Some 6 months later…
After losing 1, and breaking the other, of the first sharky cedar fin set, I was in a bit of a haste to finish the second set, and did not spend nearly enough time on the foil and was not really happy with their planshape or foil when they were finished.
My attempt to bridge the broken probox where the grub screw was ripped out when I lost the one fin running over the ‘I didn’t see you’ drop in artist, was a failure. The epoxy I used attempting to rebuild the area around the grubscrew, some older clear coat system3, well I had just enough left in some small bottles for the small volume required for this task, but perhaps something happened in the year+ since I had last opened the containers. Anyway the carefully weighed and mixed epoxy, after two days obviously was not going to harden as it should, and out came the router and probox jigs, and I installed a New Probox.
Shortly after this was completed some 5 months ago, I Wound up taking a road trip with my 81 year old Dad across country, 2600 miles door to door, but drove ~4600 instead zigzaging out west, sight seeing for a week, and surfed only once on the East Coast over the winter. I was not really chasing it when there, there was certainly more opportunity to chase weather systems/conditions to get some quality glide time, but I was not on it. Awaiting groundswells and conditions a week out, south of Conception, is so much easier.
I rode the new sharky cedar fins In Patrick AFB in Florida on waist to chest high offshore short period not very impressive windswell midway in that 4 month journey. The HWS and new sharky cedar Fins felt very quick and very loose in what was mostly gutless dribble, but I was out of the water 2+ months at that point, overindulging in foodstuffs and beer and should likely have been on my Log, in retrospect.
Drove back across country about a month ago and have been scraping off rust, lots of it. I am Probably the heaviest and in the worst paddling shape of my life, but am off the beer and eating much wiser too.
I have gotten several sessions on my singlefin Log HWS, and this 6’11"#7 HWS with the newest sharky cedar rail fins, and am starting to get some flow and fitness back, and the last two days rode the new sharky cedar rail fins with both the 8 degree and then 6 degree inserts then back to 8, all with the 0.45 sized MrMik Gwhale turbucle fin in center Probox.
First the 6 degree inserts, it kept feeling like the board wanted to be turned flat, and when I allowed it to be flat turned on a lesser turn, would swing/pivot way too fast and draw these weird lines that irritated me greatly. The 8 degree inserts feel way way better when on rail, but The whole board is just too loose with this fin set up. Every hard turn and the board is turning in a way shorter arc than I had planned on, seemingly without losing any speed, and the second half of the turn is spent trying to maintain my footing/awkward recovery, rather than initiating the top turn where I had intended. I moved the 0.45GW fin back, moved the rail fins up and back and up again in teh 8 degree inserts, and pretty much just had to accept the fact I cannot turn this board as hard as I want to, and can, with these specific fins, and not have my legs collapse under me as the arc is too short and the G force too much, it just feels unnatural and likely looks worse. I Very much wonder what some uber fit rubber kneed ripper could do with such low drag fins that also have so little resistance to redirection once they figured out the new lines that could be taken.
These super high aspect ratio fins seem to present little to no resistance to changing direction, and it is not so easy to get used to when really pushing hard. If one is not really pushing hard, then their low drag speedy and crisp nature is quite enjoyable.
If one were to make a vehicle driving comparison regarding turning these fins compared to more traditionally raked dol-fins, it would be like a sports car that was 3 full turns of the wheel lock to lock, then driving the same vehicle the next day and only 2 full turns turned the wheels the same amount. It would be hard to do 10 laps on the 3 turn lock to lock dolfin then change the steering gear, and then do the next 10 laps with 2 full turns lock to lock superHAR fin. The straight aways the sports car would feel like it had noticeably more torque though, and then find weaker brakes for that upcoming hairpin. Thrilling, but lap times would likely suffer until one got very used to it.
The first set of slightly larger sharky cedar fins(RIP) felt way better, their tips were slightly behind the trailing edge of the base, but the newer smaller ones are not. I did not have enough fin panel remaining to work with, and the halo added after the fact, did not make up for it as I was hoping, once I foiled the halo.
The yellow turbucle center fin, well these things in the longboard can achieve much higher AOA before they stall and when they do it is gradual and predictable and seemingly much less drag in full stall, so these sharky high Aspect ratio cedar fins and this 0.45GW center fin is simply too loose, too pivotal, the board pivots on teh inside fin, the Turbucle fin has no issues slightly stalled in such a position and the board swings up the face so much faster than expected/desired when I push a hard bottom turn. I love a hard bottom turn, often get compliments on them when I ride my log or this 6’11". My Log I widen my stance and have mostly gotten used to a shorter duration higher yield bottom with MrMik’s Gwhale turbucle fin but I can still overrotate and find myself with not enough time to get the 25Lb board on the opposite rail.
I do not feel like I am surfing well on my 6’11" with this fin set up, when I am pushing hard, as I am drawing out longer lines in my mind. The board’s turning radius with these fins, has shortened that line way too much . I kept feeling That it is throwing off my timing, and I simply do not currently have enough leg power to handle the g forces that these fins can allow in that shortened turning radius, and practically no fin resistance to that turning. the resistace is sinking the rail only, it feels like. I can’t yet take advantage of the difference, and do not know if I want to learn to adjust to this new feel, I mean I ain’t no spring chicken. I just want to go fast turn hard. First part is there, second part I’ve been going over the handlebars.
So this extreme high aspect ratio rail fin experiment has been enlightening, and I think one must bounce off the extremes to find some happy middle ground, but I also find myself reluctant to reintroduce a traditionally raked factor to fins on this board, as the low drag quick accellerating nature of such a high aspect ratio is a bit addicting. Especially on my 9’7" single fin, but that of course is an entirely different style of surfing and that board’s top speed with so much surface area, tail rocker, and soft rails is inherently limited, even with a much lower drag fin.
I’ve made a new fin panel for the next sets of rail fins. I Liked the looks and flex and relative ease of prepping then laying up 3 layers of woven roving when making a panel, even if it is not quite fully saturated as desired, so three layers were recently laminated to waxed glass with 5/16" of WRCedar planks left over from the board build weighted atop. I can easily make 4 thick fins with a lower aspect ratio or 6 high aspect ratio flat sided fins from this panel, but so far have not busted out the new cardboard for making new potential templates for what comes next.
Part of me wants to replicate the First set of fins that I broke/lost, as they seemed to impart more directional stability, and somewhat prevent the extreme overrotation that occurs with these second set of fins.
Part of me wants to build a lower aspect ratio center fin with these low drag super HAR rail fins. I like the very low drag high responsiveness of these rail fins, there is absolutely no signs that they are drifty or not enough fin, I just miss the self centering and stabilization and longer turning radius, that drag and resistance imparted with the raked tips and a lower aspect ratio helping rail and fin to work together in a more familiar manner.
Wondering if I can gain the control I want keeping these rail fins and changing up the center fin, and not have the board feel too draggy, in comparison to the 0.45GW fin. I got those pesky Quad boxes too, to confuse the matter further too.
Wish making fin panels and foiling fins and dialing them to fit properly, was less time consuming, or I was flush with cash, and there were more untraditional looking fins I could experiment with, and be emotionally removed from the effort of designing and making them. and thus be less inclined to want like them by default.