the new Thrailkill fin design..?

General Discussion
1

are we getting any closer to a look, Bill?

And as an aside…get out of the water few days ago, walking up the beach with one of the two guys I’d been sharing the lineup with, has a brand new board I’m checking out, nice speed egg Stewart he’d custom ordered and had shipped north.

Only it had cheap white plastic Futures fins, not even composite, didn’t know they even made them anymore, though these were obviously brand new.  So obviously made for Stewart as the price point fin they ship (shame on Stewart) unless someone upcharges for a specific fin.

“those fins come with the board?”

“Well, yea.”

“Do yourself, a favor, get a real set of fins.  You’re a pretty big guy, try the Simon Anderson L’s, great fin, lot of power and drive, should work great with that board.”

“huh, never paid much attention to fins.  Really think it would make a difference?”

“Mind me asking how long you’ve been surfing.”

“over 30 years.”

color me dumbfounded…

 

 

2

the new std futures composite is now white, no longer the natural color. I agree, looks like crap.

 

why they changed…?

3

The short answer is yes.     Before year end there will be a board in Florida with a pair of the fins.

4

 

 

" Before year end there will be a board....

.... in Florida with a pair of the fins. "

 

hi Bill !

 

  so , after , what is it now , EIGHT months or something ?

 

 that's IT ???

 

  the net result of us waiting patiently is ....

 

  ONE board ?

 

in FLORIDA  [?!!]

 

  [what about ....North Shore , Hawaii ...in the winter swells there ? ] 

    "...and a pair for Slater and John John Florence , to ride in the finals of the pipe masters ,  Just so the world can see how much difference [ your ?] "amazing new  fins" really DO make ." [ In reality , that could read :  'a new foil' , on Herb Spitzer's fin , that he very kindly , and generously , lent you ...thanks , Herb ! ]   

So, the obvious question would seem to be ...

 

  is HERB going to get a pair too, Bill, as it seemed he was kind of the "co-pilot" , originally ?    .... or not ?

 

cheers !

 

  ben

 

p.s. -

 

    LCC , that 'guy' you spoke to ...  ask him next time you see him ,

 

  if he "would also put 25 dollar retreads on a Formula One race car ?"

 

[ But , then again .... maybe his reply to that would also be ...

 

  "oh , do tyres that make that much of a difference ?  I didn't think they did " etc ... [what a dickhead ! ] haha

 

 

 

 

5

I had a friend that got a longboard and never changed or even moved the fin from the way he got it.

One day, he was complaining about how he couldn’t turn the board as tightly as he wanted.  I said, just push the fin forward an inch or two.  He never did - ended up buying a new longboard that “turns better”…  Go figure.

6

"  I had a friend that got a longboard ....

One day, he was complaining about how he couldn't turn the board as tightly as he wanted...." 

 

ha !

 

did you tell him

 

"maybe if you didn't ride a board with 9' plus of rail ,

 

 you could do tighter [radius] turns !"

 

I wonder if people were this stupid BEFORE computers , or have they just become more stupid , through lack of thinking ??  [as a result of computers "googling " it for them , perhaps ? ... worth ...er...'thinking' about eh ?!]

 

 

7

Ben,

Doing some massive promotion of the fin, is of little interest to me.    The conception and design process is what is most satisfying to me.     I’m also doing a new personal board (7’ 10’’ x 23’') that will have a pair of the fins on it.    The fins will be high aspect ratio, ‘‘reverse’’ fins,(Similar to what people call Spitfire fins) with my special treatment of the foil.    Same fins are going to Flordia too.    I may or may not authorize photo’s to be taken of them.    Eventually someone else will blunder onto the concept.    All it takes is a creative mind.

8

cheers

 

will Herb get a pair , so they get ridden in california surf ?

 

and in a shorter board ?

 

so...

 

 are they eventually going to be all THREE fins , or a 'pair' as you say ?

