Seeking advice on a fishy quad.

udo · September 20, 2012, 7:05pm

Gentlemen,

While doing some homework on board design and fin setup i stumbled across **Swaylocks**. After working my way through a lot of threats, i am impressed with the amount of information, know how and your willingness to share. And the friendly attitude in the lineup that sets swaylocks apart from many other forums i know.

Please allow me to pick your brains.

I am currently redesigning a fish that i drew up in 2004.

The original specs were 6’-4” x 21 1/2 / Nose 12 @ 1’/ Tail 16 @ 1’ /swallowtail 7” wide 2” deep. Low nose and tail rocker. Thickness 2-3/4, center of buoyancy a bit to the tail, full boxy rails. Flat to single concave, Thruster.

Designed as a friendly, forgiving small wave board, it proved to be real wavecatcher and a very comfortable ride in all conditions up to steep(not hollow) OH+ surf as well.

The board worked really good for me and after surfing a range of different boards during my last trip, i am planning to take over most of the original features for a new board. But i want to make it a bit more maneuverable.

Despite having a couple years of experience, i am not the best surfer and have got always problems to draw real turns. Mainly just leaning on the rails to turn.

I am not looking to go vertical or to move a lot of spray, but being able to do a reliable bottom turn and even more important, a solid cutback and fluently connecting turns would improve my surfing quite a bit.

My surfing is described best as cruising, take off and speed down the line or, just follow the flow, make the next section and try to get the most time out of(on) the wave. No radical maneuvering.

I know, the bigger part of the problem are my limited skills and the complete lack of talent as an surfer, but i always suspected that the the board is holding me back a bit as well.

What i am trying to do is to fine tune the original design. I’d like to try more aggressive rails and a quad setup to gain more speed and make it more turnable for a lousy surfer like me.

**And here the trouble starts. **

McKee, Mair, Stretch, something completely different? Reading discussions about each system, their pros and cons, the only consensus everyone agrees to, seems to be **depends**! The wave, the shape, the rider...

Witch one **could** be the best “quad philosophy” in your opinion, considering the shape i got in mind?

Easy way out, put 7 finboxes in the board and play around with the different options. But i don’t really like that idea. It will be the last ditch I’ll jump, if i can’t make up my mind.

Witch fin system would an experienced shaper use in this situation? Any input and recommendations how to skin this cat would be highly appreciated.

Sorry for the long read and thanks for your time and patience.

Udo

johnmellor · September 21, 2012, 7:17pm

Consistent reliable bottom turns, solid cutbacks, and connected turns are more about positioning, timing and skill than anything. Skilled surfers on good waves have done them for years on some relatively shitty equipment.

By keeping the basic board dimensions the same, you could install a set of 4 boxes and tailor the ride by switching out or just repositioning your fins.

Probox, Lokbox, and others have any number of quad-specific fin designs. Best thing to do would be to get the board finished with your choice of boxes and start experimenting. Seemingly minor changes in fin design and placement might surprise you.

Regardless of board shape, there would be a big change if you switched from a 'Speed Dialer' setup to a 'Medium sized single-foiled front/Small sized double-foiled rears' setup.

Basic quad layout seems to be: rear fins 6" up, front fins 11" up. Place the trailing edges 1 1/2" or so from the rail. Add a bit of cant and toe-in. If using Probox you can alter the cant angle with their nifty inserts. Different fins will come with the insertion tabs at various angles.

udo · September 21, 2012, 7:25am

Thanks John.

Yes, the surfers skills are the most important factor in the mix. I am working on that.

I am also aware of the possible fin combinations a quad setup offers. One reason i am looking into quads.

The kind of input/ opinions i am looking for at the moment is where to place the rear fins, close to the rails or more to the stringer like McKee does.

Udo

wouter · September 21, 2012, 9:23am

hi udo

i have 2 fishes, all rail finned quads.

with the wider tail, you aint surfing it flat too much, like a shortboard,rails all the time for me, pumping, turning

my belief is that mckee is for more shorterboards, performance boards thatare rather narrow.

good luck!

the bamboo one has the robin mair fin lay out

the coil fish i dont know, but surfsvery nice too

coil is 17 inch tail

bamboo is 16 1/8 tail

both have good rocker, not flat like kneesurf type lis fishes