Hi,
I was sailing with some guys on freeride gear and realized that they could get going much earlier than i can, they were using smaller sails than i was but they were lighter too. I always feel like my board takes longer to release and start planning but yesterday I was able to test it against the other guys and i was right. My board feels like its stock in the water, i feel enough pressure that i should start planning but it just takes longer to release. i was wondering if i could be using a fin too small? I was using a np evo 8.6 with an rrd xfire 122 (82cm) and a 42cm carbon slalom fin. i weight 100kg.
I know that an easy way to tell if your fin is too small are spinouts but i never spinout so not sure about that.
so my questions are if you guys think that a bigger fin would help me improve my low end and what fins are you guys using in similar set ups.
thanks!!
Theres a formula for fins, usually sail size x 5 plus 4, thats for medium winds plus 6 for lighter winds and plus 2 for stronger winds. Therefore for an 8.6m sail its 8.6 x 5 = 43 plus 4 = 47cm. So your fin is way too small.
Theres plenty of good second hand fins on the market but get something decent, it'll cost you but its very much worth it.
Try one of the older carbon Leading Edge fins maybe a 44cm.
They have a slightly thicker leading edge and i can confirm they do get up and going earlier than newer fins.
Maybe half a knot to a knot earlier. Some of them have squarer tips which are much more durable and powerful.
My favourite fin ever is a 35 LE very upright fin that i use with both my 61 and 65cm wide. slalom boards.
Try less outhaul so the sail is touching the other side of your boom.
Try a lighter boom.
Getting both your feet very far forward on the board until you start planing helps to get it going a little earlier.
Hope this helps.
Also 100kg, (Ok 102) also on an 82 wide board, also use an 8.6 as my biggest sail. For light wind I use a 52 cm G10 Tectonics which is pretty thick compared with most others. For fully powered I'm on a 47 cm carbon IFJU which is pretty soft and very thin - that's the fastest setup for that board if the water's anything close to flat. If I'm overpowered I'll go with a 42cm Black Project Dragon free ride fin which has a little sweep. The 47 is such a good fin that I'll often use it even with a 7.4. although properly speaking it's too big for that sail. I agree with Smurf and PC - good fins are worth it, and sails can be rigged too flat, especially for big guys.
What we can get away with, as compared with lighter guys, is bigger and especially thicker fins. They'll generate lift at lower speeds and while they can become overpowering for lighter sailors, for us they'll just feel lively.
50cm tectonics phoenix in the back of my fox120 with an 8.6 worked great and I was 95kg at the time, wouldn't go any bigger.
its not just length that matters, I've got 3x54cm fins for a bigger board, the drake carbon fin is very powerful and get going early but is terrifying at speed, a Select s1 pro carbon which is crap unless really well powered up but never try's to kill me and another select fin which isn't carbon and that sit somewhere in between those two.
the ability to get up on plane early depends on many, many things, the fin being only one of them.
that said, a bigger/more powerful fin will--all else equal--generally help you getting on a plane sooner, but other things might help too (or even more), while a bigger fin might also have downsides (which, if your only focus is early planing, might not matter).
but if you're going to invest in a good slalom fin, in pretty much whatever size, I'd recommend getting a good carbon one. it will outperform a glass one in pretty much every aspect, especially for bigger size fins (certainly over 40cm).
thanks for the tips! ill try to find a bigger carbon fin. hopefully i can find a second hand in the us.
I get that the fin is not the only issue but i guess it wouldn't hurt to try a bigger one. i always get that feeling that the board is sticking to the water when it should be planning, i hope that goes away with a bigger fin.
I do apply a lot of downhaul and not that much outhaul. next time ill apply a cm less downhaul and see if that makes a difference. the only issue with that is that with less tension the cambers may not rotate as good.
why wouldn't i get spinouts if i was using a smaller fin? i had a jp super sports 122 with the stock non carbon fin about the same size and used to have an issue with spinouts but completely disappeared as soon as i jumped to the rrd xfire and the carbon fin.
when im using the 7.0 the board/fin feels amazing and same with the 8.6 when its over 15knots. i just want to improve the low end and that feeling of sticking to the water.
Somewhat counterintuitively, I would actually tighten my (adjustable) outhaul a bit before starting on a vigorous pumping streak (and let it out again once on a plane and in the straps): this will slightly firm up the leech, which will help to generate more forward momentum -- rather than changing my downhaul setting if you're otherwise happy with it. less downhaul from your 'optimum' setting is seldom a good thing; it pushes down the nose of the board, and will make it harder to 'fly' the nose of the board even in light air.
