Width is also a function of each board design in order to keep it in proportion. In general, widths on all boards have increased over the last several seasons. Added width will give the board more planning surface, more float and also make it more stable, especially at lower speeds like right when you drop in, or after a hard turn when you bleed most of your speed. Added width will also make the board “glide” better over flat sports in the wave. Reduced width will reduce the drag on the board and also increase the “rail to rail” speed when pumping the board down the line. Reduced width will also reduce glide over flat spots and reduce the “power underfoot” which can be a big negative in soft conditions.
Thickness is the third main dimension and is often overlooked, especially when looking at how much effect a small difference can have. For example, there is a significant difference in flotation, feel, power, and drive between 2.5” thick and 2.63” thick. Looking at the small difference in those numbers (0.13”) you might not think this would make a huge difference. The reason it does is because this small amount of extra foam is applied for the entire area of the board, (so imagine a 6’ x 20” x 0.13” slice of foam). The difference is not this much, because the board thins at the ends, but imagining something close to that gives you the idea of why the effects are more than you previously thought.
Thickness, especially thickness carried to the rail, can be felt in very small increments, as this is the part of the board that you are submerging into the water during turns. Thicker rails give you more to “push” on which makes the board more powerful which can be a plus for soft waves or larger surfers. You can go too far here though and end up with a board that you can’t turn at all because the rails are too thick. This ends up with a turn that is bouncy with little control. Thicknesses have also increased over the past several seasons. 2.5” used to be the max “norm” in shortboards, now 3” and even a bit more is often used for the big boys. Again, it doesn’t seem like a huge difference, but it adds up when applied to the entire area of the board.
Sometimes you get it by chance. Sometimes you find it buried underneath a wooden deck in New Zealand. Maybe after reading this article you will know how to choose your perfect board, or at least come a lot closer when buying one off the rack or ordering it custom. We looked at “The Big Three” : Design, Volume and Dimensions and why “Length” is now the third design characteristic you should look at when shopping for new boards. This is how we recommend the right board for thousands of surfers ever year: Design, Volume, Dimensions. Have fun on the water and enjoy the new shapes and performance.
Rocking up to a solidly stocked fin wall can be daunting, to say the least. It’s no wonder many surfers shy away from trying to figure it out, never knowing what they’re missing. With so many people sending in positive comments about our article “How to Buy a Surfboard,” we felt it was time to flip the board over and tackle the fin equation. This fin article isn’t about “teching out” — it’s about finding an easy way to the right fins that will improve your surfing. Ask yourself the following questions to help narrow your fin choices from hundreds to just a few. – Trip Forman, REAL Watersports
This seems like the most obvious question. But then again, it takes half the fins off the table and lets you narrow your focus.
Just like surfboards, fins are sized to the surfer’s weight. Typical sizing starts at XS and goes to L or XL. By knowing where your weight falls into the manufacturer’s size chart, you’re eliminating up to 75% of the remaining choices off the wall. If you are near the cut line for a fin size, aggressive surfers who drive hard through turns can size up, where surfers who don’t push as hard through the turns will probably like the smaller of the two sizes. Also, when on the cut line, know that narrower-tailed boards like smaller fins since they are typically surfed at higher speeds, where super-wide-tailed boards like bigger fins to offset the added tail area.
Just like different board designs for different wave types, there are different fin designs for different wave types. Generally, fins with a more vertical leading edge turn in a tighter arc and are better for fitting more turns into a tighter space. For these fins, think dumpy, closeout beachbreaks where you only have a limited space to get the job done. These fins can also be helpful in racey, fast-breaking waves where it’s important to get on rail fast and get the ball rolling. More rake in the fin makes it better for drawn-out turns. How does that feel? They will feel solid and confident drawing out a high-speed, long-radius turn, where the more vertical fin will feel nervous and skittish, like it wants to initiate the turn sooner.
