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The surf is on, you’re grabbing your favorite SEPTEMBER swimsuit, the mid-length waits for you in the trunk of the car but should I ride it as a single fin? Maybe a two plus one? Or what will it feel like as a quad? Does a mid-length twin fin sound crazy?
Too many questions. Not enough answers.
The answer might be a little clearer than we first thought.
First, let’s check the conditions and put them into four categories:
Most of us regardless of our level can sit on the beach and roughly determine where the conditions fit into these parameters, and the boundaries between them can be relatively flexible. A big or fast wave for you might not be big or fast for someone with more experience; so be honest with yourself and take it personally.
So let’s relate fin selection to those categories.
Small or soft waves are low on the potential energy from Gravity. If we’re not as high up or the wave slope isn’t so steep, then we won’t have much of a hill to drop down and gain speed. This means we need to make the board as efficient as possible, so it can still function in low energy waves. Allowing water to flow underneath the board with as little disruption and turbulence as possible is our ticket to this. So less fin = more laminar and clean water flow producing more lift to reduce drag, and more forward thrust. In big or steep waves where we have a good hill to drop down, then we’re not so concerned about finding speed, but instead getting down the line and past fast-breaking sections might be the challenge.
In brief, twin-fins are fast as they allow water to flow underneath the center of the board with low turbulence (no center fin disrupting the flow). The clean water flows backward producing more thrust forwards. And since the twin fin fins are often fairly large, they produce a lot of lift towards the wave face, so surfing down the line they can lock the board into the wave face and generate strong speed and grip. Without the center fin though they are a little looser and slippy when we lean on the back foot to maneuver, as the missing center won’t hold and direct the nose. What that means is twin fins are well suited to small or soft waves where generating speed is the priority but expect a little less predictability when maneuvering.
The two-plus has the directional stability of a single fin, with a small portion of rail engagement from the side fins. Sometimes the overall size of the three fins is a bit smaller than a normal single fin, or normal side fins, and that’s so the overall drag created is less. Look for a bigger wave or faster wave for this setup to work best as we need to compensate for the drag.
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Scott
November 29, 2021
Very informative, thank you. Surfboard fins are probably the most underrated element of a surfboard. They’re actually great to have for safety and choosing the right fins for your style of surfing and your board is critical in making sure you get the best level of performance from your surfing.
Read more about surfboard fins and safety here:
https://3dfins.com.au/blogs/media-spotlight/surfboard-fins-and-safety