IMO a fin can not make your board faster.. but it can make it slower.

The fin's lenght, shape, foil and surface area all cause drag.. and these things also effect stability, tracking, turning and weed catching.

I think you should always use the smallest fin that you can get away with.. and remember speed is not everything..

Also remember different fins suit different conditions.. and conditions change.

DJ

A fin wont make your board travel faster throught water, but might make you faster.

A race fin can provide you:

-stability: so you can concentrate much more on paddling as hard as you can

-tracking: so you'll have to switch hands less often (saving time and maintaining speed)

-tracking (again!): so sidewinds/sidesweel wont affect you so much

-easy turning (on buoys)

-Avoiding kelp drag

-Avoiding drag: a well designed fin will have much less drag than a poorly designed one.


Race boards don't travel as fast through the water as surfboards, so the "lift" that some fins provide wont affect you, that means, usually the thinner the fin the better (if it's correctly foiled).

I love the Starboard Race 24 fin, it's superlight, it turns easy and it tracks correctly, plus it feels dragfree!

For those who like the famuos Gladiator fin, i tell you to try a Futures Triangle Cutaway fin, the small one. It's a GREAT racing fin.

if you have a slow/bad fin and replace it with a good/fast fin, of course your board will go faster.


never under estimate the fin position in the fin box of a board. it definitely alters performance. that performance depends on what you require

ok thanks for the input everyone.
I think I will try a different fin but does anyone know if an FCS fin fits in a SB 2012 finbox?
The standard white fin I have now doesn't show a brand but I think it's hexel they use.

thanks

charlie