Great fins but more upright fins are generally faster on all points of sail

Fastest I have ever gone was on a Maui Ultra Fin Delta (not all that fast in an absolute sense - 36mph). I like the Black Project Shallow Water Weed too - it points better and powers up earlier than the MUF. But given a choice - deeper water even with moderate weed - I'll always prefer something more vertical. My favorite big fin is an Xx-soft Kashy and my favorite smaller fin a relatively inexpensive Black Project Dragon.

Weedies are prone to spinout in chop.hate them, but need them in for strawweed.must admit they can make your board more forgivin in overpowered conditions.pointers are my choice, if l can get away with one.

Ever fin has its day, we need them all, after sailing with weed fins you get use to them and find how to get the best performance out of them ,I find they make your board feel a little longer than what they are ,but the tail sits down in overpowered conditions ,
Still nothing feels like a carbon pointer though

kato said
True but ya cry harder when you hit a rock

I cry for weeks when that happens ,LOL.

This is what happens when you use a 40cm pointer and should have used a weed fin.

Imax1 said..
This is what happens when you use a 40cm pointer and should have used a weed fin.

Maybe you were on weed ?

You done a good job of that sail
I've hit rocks on weed fins too, it's more of a buck
than a full stop , I just brake board noses off

Pcdefender said..
Advantages -

Much easier to keep the board down when overpowered so possibly faster in the gusts.

Can sail in shallower water.

Weed fins have more area and my board feels less prone to spin out / feels like my board grips the water better.

Easier to sail off the wind.



Downside - when underpowered it is harder to lift the windward rail.

Upwind, even powered up is not so good.

Using the 31 and 33 Tribal Speed Weed in small and mid sized boards.

There are some great comments here already, but I think there are a few other things to point out.

Weed fins are essential at some windsurfing spots but whether you should use them when there is no weed is another matter.
To use them is to de-tune your board.

The key thing about a weed fin is it will affect your sailing stance. Most weed fins take the centre of fin area back from where the board designer intended it to be - and even those weed fins that have the foil set forwards of the fin base fitting still shift the centre of fin area.
It's unlikely you'll reach the board's top speed with this set up, and early planing is also held back.

The typical weed fin has more rake for the leading edge and that compromises the lift you get from the foil, making it less efficient for sailing upwind, and for getting the board to 'fly' off its tail.
This extra rake does have the benefit of making the board easier to turn, but watch out that fact can make the learner and intermediate sailor continue to be stuck with poor gybing technique. The weed fin becomes your comfort blanket.


If everyone at your local sailing spot is using weed fins then you probably won't notice the downsides - so what's not to like?
But I guess the obvious problem with that is you start making kit choices and tuning decisions based on those weed fins - or on less than optimal gear - and so your stance may struggle to adapt to a conventional upright fin when you sail elsewhere.

I can absolutely agree that if you have rocks to sail over then having a raked fin is a huge advantage - if an unintended one.

No weed? Don't think so.

nauli said..
Tribal weed speed fins are phenomenal in most conditions...my Tribal 33 is a go to in the river even when no weed. and I used to hate weed fins.

Have to agree mate, also my go to for the river, I am new convert to the Tribal weed speeds, cant believe how good they are , my carbon pointers are gathering dust in the shed.

my only fin is a 17cm g10 makani weed fin. i think it's great. now about 16cm now due to wear.

unfortunately warranty is lackluster and the have sent wrong items / apparently changed items without stating it on website etc.

No weed fin is a good as a good pointer fin i'm sorry. If you have a good pointer and your gear set up right, it will outperform any weed fin in conditions that dont require a weed fin. If you like weed fins thats cool, but if you can learn to use a pointer to its full potential, you'd get a lot more performance out of your equipment.

Havent used an upright fin in over 15 years... its just what your used to and conditions you sail in....

TopcatRacing said..
As a footnote - Weedspeeds can't handle long strands of floating weed such as found at Safety Bay. Had to switch to my MFC 45 degree full weed fin.

We have the Superweed range for these conditions, with ~45? leading edge. Most of the time Weedspeed is fine, just end of summer the weed seems to get worse in WA- more sticky. Other places need this extra rake all year round. But most places where there is some weed, the weedspeeds shed the weed, have heaps of grunt, and don't feel unbalanced like 45? raked fins- especially in the larger sizes.

Sometimes the weedspeed is better than a pointer (even without weed around) depending on what you are doing. The rake on the weedspeed gives it significantly greater directional stability, and keeps the nose free off the wind- perfect for full power speed runs. Another advantage is that they provide more lift for the length- and its safer than a pointer if theres a risk of hitting sandbars due to the tip rake.

Its a Melville go-to for many people because its usually faster than a pointer there when its windy, and there are submerged sandbars everywhere.

A pointer fin OTOH is more sensitive to change direction, so you can steer it without much "input". Being upright it also tends to pull the nose down- which, depending on conditions, can be a benefit or a speed limiter. Upwind and punching through lulls the pointer is naturally more balanced with its centre of effort further forward. Weed fins can take a bit of getting used to for guys who only ever sailed pointers.

We see quite a few slalom riders here choose the extra stability of weedspeed over a pointer when the weed isnt a problem, since it can be less fatigueing, and feels much safer in heavy conditions- especially for guys that don't sail every day: ie the difference between crashing out or finishing a race...

So "which one is better"- depends on the conditions,type of sailing,and the condition of the rider...

I enjoy both. For speedsailing mode, downwind slalom where theres a risk of craypot lines or catching weed, its off the charts enough that I need "help" with comfort over outright speed, or if there are shallow spots, I use the weedspeed. Otherwise I use a pointer.