Hey young fella, hanging out to see pics of your magic topend rig with action shots
How's it goin there mate!
Well, I'm happy to report I finally had an opportunity to take the C-Drives for a run yesterday in clean 2 foot peelers down at Rapid Creek. We've had a couple of weeks of strong and ugly Nor'westerlies so it's been blown out onshore horror.
However yeterday, the wind swung to the East and cleaned it right up.
I set up the 10'6 Style and it went like the proverbial clappers!
I got a swag of waves - one in particular from out the back and rode it into the mouth of the river.
Needless to say , I was grinning like a Panda in a bamboo plantation. Spaghetti arms and legs.
C- Drives are super-fast - even in small stuff I noticed the extra speed, like, "Houston, we have lift off" sort of speed.
I'm waiting patiently now for a bit of swell to push through so I can give the 9'2 Flow a run with them on.
Cheers again cob - hope your staying cool!!!
Feeling your big smiles way down here.
Loving the FCS2 center
Hiding in the shade now. Been cleaning up from past days dust storms,
41 degree, 13 % humidity
Bring on the Flow
Select to expand quoteBighugg said..
Feeling your big smiles way down here.
Loving the FCS2 center
Hiding in the shade now. Been cleaning up from past days dust storms,
41 degree, 13 % humidity
Bring on the Flow
Yeah, I reckon you'd be pretty warm at the moment - and it sounds like a bit more heat to come over the next few days or so.
Keep up the fluids and stay cool old mate!
Bring on those Easterlies!
Select to expand quotecolas said..bomberdave said..
CDrives need a bit of juice for the magic to work. Think the quobba fins may be a better choice in the small stuff.
In my experience the C-Drive provides ton of grip, even at very low speed, but they still manage to be easy to handle in the juice and at high speed. For instance I had keels in a mini-Simmons 6'10" SUP, and they were great in small waves, but as soon as the wave hollowed, I didn't have enough strength to control the board. By switching to C-Drive twins, I had nearly as hold as keels on small waves, but the board was much more nimble in hollow waves.
C-Drive are especially great for people going down in SUP board sizes, as their extra grip at low speed will help mastering the row, especially on takeoff.
Quobba are different, for them to shine you need to go fast. They can work in small or big waves, as long as you go fast. Otherwise they are not very different from standard fins. So unlike C-Drive, you may have to change your surfing style to benefit from them.
I have found the perfect C drive quad set up for my 7.2 sup - (see photos), I think any rear fin that has an almost 50/50 foil might work :-)
Select to expand quoteEchobch said..
How do you get a set of Cdrives ?
the web sitewww.cdrivefins.com
or try to contact Troy Clutton, the owner, via facebook www.facebook.com/cdrivefins
or instagram www.instagram.com/cdrivefins/
or email troy@cdrivefins.com or troy.cdrvfins@gmail.com
They are mail-order only.
Cheers MangoDingo, well travelled C-drives RTS'd on mail plane yesterday. Rapped you enjoyed them and have yours on the way from Troy. Hanging to see pics of your Flow with them. ENJOY
Great stuff BigH!
Glad they made it back safe n sound - massive thanks.
Yep - stay tuned for the Flow old mate!
The wind's turned a tad southerly (WSW) here so it's cleaned up - tomorrow could be a goer if the swell hangs about.
After what seems like weeks of onshore dog's guts I'm just about half mad without any decent waves.
Hope all is well cob!!!
YEEW!!!!
Bringing this forward for folks chasing Troy,s contract.
MangoDingo, still hanging out for your Flow pics 
Pacific Vibrations has (unfortunately) copied the design and calls them - J Drives....
mango how did you find the cdrives on the style?? Tried mine (10" XL Style) with 7' center and FCS7 in sides ..magic... have got large set of quobba (green set) in to test out today... might try the cdrives tomorrow.
Have never tried it with the stock 8' fin would this make much difference??
Hi there
After several years of unsuccessfully trying to get a set of C-drives in Canada I ordered a couple of sets of J-drives from Pacific Vibrations. They seem like reasonable quality fibreglass fins. The FCS tabs fit well in my boxes on the 8'10" Speeed. I sanded the goofy logo off. They are not an exact copy of a C-Drive and the trailing fin is smaller than the side fins. Looking forward to testing them out on Monday.
Cheers
Bob
FRP I put some CDrives on my creek and found in big surf they ripped. Gave great drive and grip. Have been running the smaller (orange) Quobba fins since and found in smaller week fat waves they are much better. Actually faster and looser I found in smaller waves the Cdrives felt a bit 'slow" and harder to turn.
