getting ready to order a mid-length board for shoulder to overhead punchy outside/inside beachbreak here in the PNW. Ride mostly mid length board these days being both an elder and an ortho wreck…lol.
Being heavy on the front foot gas pedal, have had problems finding the sweet spot on quads to date, so plan on getting a five box made, so I can try another quad and default to a tri if it doesn’t work out, or go back and forth if it does…
Either going with a soft diamond tail or roundtail, moderate rocker, single to double, dims before discussion with shaper for final tweaking are 7’6 x 14.5N x 21.75 x 15T, fairly beefy foil.
so welcome any feedback on DT vs. roundtail for quads, reccomended quad fin placement, and fins themselves. On my current tri quiver, riding large Simon Andersons.
Hi Icc
Can’t comment on the diamond tail with quad but my current go to board is a round tail multifin…have only ridden it as a quad and its amazing. I’m equally very front foot - have it set up with FCS PC7 quads - that’s their large quad set. Amazing results - best I’ve every had for holding in and smoother cutbacks. I’m no ripper but it’s seen the inside of barrels at my local reef that’s got some power and holding in - even on late drops has been no problem at all, this has surprised me as the board has a full outline with a wide round tail. I used the Mackee data for the multifin setup - been using these, occassionally with slight tweeks for the past few years and never had any complaints.
You can see the board I’m talking about here: http://www.thirdshade.com/2011_10_01_archive.html
Hi Icc
Can’t comment on the diamond tail with quad but my current go to board is a round tail multifin…have only ridden it as a quad and its amazing. I’m equally very front foot - have it set up with FCS PC7 quads - that’s their large quad set. Amazing results - best I’ve every had for holding in and smoother cutbacks. I’m no ripper but it’s seen the inside of barrels at my local reef that’s got some power and holding in - even on late drops has been no problem at all, this has surprised me as the board has a full outline with a wide round tail. I used the Mackee data for the multifin setup - been using these, occassionally with slight tweeks for the past few years and never had any complaints.
You can see the board I’m talking about here: http://www.thirdshade.com/2011_10_01_archive.html
Hey icc, if you've been having trouble with quads lately, how about a centre fin box, as well as quads? Im talking single fin centre box. You can always get an FCS adaptor and use an fcs fin in the box, but you'll be able to try it as a single ( or even 2+1 ) that way. I think midlength and single fin go together, and 2+1 setups can be more manouverable than you think. But you'll still be able to surf it as a quad, or thruster. Decisions, decisions!.
My last midlength went awesome as a thruster. Bit of drive lost, but the extra rail line made up for it. And when bringing it down and around from the shoulder, the tri fin let it come round very quick!.
I have the same problem with my 5 box board: It flies in thruster, but I can’t get it to work in quad. Maybe I didn’t find the right finset yet, but I tried a few configurations, and none of them came close to the thruster performance wise.
Go the safe route and ask for 5 boxes! Beerfan’s advice sounds nice too, maybe even better!!
I’ve done a number of mid-length hybrid and egg shapes with 5-fin convertible set-up. (I use a modification of the McKee system for setting the quad fins.) This has afforded me the opportunity to ride each as a quad and then as a thruster. What I’ve found is that the thruster set-up is looser, but has less drive than the quad. Also, the thruster seems to work better in smaller waves. As wave size drops below shoulder-high, the drag of that extra fin in the quad becomes more apparent. Both quads and tri-s need fins that match rider size and the wave conditions. In general, smaller riders need smaller fins, and smaller conditions need smaller fins. Vice versa for larger riders & larger waves. Smaller fins are inherently less stable than larger fins. Less stability could mean less control or more responsiveness, depending upon the skill-level of the rider. More experienced/higher skilled surfers can get away with smaller fins. You need to experiment with your fins to find what works best for your size/ability in any given condition. I encourage people to maintain a quiver of cheap, i.e. composite, fins so that they can do this experimentation before investing in more expensive (and better performing) glass or wood fins. I like the stability, hold and drive of the quad when wave size begins to exceed head-high. This is probably more a reflection of my surfing style at age 64. You won’t see me doing vicious hacks in OH conditions. I’m the guy just trying to make the drop, carve a couple of good turns and escape without kooking-out.
Seems to be 3 primary setups on quads on the rear fin placement - run closer to the rail, the Mckee setup closer to stringer, and “split the distance between rail and stringer”.
From what I can understand, the closer to rail set-up draws the longest line, the Mckee setup provides a sharper attack angle due to the greater triangulation of the fin cluster, and the “split distance” basically…splits the difference of the two.
Am I on track or over simplifying a misconception…? (sure wouldn’t be the first time…lol).
Icc I think you've summed it up pretty well, but McKee's website is a wealth of info - go there and start reading. He tells you what fins to use and what to alter etc. I've just gone to a McKee quad rounded pin (have always surfed thrusters) and am loving it, got the 5-plug setup just in case haven't even felt the need to ride it as 3 fin to try it yet, but it's something I need to do. Make sure you use a shaper who RIDES quads a lot and has tried heaps of combos and - the only people I ever hear whinge about quads are ones built by shapers who had only done a couple....
for me, as you turn, the inside fins do the work, the outside fin can be out of the water. if you look at twinnys, they pivot and do accomplish super tight turns, even speed wobbles. look at vids of them being surfed. the rear fin of a tri fin setup gives stability but reduces those wobbles, takes away the loose feel, reduces that instability for lack of a better word. a quad on the rails is a variation of a twinny, mckee is a variation or closer to the thruster. i have tried both setups. tighter turns, small waves put them on the rails; longer turns, bigger waves use the mckee. there are othe factors like the fins themselves, rocker, outline, blablabla. just my opinion and observations. try both and give feedback!
Talked with my shaper and he’s going to set the rear fins closer to the stringer, but not
as much as the McKee set-up. He likes that combo for being loose and drivey with better
range from small into larger surf. I’ll post up some pic’s and test drive feedback once completed. Now just gotta decide on what fins to start with…
