I recently sold my Naish Hokua 9' and SB 9'1 pro.

The 9' surfed great but was a little too tippy for my daily ride and the 9'1 was a good daily ride but didn't surf quite as well as the 9'. With the money I bought a Naish Hokua 9'5, which surfs great and is a good daily ride.

It's an awesome board but felt like it lacked a little of the manoeuvrability of the 9' and someone suggested I tried a few different find options.

I purchased a set of FCS PC-7 fins and using a finbox converter for the centre fin and running a thruster set up with a small centre fin. The results are awesome. The board turns on a pin.

With the original side fins I have the option to run it as a quad, but am enjoying the new thruster set up so much I don't want to change it around.

Factory setup


New setup


Optional setup


Side by side


Moral of the story … if you don't think your board surfs as well as it could, try some new fins.

Every time I look at my board I grin and that's the way it should be.

Thanks for the info and pictures.

Just wondering.. How heavy are you.. and does running with a smaller center fin loose you much in stability? ... and what fin set up did you prefer in your old 9.0?

DJ

K2.1 - The ultimate fin!

www.oceanaddicts.com.au/?route=news/board/view&news_id=61

cel23 said...

K2.1 - The ultimate fin!

love my k2.1, got the tri quad performance core set for 100 bucks from the us so they were a bargain aswell, i ride the bigger blue ones in good cleanish waves and the smaller white fins in mushy conditions, much better that the stock set of fins

Jarryd

Get on the phone and talk Bob McTavish a real expert on fins for all crafts,hell you think your riding a dog until you seek real advice from someone that knows and not guessing

Just putting it out there guy's

All about the board you ride,I had some serious issues with a board which I've had a few all customs and the last was a dog same model but new fin set,spoke to Bob about it for 10 minutes changed fins and I now have a board that I control instead of it controlling me. Amazing simple advice and all made sense way better than some kid from a shop mouthing off about this and that and not knowing what he is talking about.

Scotty88 said...

Fin post and no lacey ?

Lacey is in the Lab,let him be and we will see

Not only changing the centre fin size, also experiment with centre fin placement too. Move the fin to the furthermost foward position for more slide in the tail. If you are after more control on the back foot move it back more. "Play" with this during your next surf session and see how much it can vary your surfing, you may be surprised and you won't have to spend big on a whole new range of fins.

Shapers Jackson Close SUP fins on an 8'6' laguna bay. Had them for a while and seems OK.

divaldo said...

very interested in this,

I ride a Starby 9.0 Hero, 100kgs, 6 foot,

Fin recommendations please,

Thruster set up...

Hey, I used to own one (and was 95kg 6"3" tall) and settled on MRTX sides with a 6" longboard centre fin pushed all the way forward. The Hero definitely seems to need larger sides or you lose any drive and they feel mushy. This seemed to be a nice compromise for controlled slides/quick turns and still grip in bigger surf as well. Just push the center fin back a bit if you don't want any slidy stuff.