Hi. I’ve just finished shaping my first 6’2" fish and I need to start considering fins fairly soon. I had a quick look in the archives and it seems that the twin fins should have no “cant” and no “toe in”. Is this correct I’m not sure what “toe in” is. Should the fins be parallel to the stringer. There was alot of talk about keel fins. What are keel fins. Any advice would be really welcomed. Brian (Ireland)
i’m not the fish expert but i feel that for more down-the-line waves, keep the fins parallel to the stringer and more vertical from the bottom. for a peakier type wave, toe the fins in about 1/8th inch (distance from stringer leading edge vs. trailing edge) and “cant” the fins about 5 degrees. keel fins have more base and more drive. think of a semicircle cut in have with the vertical section being the trailing edge. look at a site called mandelacustoms for some good examples. hope this helps.
There is a shitload of info on this in the archives. Search and you will find. Hard to make head and tail of it all though. Plywood keels on the blue board at http://www.swaylocks.com/resources/Detailed/721.html I’ll sum up what I’ve gathered. If it’s a ‘real’ fish, go with a twin set up. Placement depend on who you ask, but for symetric keel fins about 6 to 9" from tail tips, pretty parallell to stringer. Normally foiled fins about 9-10" from tips, a little bit of toe in(1/4"). If you want to make it complicated you have the twinsers and quads. If it’s a modern fish(wide shortboard with a baby buttcrack) go with a thruster setup. regards, Håvard