The Bad Bwoy - fin placement...

been a while since my last couple of boards but back in the saddle,

made this one and just trying to decide where to put the fins to get a loose -ish board,

 

 

 

my last few have been a bit stiff and I have ended up putting a smaller trailer fin in

I quite liked the webber afterburner 6'10" i had as it had a nice balance of looseness and hold

however the webber boards have a lot of rocker and i think that the lack of rocker in my other boards (JC 6' 10" equaliser and the flame 6'9" http://www2.swaylocks.com/forums/2-shooters) had more to do with the stiffness rather than the fin setup

dimensions are

7' 0" x 20 11/16" x 2 15/16"
Volume: 46.ltrs

 

im thinking of 

 the trailer up 3.5" from the tips...

Moving the side fins 11.25" up from the tips...

.1.25" off the rail... 6 degrees cant...toed in 1" off the nose.

(yes its from another article, but that board was only a 6' 1")

 

its a 7 footer so would I be able to go 11.5 or even 12" up for the front fins?  keeping in mind im going for loose-ness

im 52 YO 95kg, mainly surf aucklands west coast - 3-6ft tricky beach breaks with plenty of push

 

opinions please !!

Hi, try the Mckee formula Quad setup, as you described its loose and still has drive and hold.

For your board I think fins would be 5 5/8" for the trailing edges of the back quads and 12 1/4" for the front fins, put a center plug in and have a back up plan if you dont like the quad at just under 4" from tail…

Kiora nocean, where are you in auckland?

 

Im not a big fan of quads and even less of 'chuck a fin box in the back' just in case!

but ill keep it in mind for my next one which will be a 6'10" 

I have a 6'8" quad (chinese special) i bought for my son that I occaisionally have a burl on and it goes OK... one has to keep an open mind

i had quads back in the early 80's and I reckon the latest ones still ride the same ( a bit stiffer than a twin /  faster but less drivey than a thruster) for all the  " we have the formula right now" talk that goes on

me in 1984 on a quad ;)

 

 

yep it was definitely a 4 fin, its got a big '4' on it LOL

 

 

That’s a good lookin board , my sort of dims , too.

I’ll keep an eye out for you.

We might have met already - I’ve chatted a couple of times with a guy about my age who was riding a Webber afterburner.

 

yeah probably me.... thats me on the left in the photo less hair now but just as black :)

just measured a few similar fin set ups boards in a shop then came back and messed around with what should work and ended up with 121/4 for the front fins trailing edge, may drop it back to 12 just to be somewhere nearer to the tried and tested 11" but i cant really see why the front fins shoud be pretty much in the same position for boards from 6ft to 9 ft .....

The fin placement on my 7’ 0  Simon Anderson Mollusc is  center  3 11/16 , sides  11 1/2 , 1 1/8 off the rail -

a buddie’s 7 ’ 0 Primal swallow tail is  center 3 3/4  , sides  11 1/2  , 1 3/16 from rail

and a 6’10 SD 2 I measured  is   c  3 1/2  , sides 11 1/4

a 7’6 Wayne Lynch Freeform  Surftec I checked is  3 1/2 and 12 1/2 .

Bit of grist for the mill …

aaaarrrggghhh!!!

yep im almost tempted to put a bunch of glass ons on it and move em around till it  'looks right' then put the plugs in there..

The mollusc would prob be the nearest to my board, looks like 11.5 is about normal for a 7 footer

guess it comes down to individual taste, measured up a couple of boards yesterday webber pulse and hughes link and both were very different. but still in the general vicinity of 3.5 / 11.5

looks like as long as im within cooee of 3.5 from the tail from the rear and 11 and a bit from the  tail  and and inch and a bit from the rail  ill be fine :D

PS had a chat with a local shaper yesterday by email and he said keep the fins as near to the rail as poss on a wide tailed board...

 

quite possibly the handiest thing I have found yet ;)

 

fin toe in calculator

http://www.kainoalani.com/design/toecalc.html

 

Kudos to the guys at Kainoalani Surfboards