On my 7’10’‘, i’ve surfed it the last 2 surfs as a thruster. Beng a 7’10’’ 2+1, the back of the centre fin is 8’’ from the tail, and the back of the side fins is another 7 1/2’’ in front of that. Im a front foot surfer, and i also seem to surf with my back foot more forward than most. THis setup is working great for me, the board is quite manouverable, and i definately notice it releasing better out of the lip. With the 2+1, i seem to “hang” with/in the lip, but the last 2 surfs, i’ve been able to turn down and out of the lip a lot easier and faster.
I did miss a bit of drive today ( it was only chest to head high ), especially in the foam, but the manouverability was great.
I remember a thread about placing the fin cluster forward for longer boards, which i think involved Greg griffin.
Anyway, does anyone have any luck/info regarding putting the fin cluster forward??.
Try reading Bert Burgers thread Big Boy Thrusters( I think). In a nutshell his point if I remember correctly was that he puts the thruster cluster up further for smaller surf and fins farther back for larger fast juicey waves. More float under your feet with the fins up which is not needed for speedy surf. Its a great read if I remember the thread title correct. Check it out…
Thanks mudybech, i’m trying to find that particular thread, i’ll check it out.
Reverb, it’s kind of a funboard x nugget. Wide tail, widepoint a little behind centre, and the nose is still wide, but a little narrower than the tail. Round nose, round tail. Im not that skilled, and i normally ride a 6’2’’ x 22 x 3’’ thick fish, so it is a bit of overkill, but it’s a ton of fun, which is what i wanted.
Heck yeah. Going smaller in fin size and farther forward with the cluster will definitely loosen a board up. Being able to stick a larger center fin farther back when the surf gets big can allow that same board to ride a wide range of surf. 2+1 IMO is one of the more versatile fin layouts. If I had a one-board quiver it would definitely be a 2+1 with the sidebites set forward.
gday Beerfan, I read your posts about your nugget style board having its wide point behind centre and measured my mate’s McCoy nugget and his board has the wide point 1" forward of centre. The McCoy has an extreme amount of tail area so keeping the wide point forward helps stop it from becoming to pivoty I think.
sounds like you are finding out what works for you, but to add to your collection of 2 + 1 measurements I found an old thread where I had measured the fin placement on the Donald Takayama 7’ 10" egg. Its not actually a 2 +1 and fits into the category which I think is called widowmaker - thruster sized side fins and bigger rear fin.
fins fairly far up but not as extreme as your measurements - rear fin 5" up and the front 13 1/2" (your front fins 15 1/2") up.
unfortunately I don’t have this board anymore (I lost all my old boards when relocating to Australia), but I used to ride the egg mainly from the tail.
maybe you could try your board as widowmaker setup? keep up the good experimenting!