I had a good conversation with Keith Teboul and Jake Miller about twin fins, and both Keith and Jake pointed out that they're not only fond of twins (Fins! We're talking about fins!), but they're running different sized fins on each side to maximize turning or grip performance for wavesailing. For more turns (at Hookipa), they are running a smaller fin on the starboard side.
This stemmed out of a conversation about Keith's latest board that he was sailing at Hookipa, and if you watch the Hookipa video down the page on this blog, you'll notice its short length and how super snappy it is when Keith gets in (and out) of tight wave situations. The board for its length has a fair amount of rocker, but Keith feels that because its short he can ease the rocker a bit without sacrificing turning ability and still amplify planing,top end speed and control during bottom turns. Of course, the board still needs a capable driver, and Keith rips. Being a shaper with sailing skills such as his, its no wonder his boards rock. ;-)
At any rate, I'm looking forward to trying out some asym fin configurations on my boards this sailing season. My boards are plenty loose, but I'm interested to see just how further they can be pushed.
2 comments:
Hi Dave,
I even used a stranger setup by now on my 75l board - on the bottom turn side a 14cm KT and on the top turn side a 16cm LS - makes the board even better, I believe this is the future for twin fin boards, very tight bottom turn and drivier cut back than before.
Hope all is well back home, any epic port tack conditions lining up soon?
Aloha,
Pascal
Home is good - still frozen solid but the weather seems to be trending warmer. As for Port tack - I think hittin D-head this summer is a helluva good option! ;-)
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