51 posts
Hi all,
I'm wondering if a 30cm fin on my Futura 93l would provide too much grip when I start learning vulcans?
Thanks.
NSW
1731 posts
Yes, chop at least 10cm off it (I'm serious), or find another fin you can hack up; at 30cm it will catch very easily and make everything far far more difficult. Most serious freestylers run fins in the ~15-20cm range for good reason; you don't need a big fin for FS, it just gets in the way. Once you develop the technique (railing the board to windward, lots of front foot pressure) you'll have no trouble sailing and staying upwind on fins this small.
There have been quite a few threads about this, have a bit of a search. I should also note that when cutting fins down like this it helps to have one with a deep chord as if it's a very short chord 'pointer' style fin, once you basically chop it in half the fin area is minimal.
NSW
190 posts
On that board also make sure you have the straps inboard (can it do a single back strap?) or at least the back strap massive so you can get your foot across the middle.
WA
118 posts
I've recently got a freestyle board. Starboard flare 99L
It came with a 28cm fin and I put a 16cm one in.
Its different learning to sail with such a tiny fin but not to bad once you get used to it.
It's also very slippery and I think would give a much better chance of spinning and not gripping and kicking you off half way through the spin
51 posts
Thanks for the answers. I can run only 3 straps on the board, an option I have yet to try. I've used full freestyle boards before, with 20cm semi-circle style fins. In flat water, getting up wind with them wasn't a problem.
I'll try to get my hands on an old tuttle box fin I can cut down.
