Certainly G10 fins that are designed to make use of the flexibility of the material are very nice to use in choppy water. C3 Venom's being a great example.

Not sure you would make a carbon fin in a comparable lay-up to the Venom though, as you wont be benefiting from the materials properties. Makes the "like for like" comparison problematic.....

i tested a 34cm G10 vector fin, think it is the C3,yellow in colour,straight with narrow tip against a 28cm Curtis carbon fin with very wide chord in my 58 wide Kinetic Centurion.

the 28cm Curtis carbon fin went upwind way higher, across the wind and downwind performance i could not separate. the G10 will feel softer underfoot than carbon but not faster, i sold the 34cm G10 vector after testing.

soft fins like techtronic/vector stop the board lifting excessive in big gusts but at the expense of upwind performance.

these fins are best for downwind figure M slalom. the vector canefire is more straight + stiff although have not tested this model.

carbon fins with wider chord are my favourite but remember you need to go a alot smaller.

Te Hau said...

A couple of us did exactly that test 3 years ago with identical Vector EX30 in carbon and G10.
The carbon had considerably better control in the rough.

Te Hau, was the G10 EX30 actually stiffer than carbon EX30? Surely the softer fin of the two would give better control in rough water, or is this belief just a fallacy?

Te Hau, was the G10 EX30 actually stiffer than carbon EX30? Surely the softer fin of the two would give better control in rough water, or is this belief just a fallacy?

No, the carbon one felt stiffer flexing them by hand.
There's a lot going in the response rate difference of the two materials.

The C3 Venom sure does flex a lot in the rough.
I like the flex with small sizes but personally I don't like it at all with the larger (38+) sizes and think they flex too much...... at least for my style (I'm a lead foot).
I like the big Stings a lot more.....big improvement.

the b4's were more popular by far than the b3's, so just my personal preference.

the b3's were less raked back and went upwind better.

i judge how good a fin is purely by it's upwind ability

the torquay fin company makes some good slalom fins,composite construction that have some flex and rake.

petermac33 said...

i judge how good a fin is purely by it's upwind ability

Interesting call, I'm sure everyone would have different criteria for judging how good a fin is!

Is fin design (i.e. outline/rake/chord width/thickness/construction) really that critical for good pointing ability or are there other factors (board & rigging) that play a big part as well?

Has anybody compared Venoms to SO9's or Caspers ? Re the Venoms I certainly agree with the comments of great in the chop, quick off the wind and I do sometimes find its a struggle to stay upwind, mainly when just powered up for the combo that you are using.

Hi Sausage,
the beauty with the Sting is that you don't need to go big.
I replaced 44 Venom with 38 Sting. The Sting is better everywhere, light, upwind, and it still goes fast.
Great for shallow estuary sailors worried about ploughing.

Is there a C3 distributor in OZ or do most get them direct from NZ? What's the average price you're paying for the smaller venoms?