 

ben

9

On ya Bill, good to see the creative spirit never fades.

Can’t wait to see them.

10

In my boards case, and in the case of the ‘‘Florida board’’, both will have a pair of fins because they are configured as twinfins.    In a three fin configuration, all three fins CAN be modified, or only the rail fins, leaving the center fin ‘‘normal.’’    The modified single fin, as tested by Herb, is all you really ever need.    Recall, if you will, that testing revealed that in it’s modified form the fin tapped more of the waves energy.    Like increasing the horsepower of an engine.

11

patience is a virtue

…well that and money helps too…

jeez, even I’m on the edge of my seat after all this Thrailkill subtle low key marketing in this thread

Enjoying every minute of it!

Warren

 

 

 

12

Love my Spitfire. Pushed all the way back on a Becker 9'6" UFO stabilizes the board for 63 year old reflexes but allowed me to find the "gas peddle" in trim to scoot through those sections in those South Bay/N. Orange County spots.

13

Well, that is not my intent.    I’m not selling anything.     Not trying to push, or promote anything.   The modified foil is what it is, and does what it does.    The original exposure of the topic, in another thread, was simply me putting my finger in the wind to see if there was any interest.    But, I do believe it is the better mousetrap.

14

"LCC , that ‘guy’ you spoke to …  ask him next time you see him ,

 

  if he “would also put 25 dollar retreads on a Formula One race car ?”

 

 

I saw the guy, a respectable surfer btw,  later on in the parking lot, got to talking energy storage/release with fiberglass vs. plastics, blah, blah…showed him the difference in ‘twang’ between his fins and the ones on my board, said he was going to pick up a set of higher end fins and give them a try…

As Yogi Berra would say, like Deja Vu all over again…seem to cycle this exact conversation on a regular basis…one convert was a gal who’d really been improving in spite of the plastic fins on her 2+1 setup, she upgraded to the recommended, "can’t believe how much better this board works’…

Never understood how folks can spend $$ on a surfboard, then not spend $ on fins.  Boards come and go, good fin sets tend to be around a lot longer.  And personally love fin boxes, make each board so much more tunable when you can try multiple fin combo’s, mixing up sides and rears

preaching to the choir…lol

 

15

I know at least two reputable shapers around here who prefer the newer composite fins to fiberglass.   One was a well known pro surfer in his day.    

 

Maybe the science on that isn’t quite so settled.  

 

 

16

Did either of them say why?       Was their timing impacted by fin rebound?    Too quick?    Too slow?       Curious.

17

I’m intrigued by the twin-fin/Florida comment. I know a certain Floridian fellow who prefers twin fins and surfs better than most in spite of his age. It happens, he also knows Herb and tested and raved about the superchargers.

Can you share who they are going to in FL?

 

18

Mr T,

One of them is Brian Bulkley.  He’s commented on the other forum several times about preferring the feel of the composites and he recommends them for his boards.  I may be mischaracterizing his comments but my take on his comments is he that likes the slightly muted feel and thinks they’re smoother.  

Since the other one doesn’t participate on the internet and hasn’t made any public comments I’d prefer not to drop his name, but he’s been building boards from start to polish for nearly 40 years, too.  He really likes the Vectors composite fins and he keeps going back to them for his personal boards.    

I have friends who really like fiberglass and I have friends who can’t tell the different between FG and composites.  I’m sure skill and style figure in there somewhere, too.  

19

Thank you.   

20

i got a new single fin board boyz !

guess what fin goes in it ?

herb

btw ,bill .........just send the red-x fins back .......er......meet up ?

they are rare and would like to bring them home.

meanwhile..............

let's set-up a day,and you can see the fin in action.

got the fever again.........

........must be the added stress..........

..........2 daughters in puberty....

.....and a wife in menopause.

you think you could survive this ?

biggest wave i have EVER dropped in on !!!!

lol'

wanna piece of me ?

lol'

you gotta wait in line first !!!!!!!

herb