Brewman said..

Hi All,
I'm getting back into the sport after a 10 year+ layoff.
I bought some 2nd hand gear to get me going again and took it out this week.
To cut a long story short, I was too keen and jumped in without any setup. After two reaches without being unable to clip into the harness i was so tired I couldn't lift my arms up
I've spent some time and sorted my problems but I have a question.

I've read that the leading edge of the fin should not be in front of the any part of the rear footstrap. How critical is this as for my board (JP super sport 100) it leaves me only able to use only the forward position?

Sorry not a help with the question but love your profile quote..

Just sounds like your over finned for the conditions, Standard fins tend to be on the big size and can cause too much lift. They're fine when nicely powered up but get lively very quickly when over powered which would leave you struggling to settle the board and hook in. As the super sport only has one position for the fin it's in the right spot, not sure how many positions the back straps has (3 from memory) but it only covers a few cm. Move the straps forward and in for control, Out and back for speed. As for where your foot should be in relation to the fin??? With wave boards I've seen on videos where they say the leading edge of the fin should be inline with the back edge of your back foot but not sure if it's the same for freerace boards. Since you can't move the fin I'd be more concerned about getting a comfy stance then anything else.

My 2 cents.....Or just hook in first

jh2703 said..

Just sounds like your over finned for the conditions, Standard fins tend to be on the big size and can cause too much lift. They're fine when nicely powered up but get lively very quickly when over powered which would leave you struggling to settle the board and hook in.

This is the sort of info I need. The gear has changed considerably since i dropped out of the sport. The symptoms are exactly as you have described. I was under the impression that a big fin was the go as you could bear more into the wind. I used the largest of the fins I had and was surprised at how much work it was to keep the board steady, it just wanted to bounce from rail to rail.

jh2703 said..As the super sport only has one position for the fin it's in the right spot, not sure how many positions the back straps has (3 from memory) but it only covers a few cm. Move the straps forward and in for control, Out and back for speed. As for where your foot should be in relation to the fin??? With wave boards I've seen on videos where they say the leading edge of the fin should be inline with the back edge of your back foot but not sure if it's the same for freerace boards. Since you can't move the fin I'd be more concerned about getting a comfy stance then anything else.

My 2 cents.....Or just hook in first

your are correct about postions and amont of movement available with the straps, I'll move them forward and in