What kind of performance do you get with thicker vs standard?
I was not sensitive enough at the time to quantify but on the last board I got from him I had a box intalled instead and used a thin, flexie, Liddle type fin and like it much better, more of a load up then spring out of the turn vs how Tracy surfed which was explosive speed and sudden gouging carves.
I’m thinking for my new board a 6’10" x 23" wide x 3 1/4 thick board with wings and channels. Further, to have thicker keel fins with a small center nupster. No flex or not much flex - I’m not sure how that will react in turning
The way I found my current bay: a bit over a year ago, I stopped at my favorite spot to see if I was surfing that day. When I got out of the car, a guy was there, standing next to fins laid out on on a wall, overlooking the spot (low slung wall, maybe knee high). I was interested.
We started talking, the fins were 3D printed, and I have a fam member that, at the time, was doing some 3D printing, and the material looked the same as my brolaw was using to print things for the kids. I wondered how that material would hold up to the stresses that fins experience during use.
Long story short, it seemed like the material was a bit brittle, and like it could be good flex-wise (e.g. in a Greenough style fin) but like that type of fin would subject it to being broken, because the material wasn’t yet that sturdy. 1st thought: because I had had some fins made by Rich/Halcyon in the past, and his “Mental” (I had one already, for a bonzer) had a thicker than common spine and base. I put the 3D fin maker and Rich in touch. And from that, a bit later, I ended up with the bay I’m in now.
Rich makes some thick single fins. I am entirely uncertain whether he’ll be happy about me highlighting him, right now, but a bit over a year later than that 1st introduction and my getting the bay, I have seen a bunch of different fins Rich is making that have wide/thick bases. I have Rich’s fins on almost all my boards now – the normal process is make a board, ride it with all the stock fin options I have, find the best one, discuss what is and isn’t working with that set, and then Rich makes me something that 90% or more of the time is better than that referent set…rejoice.
The irony is that – just keeping it accurate, here – those singles that made me put Rich and the 3D fin maker in contact are actually more hit and miss than the rest. And “the rest” far outnumber the singles, because I am mostly making shortboards. I have no idea why that is, and that’s why I mention it. Rich, being as curious as he is, I think, would appreciate the input in that regard, though we haven’t spoken about it yet.
Rich is a good person to get in touch with about thick foiled singles. Though he might be upset with me for saying so and making him busier.
The 3D fin printer is now making some of the best fin options for foamies around, a year+ later. They greatly improve the performance of Wavestorms and other foamies. This bugs me, I’ll admit, but it is what it is, and this guy – the 3D finmaker is a master surfer and is walking the walk, riding Wavestorms in waves of consequence.
3D fin maker’s Instagram handle is @stormfins. If you have a foamy, you can thank me later. 
If you don’t have a foamy, it could be worth your while to put a bug in Rich’s ear. And tell him I sent you, so that I take the heat.
Almost all fins are 9.6mm or less for reasons of production cost.
You should be able to see from photo if the fin is thicker than the base.
Other than that, thick fins are great but make sure the leading edge is very rounded, otherwise the beneficial features of the extra thickness are lost.
“Long story short”??