Lately I’ve started to see the advantage of the single fin ( as opposed to tri/quad fins) gun in biggish surf, 2-4X overhead(in N. California). I’ve been playing around with different sized, raked and flexed single fins. What are the members thoughts on what type of fin is best… I’ve been leaning towards an 8. 5 Skip Frye ( a little flex, stand up shape with minimal rake). It seems like the rail affects forward projection more than the fin, and that guns need to be nimble…Large, stiff fins might be too rigid and unwieldy with size and bump… Anyway, I’d appreciate your perspectives.
Are you serious? I grew up surfing single fins and when on the North Shore the in late 70's and early 80's that's all I rode besides a twin fin. Late 80's early 90's on thruster and what a dream. Large Left point breaks 3 triple overhead down in Chile all on thrusters. Guatemala beach breaks (Like Newport with no people) double overhead gaping open barrels. Thruster tube rides right and left. Single fins for a Hippy Vibe on big glassy day's is cool. Even Gerry Lopez rides a Thruster these day's. Don't let me stop you I'm just a bit jaded.
To stay on topic. Go with a Brewer Template. What size gun do you plan to ride will also deterime the fin size? 7'6" Single fin pin tail = 8" Brewer fin.
A mate from down under with my North Shore Paul Gross Semi-Gun 9-3 single fin…works well in both small waves and as big as I have been willin to tackle(2 times OH ±)
Thanks for the comments. My feelings about single fins work for guns as that they give a lot of forward projection off the bottom turn and they handle a flatter tail rocker than a cluster.
this is a 9'0 I made about 6 years ago (handshaped) - Since then I have added a bit more width to the nose and have gone from 2 3/4 to 3 1/8 on thickness.
I will look for the OWL CHAPMAN GUN photo's I have somewhere. I made 6 Guns with permission (Copies). He got a royality so it was done proper. I had his 7'6, 8'0 and 8'6 single fins. 8" brewer fins were put in all of them. I have the fin template somewhere? I was surfing Sunset about 7 years ago on a 7'6 pintail and it was easy 3x overhead and sets were filling in at the West Peak. All the older guys were on 10'0 and 11'0 s. The caugth the best waves that day. I told myself never again will I be under gunned. Laurence's gun looks like it can handle!
Lately I've started to see the advantage of the single fin ( as opposed to tri/quad fins) gun in biggish surf, 2-4X overhead(in N. California). I've been playing around with different sized, raked and flexed single fins. What are the members thoughts on what type of fin is best... I've been leaning towards an 8. 5 Skip Frye ( a little flex, stand up shape with minimal rake). It seems like the rail affects forward projection more than the fin, and that guns need to be nimble..Large, stiff fins might be too rigid and unwieldy with size and bump... Anyway, I'd appreciate your perspectives.
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Hi Laurence, Here's a cross of a Brewer / Parish from the late 70's Gun Template. Mahalo,Larry
That's a good fin there boss! That's what I'm using as the center fin on my tri-fin longboard. If you have to choose between vertical (Brewer) and rakey (Fibreglas Fin Co), choose the rakey fin for its projection.
I have to agree with surf-ding on the single fin stuff though. Talk to anybody that's 45 and older and learned on a single, I doubt you will find many that think single fins are worth going back to.
so for me is not so smart do thrusters for big guns
Interesting Comment Reverb?
I must be the biggest KOOK? I make all my Todos Guns Thrusters? I still make single fin guns for sunset for some 55 year olds that still charge. I Feel better on a Thruster these days. I must be a pussy?
I will have to run that by my friend Pat R. and see what he say's about your quote. He has been putting thrusters on his big wave guns for at least 20 years. I surfed only single fins in the seventies and early 80's on the North Shore. Years later on a thruster in big Pipe or Sunset felt more stable. What do I know? I'm a old man now.
I appreciate the comments. I ride singles, tri-fins and quads in bigger surf. Tri-fins are my least favorite configuration for guns in far Northern California surf, they seem to track more as you are forced to shift rail to rail. The surf here in winter is big but typically disorganized, bumpy and thick. This makes it hard to get into because there is a lot of water moving around, often not a reef to focus the swell, but sandbars with shifting takeoff zones. While I like quads, you have to pump them or turn tighter arcs to get the speed out of them to make long sections and with the bump, you often don’t want to be turning; you want to project far out into the pocket and find a high line. Part of the problem is that the surf here is often not very good, it’s just big when the rainy season hits. So you need a bigger board just to get into or away from things and the single fin seems to handle that length and thickness well, maintaining speed and stability. I don’t think single fins are the be all and end all, but they have their utility and are pretty interesting to ride. Fin configuration and size affects they way they ride significantly; I’m still trying to get a sense of what works and what doesn’t. Adios
A small adendum that comes to mind. What the pros ride (or shape) or where the boards are ridden doesn’t always translate most effectively to ones local break and conditions. I had a beautiful Alexander 9’6 tri fin with thin, elegant rails, perfect for Hawaii but lacking in paddle ability for Northern California (especially in a 5 mil wetsuit).
Side note: I sold the board and the guy who bought it didn’t make his drop on waves at 14’ @18 seconds (he came down with the lip) and it snapped in half. He almost drowned trying to get in.
Unfortunately, I’ve never been to Hawaii, but I expect they have better shaped waves then we do here. One thing that comes to mind is that one might be better off purchasing a board shaped locally, by someone who surfs the same breaks you do and understands local conditions than something shaped for differnt conditions somewhere else. Single fins are popular here amongst the guys with experience in Humboldt County conditions; I thought it was a retro thing (and rode multi-finned boards) at first but now I think it is a function of efficacy. I have no idea, are thick railed, single fin guns popular in Hawaii for Waimea and Sunset? Long and short of it, go with your local shaper!
Reverb I too love to spice things up and you know by now that I like to have with this stuff. Pat Rawson who is a good friend of mine made all my son's guns one winter for the North Shore and they were so sweet. Cino made a few as well all thrusters and so solid. However a lot of big wave chargers are making the switch to quads. I had Nathan Fletchers Maverick's gun (Stretch) in my shop and fin set up was a quad. I seen some videos of Nathan getting pitted on that baby and I like the Quad set-up on Guns. I plan to build a few this fall.
You are not impressed with some designs of some of well know shapers. Like music on some albums. 1/2 the songs are great and the other half I can't even listen to. Not all shapes are gems. However these guy's do make some gems. I wrote a Bushman Gun in big Makaha and did it handle some 3x Plus overhead. It was like a four wheel drive on water!
