A new board that wasnt cheap from a fave shaper - similar to another swallow twin keel of him that rules, this new one i wanted to try a round tail quad, but got it a little thicker and one inch
longer.
the nose rocker is flatter and the tail has a some more rocker with double concave not single like the keel.
I have surfed it a fair bit it differeng conditions from 1foot slop or shore breaks to 4-5 feet perfect beachbreak tubes. I have found it a bit loose on bottom turns (which could be a good thing for vert?)
However i dont surf that way on fishes. It feels insanely good through cutbacks and so easy to put through turns but squirrally on the 5ft day, i blew most of the good waves untill i squatted or nursed the forehand bottom turns.
Backhand for me i didnt even bother trying that day.
Would larger fins such as future controllers reduce the squirrel effect? or perhaps i just need more time to get used to the rocker. maybe i just went too thick.
Im 65kg the boards 5’11 by 20 by 2 1/2.
Thanks for any information.
Oh and the shaper ridesa similar one himself in indo and loves it in double overhead waves.
I have experienced a similar thing with a round tail keel finned egg. Compared to my old swallow tail keel fish, it is much more loose, and bottom turns aren’t as sure. I feel I have to nurse bottom turns. I think I prefer the swallow tail version. I also think the swallow tail adds much more drive compared to the round tail
I agree the front fins look to toed. The trailer fins look fine. A fifth fin would help a little maybe. The outline looks more shortboard then fish like?
Take a picture of the bottom of the board with it standing upright eg leaning against a wall and keep the camera parallel to the board otherwise its difficult to judge angles of fin boxes due to camera ‘distortion’. Or measure the toe in.
My immediate reaction is have you got your back foot right over the fins or are you riding the board a bit forward like you do with a swallow tail keel fish? Especially with the increased tail rocker you may need to get that back foot back.
Are the Stretch quad rears double foiled? Concave or convex? Early ones were something like 50/50 (like rear thruster centre fin) but they may be different now. I would swap them out for flat on one side if convex . Have you got fins to play with? Does it feel like the fins are working together or that the rears are trying to overtake the fronts?
I also have scimitars which are pretty big convex(?) fins meant for small surf but might give the fronts a try the rears are pretty small pivots.
stats-
Scimitar Quad
Front Fins:** Scimitar Quad**
**
Height:** 4.52 in, 11.50 cm Base:4.37 in, 11.10 cm Area:15.39 sq in, 99.29 sq cm
Recommended Rears: **375 Pivot Rear**
**
Height:** 3.75 in, 9.50 cm **
Base:2.82 in, 7.20 cm
Area:** 8.29 sq in, 53.48 sq cm Base Depth:1/2 & 3/4 in
With the SCIMITAR fronts we reccomend the PIVOT rear fin at a
height of 3.75" which is a straight up fin that has our world famous
80/20 tow foil on it.
Ialso have Future EA in fibreglass which are meant for powerful surf on shortboards. they seem larger than the stretch and are meant to never slide out. In an eggy fish thing like this
with its width, they might not have enough area. But i could mess around with scimitar fronts in the front and EA fronts in the rear…
I havent tried the fins above except stretch supplied… but was thinking these below would improve it somewhat as they are designed for boards like this-
That looks like a really fun shape. Based on the photo (could be misleading) it also looks like your rear fins are too far up (close to the front fins). This makes it really loose and fast, but unstable and lacking drive on bottom turns (as you describe). What are the fin placement #s?
Shape is somewhat similar, size - not so much; 6-6 x 22 x 2-5/8. The fins are VectorII QF4’s w/ 375 pivot rears.
Bottom is totally different, slight vee off the thick tail which has a very hard edge up past the fins.
I’m 6’ tall and weigh 165lbs. Normal rear foot placement is over the front fins on bottom turns
and
the board is put hard on the rail.
I’ve found if the rear foot is to far back it just pivots around the rail fins and slides out. But the same characteristics that were a liability become an advantage on the face when I step back… might just take some getting used to.
Ok sorry for not updating any requested photos or dimensions but only a fish eye helmet cam is available at the moment.
I also wanted to wait for some Controller fins to arrive and try out in the right conditions for this board.
Today was fun 2-3 feet long fast lefts, a bit high tide at first but getting hollower later on.Also fun bowly long rights linking up with shallow bank on the shore. The boards drive increased dramatically with the controllers.
It felt like a proper swallow tail fish highlining with awesome speed down the line. Today my mind has changed about the board, from being a small wave mini mal substitute and mainly good for cutbacks to being a possible travel companion in good waves.
Only thing is the drive and down the line speed, which went well both ways, limited the cutback turning radius.
On a left only wave or right only wave, i feel like trying out the red stretch’s on the cutback side and controllers on the inside rail.
line a straight edge up to the fin and see how far (or not far in your case) they are toed off the nose. if toed too much, maybe re-route new holes, and set new boxes. It’ll look like crap but maybe surf better. anyhow…thats what I would do if I were in your situation. good luck