This question helps when looking at fin construction. Surfers who are really pushing hard through their turns or surfing in faster, more powerful waves, will appreciate the added stiffness that carbon or solid fiberglass adds to their fins, whereas surfers who are just flowing through their turns may find these constructions to be too stiff. How does “too stiff” feel? Basically, you’re not able to flex the fin, and then receive the bonus of that flex, which is a burst of speed out of the turn. A fin that feels too stiff feels like it’s not flexing at all. Conversely, a fin that’s too soft, like plastic fins for most surfers, flexes and washes out, never really springing back effectively. If you have tried a set of carbon-reinforced fins and feel they’re a bit too stiff, try a set of the same template, but with fiberglass/honeycomb construction.
This is a fin performance measuring system that Futures uses to make the tech easier to understand. The larger the number, the more speed the fin generates. Ride Numbers 7-10 are good for when the surf is soft, gutless, and has no push. The smaller the Ride Number, the better the fin is for control and confidence in fast-breaking waves. When it’s pumping, heavy, and fast, Ride Numbers 1-4 offer the most control and confidence. The mid-range numbers 4-7 are great as an all-around fin or a “tweener” for your fin quiver. Everything described above in this article still applies (size, construction, rake, etc).
Once you’ve applied these five criteria to finding the right fin, you should be down to 1-2 choices. That’s pretty good, considering we started out with over 100. Maybe the color of one of those two fins will even match your board. But don’t you dare choose the matching color before you hone in your choices. Otherwise, you’re missing the boat.
-When you’re up and planing on the wave, your fins are nearly 50% of your wetted surface area. Why do people care so much about their surfboards and so little about their fins?
-Don’t be lazy! Try different fins and different fin setups in your board. I had a board that I swore would be killer as a quad, and it was actually really average. When I switched it to a thruster, it was one of the best boards of that style I’ve ever tried.
-The “new” mid-length single fin boards are even more dependent on nailing the perfect fin to get the most out of the board. If anything, people tend to over-fin these boards and kill the performance with too much fin. How does this feel? You’ll bog down in your bottom turn and get passed by the section. You’ll also be riding a board that feels edgy, critical, and retro. When you size it down correctly, you’ll likely have that Aha! moment, and then the board will be neutral, free, and fast through the water.
We get this question all the time. Here are three basic reasons why you should consider upgrading your fins from “stock plastics” to the “performance” honeycomb, fiberglass, or carbon versions:
1. Your brand new board comes with plastic fins for a reason…. New boards come with plastic fins not because they match the performance level of your new $700 surfboard, but because they are inexpensive and help keep the price of the complete board lower and within reach of more surfboard shoppers. Don’t be confused into thinking that the designer/shaper wanted you using plastic fins and that’s why they’re equipping the board with them. It’s purely a pricing constraint and they’d rather keep the option open to you to choose the right performance fins based on your size and fin preference than include them in the board and have the price be higher for everyone.
2. Your fins are 50% of the wetted surface when you’re up and planning. When you look at the entire board and look at how “small” the fins are, it’s easy to convince yourself that it couldn’t matter that much, right? But when your board is up and planning, the fins make up 50% of the wetted surface of the surfboard/fin combo. Once you realize that, it all of a sudden seems worth considering a higher performance option.
3. Would you ride a plastic surfboard? When you load and release your turns – hoping for more speed – a good board and fins should load up, flex and then spring you out of the turn. Plastic fins will do this to some extent for very lightweight surfers, but beyond that they tend to flex and then never flex back as fast as the fiberglass or carbon/fiberglass versions. If you spend any time in the snow, imagine riding plastic skis or a plastic snowboard and then loading up a turn, expecting to get sprung out of it. You never would, it would just keep bending. Essentially the same is happening with your plastic fins and the result is less speed generated in the turns. After spending your hard earned $$ on a high tech surfboard, are you going to equip it with plastic fins? Imagine your same surfboard made out of plastic. Would you surf that? Probably not and the fins make up just as much wetted surface as the board once you’re up and riding the wave.
Walking up to the fin wall can be intimidating and confusing. This simple three step process will help you choose the right performance fins for your new rip stick…
Spyder Surfboard reviewsChoose the proper fin size. Just like different sized surfboards for different sized surfers, fins have different sizes based on the surfer’s weight. Both FCS and Futures fin companies have surfer weight charts to dial you into their different sized fins: XS, S, M, L, XL. Once you determine which size fin you should be using based on your weight, you’ve already eliminated 80% of the choices, making your final decision that much easier.
