Snapped a centre fin on my surfboard today going to close to shore, just wondering how small a fcs fins can you go or get without compromising performance in relation to upwind ability and also wave performace,althought its Perth beach closeouts so not really waves but you know what i mean.
Although kited the rest of the session as a twin fin and hardley noticed the difference.I was lucky it only snapped the fin off and didnt damage the fin box.
Thanks
Any positive feed back welcome

yeah i gunna ride mine as a twin fin from now on and i will try to get some of those little side bites fins like they use on some windsurf boards and would also like to go for a couple of runs with no fins just to see if its possible to hold and edge and have some fun sliding around.

I like G3 size FCS fins (or comparative) for kiting as well as surfing.
I figured it was time to upgrade my size recently (as I'm now a grown man) and got what was the suggested size for my weight. I hated the bigger size fins and went back to G3s again... true story.
Also I know a fair few people who kite with a cut-down back fin to loosen the board up a bit and let it work a bit better at speed. I think it's a pretty good idea.

p.s. I also noticed when riding quads that you can use much smaller back fins than what you need to surf properly with. I used some cut down jobs on my quad and it felt a lot nicer behind the kite.

If they are glass fins just take a hacksaw, cut off desired amount and then sand to shape. It's pretty easy. If they are some new age honeycomb thingos I wouldn't suggest it.

p.s. I usually just take the glass-ins off old surfboards and cut the FCS lugs into them, works pretty good. Keep it on the DL though .

any photos of a rear cut down quad setup? curious on how much people are lopping off

cheers

smaller fins for the windy days and larger fins for the lighter wind days for upwind performance,
yeah i think 3's (fcs sizes) would be good for turns etc. I normally use 5's for paddle surfing, but smaller for kiting

depends on your weight also, lighter means smaller fins

gcdave said...
any photos of a rear cut down quad setup? curious on how much people are lopping off

cheers

The red one is a rear