Have the green Quobbas in my Style with a 7" main fin this combo seems perfect so havent tried the CDrives yet.
Select to expand quotebomberdave said..
FRP I put some CDrives on my creek and found in big surf they ripped. Gave great drive and grip. Have been running the smaller (orange) Quobba fins since and found in smaller week fat waves they are much better. Actually faster and looser I found in smaller waves the Cdrives felt a bit 'slow" and harder to turn.
Have the green Quobbas in my Style with a 7" main fin this combo seems perfect so havent tried the CDrives yet.
Thanks Dave
Good information. When I first started looking at C-drives a local surf shop here in Tofino carried them (out of stock) but described them on their website as a big wave fin with good speed and stability. I have been using the small Quobba orange fins in my Speeed as side fins and a stock '94" Sunova fin in back. This has seemed to be a good setup in the small waist high waves I have been out in the last couple of mornings. When I ran the 3 fin thruster set of Quobba fins in small waves it didn't work for me and they seemed slow at takeoff. I am wondering if the smaller J-Drive fin in the back will lossen it up a bit in smaller waves. I will put the second set of J-drives in my Creek also and give that a go. Endless fun heading down the fin "rabbit hole".
Cheers
Bob
Am running the new green quobbas in the front and my older orange as rears in my SMIK 8'8" Short Mac.
Fast not stiff at all. Really excellent!
Follow up on the J-Drive fins on my 8'10" Speeed. Out today in waist high glass at Cox Bay Tofino. Initial impressions compared to my previous setup with Small Quobba side fins and Sunova 94 center fin. The Drives were much more loose but still enough drive for good bottom turns and speed down the line. I suspect this looseness is due to the much smaller center fin. They did feal a bit skittish in white water but overall I think they improved my surfing. A youngish standup paddler I was talking to asked if I didn't mind telling him how old I was and he guessed that I was fifty (ancient to someone in their 20s). When I told him 64 he laughed and replied he hoped that he was still surfing In his sixties. Tomorrow I will try the Drives on my 8'7" Creek. Life is good and to be surfing........extraordinary.
Cheers
Bob
FRP agree with a lot you are saying... I too found the C Dives (in the creek) worked a lot better in big surf. In smaller conditions I found the cdrives slow and a bit "woody". Went back to the orange quobba fins and wamo..speed and looseness. Will try the larger green quobba's on the sides with smaller orange fin in centre next. Off to Hawaii in a few weeks so will have two weeks to play with fin settings 
Currently running the green quobbas on the sides of my style with a 7" in the middle, this works really well in everything!!! Will try the cdrives next time.
Thanks Dave
I measured the bases of the fins and I think they equate to medium side fins (base 125 mm) and small center fin (base 106 mm). I have not given up on getting Cdrives from Troy. I have a few in-laws in Australia and perhaps I can get them sent to one of their addresses. Just need to figure out how to get funds to Troy and get lucky with fins being available. I think I would order a large set? Not sure. Looking forward to getting out surfing tomorrow morning. I got to the beach this morning at 7am and there were already ten surfers in the water catching a few waves before heading off to work. Very mellow aloha vibe.
Cheers
Bob
Select to expand quotebomberdave said..
FRP I put some CDrives on my creek and found in big surf they ripped. Gave great drive and grip. Have been running the smaller (orange) Quobba fins since and found in smaller week fat waves they are much better. Actually faster and looser I found in smaller waves the Cdrives felt a bit 'slow" and harder to turn.
Have the green Quobbas in my Style with a 7" main fin this combo seems perfect so havent tried the CDrives yet.
Hey BDave. Can u (or anyone else) let me know if they have tried the Quobba greens as the twin sides on a SMIK hipster twin (or longboard version) and give me any feedback. Cheers
Select to expand quoteDHUPEDNORTH1 said..bomberdave said..
FRP I put some CDrives on my creek and found in big surf they ripped. Gave great drive and grip. Have been running the smaller (orange) Quobba fins since and found in smaller week fat waves they are much better. Actually faster and looser I found in smaller waves the Cdrives felt a bit 'slow" and harder to turn.
Have the green Quobbas in my Style with a 7" main fin this combo seems perfect so havent tried the CDrives yet.
Hey BDave. Can u (or anyone else) let me know if they have tried the Quobba greens as the twin sides on a SMIK hipster twin (or longboard version) and give me any feedback. Cheers
Sorry DHUPEDNORTH1 Iam a sunova fan boy....however would love to try a smik hipster... 8'6 would do if anyone has a spare lying around!!!
Select to expand quotebomberdave said..DHUPEDNORTH1 said..bomberdave said..
