I have been seeing the “summer surfers” out with their old boards that sit in the garage all year…that one day when they venture out to the beach. I have been seeing some nice, what look to be 80’s boards, and…One of the fin set-ups I see is the - 4 fin fish, the “QUAD”. I was thinking to myself, what is wrong with this board to make it extinct? Plus and minus from anyone who has had experience on one of these would be great. (maybe Herb?) I am thinking of collecting a few 80’s boards…and maybe a QUAD!!! Thanks
slide! they really don’t hold any better than a twin. i had one back in the early '80’s, a 5-8 t&c. liked it okay, but buzzed off the back fins, made it a thruster and never looked back. figured out that 5-8 was a little too short, traded it in at hic. that thing probably ended up in a trash heap somewhere around pearl city.
it’s changed!!! check out #207 and 367 in the photo archive.Herb
I like riding them. At first I thought it was a bit too much, but I tried a few and really grew to like them. They’re very positive feeling way up high on the wall. The one in this picture was made by Rich Pavel, in contrast to Steve Lis’ twin fins. I stood on the green one and kneerode the others. They were all great boards. 
Collect your 1980s boards, but 2003 kneeboard quads are refined and happening. Whats wrong with the quad? Absolutely nothing! For starters, check out Bud McCray`s Blast 4 Fin Fish Hybrid. For more thought-provoking info on quads, see Don Harris’ great website & forum: http://www.ksusa.org/Forum/portal.php http://www.blasthawaii.com/index2.htm
i find it interesting they(Blast) use round tails on those wide assed quad’s.
Joe Blair is making a four-fin board: Pointy nose and double wing tail. He surfs on one himself and makes alot of them for sale. He says they rip.
I was primarily referring to Bud McCray`s quad “Fish Hybrid 2K”, which is a swallowtail. http://www.blasthawaii.com/images/MayPics_Designs/2k_fish_hybridb.jpg
I ride a Romo round pin quad with fin setup similar to the photo although the trailing fins are a little smaller. The setup is loose yet holds well when needed on high speed carving turns. It may be just me but it seems to be fast without the need for agressive pumping as with a thruster. Also, is very good in small surf.
I used to ride quad boards “back in the day”… I had one that worked great and another (nearly identical) one that sucked… wish I still had the good one but I rode it every day until it fell apart. Maybe I’ll try to replicate it one of these days. It had a wide, shallow channel down last 24 inches of the tail, that was probably a big part of why it worked.
SCGary, Do you ride it at the Wedge? SteveA
Hi Steve, I live in Nor-Cal so haven’t surfed the Wedge- Did bodysurf it when I was younger. Honestly, I don’t think I would kneeboard if it was pumping. I saw it breaking a few years ago when that big New Zealand swell hit. It was about 15ft+(?)Way too narly for this guy.
One person said they dont hold in any better than a Twin and they slide.??? …No, as a rule, they hold in better than a Twin. --someone else’s bit of experience may vary according to their shapers abilities. (Your mileage may vary) but the Quad was basically a follow on to the Simon Anderson thruster, during a time of multifin experimenting after the success of the Thruster. …Glen Winton pro tour surfer made and popularized them. Yes they held in better than the twin, and had they been originated before the Tri, they would have had a great following, however 4 fins is just too much fin for a Standup surfboard that essentially surfs the same as a Twin or TwinPlus. The Tri fin was more versatile in addition to being a great backside board…which the twin never was. As to Kneeboards, the Quad had better hold which suited the rail wrenching jerky rail grabs of the Kneeboarding style and eliminated the Twins tendency to slide unpredictably. So in essence, for kneeboards the Quad provided for a solid twin fin styled board without the quirkiness(bad on backside, tendency to slide, or lose fin hold). Quad finned kneeboards are still a popular tried and true fin setup for kneeboards, however, they have evolved a bit from earlier days with the fins being spread further apart(to reduce coupled fin turbulence) and a bit more refined.
Forgot to add: Thrusters had no size limit,could handle huge surf, as a 6’ 6" Thruster could surf pretty big surf. However, Twin Fins and hence Quads, had inherent size limits, they were not very good at handling Bigger Surf. You could make them longer, and add grooved channels(stiffening ridges ala ruffles;too stiffen them up) but that didnt really solve the problem.