Choose the proper template. The next step is to determine the type of waves you will be surfing most often, with the board you will be using them in. Different shaped fins perform better at different things. More vertical fins tend to like sharper, more pivotal turns, like the ones you find in short, hollow beach breaks. More raked fins tend to hold better through long radius turns on open faces at higher speeds. You can also shoot straight up the middle for a good “all around fin”. Changing your fins as you encounter different surf conditions can dramatically extend the performance range of your board and an extra set of fins is way easier (and less expensive) to carry than a second board.
Choose the preferred construction. Plastic fins are great for groms or for stashing in your glovebox or travel bag for an emergency replacement. If you really want your fins to match the performance of your new surfboard, you should choose either honeycomb/fiberglass or honeycomb/fiberglass/carbon constructions. The carbon allows specific flex control in certain areas of the fin and can also be used to stiffen the fin. Carbon is sometimes viewed as “always better” but for light-footed surfers that don’t push as hard in their turns, it can sometimes be too stiff. For these surfers, honeycomb/fiberglass fins can give you the right template and foil, AND the right flex/response that matches your surfing style.
Wow, this is a wide range of surfers reading this article! Beginner and never-evers, all the way geographic transplants, diehard longboarders and aging shortboarders. Over the past several seasons, the surfing world has been focused on shortboards and hybrids, now it’s time to dig into the tech and questions asked and answered every day at REAL with regards to longboards.
Question #1 : How do you want to surf and where will you be surfing this board? Do you see yourself as a cross stepper / noserider? Or do you want to surf more off the tail and use the length of the board to generate high speeds for fast turns and carves? Is you local wave soft and slow breaking or a pitchy beach break with a more hollow face?
Noseriders tend to have more volume (more foam), a flatter rocker, wider noses and rounded rails all the way to the tail. Most noseriders also have a single fin, although some are equipped to switch this to a 2+1 set up which consists of small “side bite” fins on the rails and a larger fin in the center box. This style of board is great for several things – trimming, gliding, noseriding and also longboarding at a break that suits this style of board. The larger size, flatter rocker and glide oriented design suits a flatter faced wave that is slower and softer breaking. Think of places like San Onofre, California or Ditch Plains in Montauk, NY. Even when those waves are head high, they are still very forgiving, slow breaking with a very soft lip.
The design focus of a noserider longboard is to keep the board in the pocket of the wave and to allow the surfer to surf small crumbly waves (often dribblers) while still feeling the “glide” of the board across the top of the water. “Glide” is the ability of the board to displace water at speed and not be so dependent on planning above the water like narrower high performance longboards or shortboards. More volume and often a flat or slightly convex (bellied) bottom make this type of board work well both gliding and planning. These boards also encourage “cross stepping” to the nose and are great “dance platforms” for walking to and from the nose during each ride.
The design focus of a noserider longboard is to keep the board in the pocket of the wave and to allow the surfer to surf small crumbly waves (often dribblers) while still feeling the “glide” of the board across the top of the water. “Glide” is the ability of the board to displace water at speed and not be so dependent on planning above the water like narrower high performance longboards or shortboards. More volume and often a flat or slightly convex (bellied) bottom make this type of board work well both gliding and planning. These boards also encourage “cross stepping” to the nose and are great “dance platforms” for walking to and from the nose during each ride.
Want to be humbled? Go on an all out mission to learn proficient and stylish noseriding this summer. You’re about to receive the 1ft surf beat down of your life in waves you normally wouldn’t have even paddled out in. Once you start pulling noserides – and with the right board it’s not that far away – it’s an addictive feeling that has you “flying” at the top of the wave with nothing underneath you. I actually didn’t learn how to noseride until I was 40 years old and to have the ability to learn something new in junk surf was actually really fun and rewarding. Some of the wipeouts are just incredible! But when you pull off a good one, it’s so much fun and such an adrenaline rush…definitely something to keep your learning curve fresh and exciting!