FRP I put some CDrives on my creek and found in big surf they ripped. Gave great drive and grip. Have been running the smaller (orange) Quobba fins since and found in smaller week fat waves they are much better. Actually faster and looser I found in smaller waves the Cdrives felt a bit 'slow" and harder to turn.
Have the green Quobbas in my Style with a 7" main fin this combo seems perfect so havent tried the CDrives yet.
Hey BDave. Can u (or anyone else) let me know if they have tried the Quobba greens as the twin sides on a SMIK hipster twin (or longboard version) and give me any feedback. Cheers
Sorry DHUPEDNORTH1 Iam a sunova fan boy....however would love to try a smik hipster... 8'6 would do if anyone has a spare lying around!!!
I have....
How far r u from Ocean Grove, BDave. ? ?
Select to expand quoteDHUPEDNORTH1 said..bomberdave said..
FRP I put some CDrives on my creek and found in big surf they ripped. Gave great drive and grip. Have been running the smaller (orange) Quobba fins since and found in smaller week fat waves they are much better. Actually faster and looser I found in smaller waves the Cdrives felt a bit 'slow" and harder to turn.
Have the green Quobbas in my Style with a 7" main fin this combo seems perfect so havent tried the CDrives yet.
Hey BDave. Can u (or anyone else) let me know if they have tried the Quobba greens as the twin sides on a SMIK hipster twin (or longboard version) and give me any feedback. Cheers
Is the green the largest size.
If so will be trying that combo in few days...
Select to expand quoteBighugg said..
Is the green the largest size.
Yes.
For now the combo green in front + orange in rear is my favorite for small boards. I use a full orange set for longer boards as I use more the rail than the fins, and the speed & looseness gain of the smaller fins is great, as they have ton of hold anyways at speed.
I guess that when their rear adjustable fins (slider) will be available, a full green set with a slider will be quite interesting: just slide the fin forward for smaller waves, you can do it apparently in the water tool-less with no risk of losing the fin.
Got out this morning to Cox Bay at 7:30 am. Three hours in the water and waist to head high glass. On the 8'7" Creek with the J Drive fins(C Drive copies). My surfing has taken a step forward. Better tighter turns, more confidence on the wave face and some top to bottom surfing. Getting use to the unstable feeling in the foam pile. So far a positive change for me. I will try to shoot some video and hopefully my impression of improved surfing holds true to the unforgiving Soloshot Eye.
Cheers
Bob
Select to expand quoteBighugg said..bomberdave said..DHUPEDNORTH1 said..bomberdave said..
FRP I put some CDrives on my creek and found in big surf they ripped. Gave great drive and grip. Have been running the smaller (orange) Quobba fins since and found in smaller week fat waves they are much better. Actually faster and looser I found in smaller waves the Cdrives felt a bit 'slow" and harder to turn.
Have the green Quobbas in my Style with a 7" main fin this combo seems perfect so havent tried the CDrives yet.
Hey BDave. Can u (or anyone else) let me know if they have tried the Quobba greens as the twin sides on a SMIK hipster twin (or longboard version) and give me any feedback. Cheers
Sorry DHUPEDNORTH1 Iam a sunova fan boy....however would love to try a smik hipster... 8'6 would do if anyone has a spare lying around!!!
I have....
How far r u from Ocean Grove, BDave. ? ?
Bighugg, I live in Melbourne but generally surf gippy side - inverloch, venus bay etc....
Select to expand quotebomberdave said..
Sorry DHUPEDNORTH1 Iam a sunova fan boy....however would love to try a smik hipster... 8'6 would do if anyone has a spare lying around!!!
ha. no probsSelect to expand quoteBighugg said..
Is the green the largest size.
If so will be trying that combo in few days...
great! let me know how you find it.Select to expand quotecolas said..
Yes.
For now the combo green in front + orange in rear is my favorite for small boards. I use a full orange set for longer boards as I use more the rail than the fins, and the speed & looseness gain of the smaller fins is great, as they have ton of hold anyways at speed.
I guess that when their rear adjustable fins (slider) will be available, a full green set with a slider will be quite interesting: just slide the fin forward for smaller waves, you can do it apparently in the water tool-less with no risk of losing the fin.
Yes, the adjustables are very cool. The degree they go to get the machining perfect is just crazy (but necessary - nobody wants a wobbly fin).
Top is the style with green quobbas in sides... bottom is creek with orange quobbas...will try green sides and orange centre on the creek next time second pic is the creek dressed in CDrives... I now have a smaller nubster to try in the centre (cdrive)
