot faced South Shore Oahu, fast hollow performance waves. No added paddling speed was noticed. However, upon dropping into waves, a noticeable increase in drag and decrease in drop-in speed was repeatedly very evident. Not all bad- it was easier to get tubed on takeoff. Top speed upon riding waves further decreased from the boards normal speed of 9.0 down to about 8.0. This increase in drag aided turning, and maneuverability increased somewhat from 9.0 to 9.5, as the board slowed down quickly and turned immediately. I tried to run a control by removing the Superchargers in the water, but this resulted in the removal of chunks of resin down to the glass so the control test was cancelled. This is one person’s experience with one board. However, the touted benefits of increased speed were not found, and actually in this test the board’s speed noticably decreased. Thoughts: I really wanted this to work well. Perhaps the concept may be valid, but the model tested seems to have a very thick profile which would seem intuitively to add drag. Perhaps a thin canard might perform differently.
got any pics/a weblink for these?
Info can be found on this site by doing a search under “Superchargers”.
…Sorry they didn’t work for you. …my bet is you have the Superchargers to close to the main outboard fin anD the charger is intigrading with it causing drag by increasing area,and base length.Move them out/away a 1/4" or so more and move them up a bit.As far as the thicker base goes, it’s generally no thicker that a regular fins base thickness,and I found that the thinner ones don’t work as well.You can refoil them yourself.The plastic is completely sandable.Herb
How can adding fins to an existing setup EVER decrease straight-line drag? http://www.blakestah.com/surf/
Blakestah, I truly believe that my c-5 goes faster than my normal thruster and have read that it cleans up the cavetation directed at main fins and allows them to perform smother and faster. That being said I also think that the wider tail and increased amont of fins creates more planing surface and more drive. On another note I was wondering if the test pilot with the Black Beaty has tried c-5 and what his thughts were in comparison to the Superchargers.
Question: How can adding fins to an existing setup EVER decrease straight-line drag? Answer: BELIEVE MY FRIEND, THAT IT NEVER DOES!!! KICK YOUR ASS THROUGH THE ROOF SINGLE FIN PROOF: McCoys SINGLE FIN “Nugget”. McCoy has invented a great little surfboard. It`s super in all kinds of waves. Seems impossible to spin out, loose and fast in mush and barrels too and turns LIKE RIGHT NOW in 1’ to 8’ surf! Plus you can easily out-paddle most longboarders and all the guys on their thrusters. What more could anyone want? ANOTHER McCoy SINGLE FIN Nugget!!! http://www.mccoysurfboards.com/
I have not tried C5 setup. I believe that C5’S fins might allow more tail area and thus more speed, but I myself haven’t liked handling characteristics of wide-tailed boards in general. Still looking for the magic formula (It’s a big club, with many of its most ardent members here). It’s good to exchange ideas and experiences.
Wow- Seventeen-inch tail!! Looks like their Lazor Zap. Might be very suitable for slower waves. Seems like overkill for fast hollow waves. I might want to be able to adjust that downward a wee bit. Still, the concept of more planning surface is probably valid for 90% of surfers and especially for many no longer in their teens. Wayne Lynch’s Evolution fun boards sort of follow similar thinking- more float, more planning, appealing to the over thirty crowd. Those I know personally who fit in that category and own Evos like them well enough, but make no mistake: those guys don’t do aerials and any tube rides are usually the result of a mistake.
Right. Straight-line, cavitation drag should not be evident, so in a straight line anything added would seem to increase drag and lower speed. But since so much of surfing is not straight-line, perhaps lowering drag while turning could increse total speed. The questions seem to be how much does normally occuring cavitation lower speed, and how much can it be decreased, and what is the straight-line sacrifice?
Herb, can you please post the instructions for the chargers (with diagrams) on swaylocks(resources?) I seem to have misplaced mine. regards, Håvard
So now I went to the archives to see Herb’s concept. It looks a lot like the smaller Twinzer fin I see on lots of Jobson boards (and other Twinzers, now). Herb, can you comment on differences? Who was first? Certainly, I can feel a big effect on speed through turns on a board without a center fin. Reduction of cavitation I believe 100%, probably 5 degrees of angle of attack improvement. And, in a straight line, the two side fins are aligned, so they draft each other, which minimizes the straight line penalty. I’ve ridden several twinzers, but not a supercharger or a 5 fin board with this style of fin. I’ve seen a LOT of 4 fin boards with these, but fewer with a central rear fin also. So, I don’t have a good idea how a thruster would improve by adding superchargers compared to a twin-fin by adding twinzer fins. http://www.blakestah.com/surf/
…Will Jobson was before me by a few years at least.Even though I believe I was the first builder to build a Quad back in “77-78”.My latter model quads were patterned after my Supercharger(TRI+2) design with Will’s Twinzer in mind.My Q-4 is a great example of follwing Will’s design with some wicked tweeks in my version.This was after working with my Supercharged thruster types for 3 or more years.Most think my Superchargers came from Rusty’s C-5.Nothing could be further from the truth.Who was first ???You know what I think???It doesn’t matter what I think!!! I patterned my S.C.s after Bill Fury’s Fin system.Today,Bill and I still talk on a almost daily bases on board designs. …Back when I started this whole drafting business I was using all glass-on fins.This allowed me to start with larger fins and sanding them down little by little to feel for change in ride/glide.Then came the removables which helped in fin templates,and placement ajustments.I started back foiling them more than 3 years ago,now I see back foiling on all kinds of new fin templates from various makers.I could go on ,but I’ll stop here.In fact I plan on discontinuing them (Superchargers) all together,Except for my own boards.It’s just too much to keep up with it all.As well I won’t have to worry about how someone feels they got ripped off on a set,etc.etc.etc.I will always use my S.C.s with toed side fins on my personnals,but I will drastically limit the number that go out to others…As far as if they work the way I claim them to work? YES…Plain and simple,I just know better,that’s all.The rest can be archived or you can e-mail me.Herb
You toed the Spitzer’s to much.Mine work unreal!