wing keel fin

I bought two (there was only one size at the time), I tried mine on a wide 6'6" with boxy rails:



And gave one to Patrice Guenole for him to test. He liked it most on a mini-noserider 6'9" as it gave an insane hold in noserides, but with speed and nimbleness for ultra quick mini-stall turns



My feeling is that it gives the same feeling as vertical fins like the Spitfire: (here on my 9'6")

That is, very quick turns but without a lot of control, in the sense that you do not have this gradual drive along a steady curve as with a swept-back fin. In a way it would be similar to a bike with a vertical front fork, prone to engage quickly as soon as you begin the turn, whereas a diagonal fork like on a chopper will have steady turns. The great thing with it however, is that it does not loose grip when you bank a lot the board like with a traditional single fin. Basically it allows you to commit fully to quick radical turns with the feel of a single fin and the grip of a multi-fin.

Also, it does not have the problem prone surfers have with it: the leash doesn't tangle in it as our leash floats more at the surface than prone surfers.

The drawback is that it doesn't work well with boards with a lot of tail lift, as this will put the winglets at an angle with the water flow and brake you. I liked it best with boards with a lot of tail volume, as if you sink the tail in turns the winglets may come at an angle with the water flow and feel "wobbly". But Patrice likes it best on the pictured 6'9" that has a very narrow tail that you sink to do stall turns, so it depends on individual preferences I guess.

Anyways, definitely a fin to try for all the SUPers with an open mind.

PS: Cheyne seems away from his email for months at a time. He answered no queries from people on the Gong forum wanting to buy one in the last 6 months, so if he answers you, grab one as soon as you can. Even if you do not like it

Have used the winged keel fin when they were first released .Could not really tell the difference between it and a conventional fin.I think if you are an expert nose rider you should be able to appreciate any differences.Never tried one ,but the turbo tunnel fin would give similar characteristics wouldn't it?As has been previously stated ,a lot of the performance will depend on rail shape and tail shape.The board that Cheyne Horan used this fin on ,if my memory serves me well,was fairly unconventional,with a wide rounded tail shape.

My new fin for my 10'6'' Nalu.

DJ

so DJ, what is the height of your 3d compared to the star fin, which by the way is available from rob at watershack who pm'd me after my initial post

From memory from my long boarding days some of the mal riders loved that fin for nose riding saying it helped to keep the tail from lifting.. btw.. Just measured my fin and it's only 6" long but looks more like an 8 or 9" fin with the end bit missing.. I'm not expecting it to really work well but I will be pleasantly surprised if it does..

DJ

No offense mate, but I think you have mounted it backwards, the screw must be towards the tail. (max thickness of the foil to the front)

To be honest, 90% of the feeling of this fin is given by its straight, vertical planshape (sharp turns) rather than the winglets that will just grant less slippage in really banked turns tans a non-winglet fin (aside from drag when not in the water flow)

Don't be too hard on yourself pop...you're not alone!

Cheyne, great to read you here!

Thanks for your tip on not using a screw to position the winglets parallel to the board, will definitely try it. I must say your fin is great for SUPing because we can apply easily the needed power with the paddle for leverage, its good grip in the water help countering the row effect on take off, and since our leash cuff is out of the water when paddling, it doesnt get tangled in the fin like when sitting on a prone board with the ankles moving around the fin.

Cheyne, I had set up a forum thread (in French, at www.gong-galaxy.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=3424 ) to help French people to know how to order your fins (especially for those not familiar with English), but they tell me they emailed you with no answer since november. What method do you recommend to order your fins from France?

PS: Now, we need to get MR, Rabbit, TC, ... to post here too ;-)

PS2: Now what is great with seabreeze is that we can actually have people like Cheyne talking about his gear... That on standup zone the admin would have wanted him to pay to post makes all the difference...

This thread and the flextail thread should get together... would be an interesting result imo.