Small waves the last days, I thus experimented a lot of fin configuration... it just takes 30 seconds to change the fin setup on the spot (be careful not to drop the fin, they sink).
I am more and more found of the MR (Mark Richard) Twin fins for small wave conditions. By storing some trailers in the wetsuit (chest zip suits also are very practical to store fins in the pouch above the zip), or maybe a fanny pack, it is really interesting to compare different setups on the same spot at only minutes of interval.
I thus tested on my modern 9'3"x27" longSUP (Gong Moblog):
Only the twins: fast and loose, but can lack drive at the end of turns
Small rear fin (or a big trailer): one of the rears of the Gerry Lopez quad set: the reliable feel of the thruster with the added speed and playfulness of the twin
Quad version: smoother ride than a pure quad (rears have symmetrical profiles, and the boxes are close to the stringer), good for fast sections
The full MR set: twins + trailer. A very good compromise, most of the twin playfulness and speed with just enough drive
And last, my favorite setup for the day: asymmetrical setup with the trailer on the frontside (I am regular) for mostly frontside fast waves: faster than a thruster, good traction for max speed on fast sections, but no need to get too much on the tail for rollers and cutbacks so I wasn't killing all my speed on these small waves (waist high)
goodnightirene, yes, finless is awfully difficult. Once you tried it you grow an immense respect to all who master it, notably Dogman in his last video. It is a superb training to refine your paddle stroke and general balance however.
On your box board, you may try the 2 keels in the aft position. It seems counter-intuitive, but on wide tailed boards, having the fins far back can actually be quite fun, as it allows to fully put the foot on the tail (against the leash plug) without the board entering the turn too soon (before having set the rail in the water) nor stalling: this way you can drive powerful tight arcs even in small waves. But it do not release the tail easily. And it may not be possible with future boxes if your rear boxes are not the same as your front boxes...
ahhhh.you like your big side grabs colas....i remember the old surfboards ,MARK richards as twin fin s,he always had big fins ,I found twin fins lacked speed and drive ,but great in small messy surf ,where you where just going with the wave,they are great for doing 360's.
I only like quads now ,medium surf ,7 front 3 or 4 rears .
great to have some 2 's or smaller in the rear sometimes,
to slide around .
I remember KELLY slater saying he used two different size fins on the front ,set up as a thruster
depending if he was riding a right or left ,i think 5,on one side and 6 on the other side ,
give that ago,
I grew up surfing twin fins, but when I tried the first thrusters, I realized that how much the thruster helped my backside surfing, so never went back. I only replaced the rear fin by a small trailer in weak waves.
On SUP, I got hooked by the positive drive of the C-Drive. Alas, they are not available in the FCSII system, and it is hard to come back to FCS1 once you have experienced the simplicity and the tight fit of FCSII. I guess I found in the big Twin fins the drive I missed from the C-Drives in small waves.
Also big twins complement well the high volume of a SUP compared to a shortboard: I can put my 125 liters 6'10" on the rail in weak waves, and the MR locks the rail in position even if the thick rails does not dig as deep as a shortboard. The result is that in effect, you are now riding on a very narrow and round "hull" (the rail itself), with an impressive decrease in drag (as there is no drift), resulting in a insane boost of speed in turns, as if you were on the frictionless rails of a rollercoaster. With a normal size quad fin set, the slight drift would prevent this "afterburner" effect. But perhaps it is due to my 100kg, lighter riders do not need such big fins, just big (size 7 or 9) front fins...
makes sense .
.9 FINS,yeah thats big .
I Used 5 fronts and 6,5 rears on a 10' sup .worked well.
9,1 IS My biggest board now .
i also play around with fin s ,i just wish my boards had future fin click in s rather than grub screws .
I think they will faze them out soon .as the click ins area a far better system /totally agree with you.
I think I have found my favorite FCSII fin set: I am lucky to have a FCS shop close to where I live, and from time to time I go drooling on all the fins there. I stumbled on a new Al Merrick FCII Twin fin + trailer set that intrigued me as it has a very specific foil, with the main thickness nearly centered (most FCS fins have the thickest part quite forward), upright, and a small tip on a wide base, with a heavily raked trailer.
This seems designed to work at speed (foil, tip), with low latency in turns (outline), and drive (trailer). Of course I bought them, and used them on my boards in designed-for-thruster boxes.
So far I have only had weak waves, but the result is amazing: They seem looser than the MR, and more controllable (less ankle pressure) in turns, and smooth your backside surfing.
They are quite expensive, like all signature FCS fins, but I could see myself having only one set for all my boards, inserting them and removing them is so easy...
I might get a 2nd trailer to test with 2 trailers in a quad setup for bigger conditions.
Playing around with fins is a good curiosity...but as some of them are wider base than original ones already thought by the board shaper, those wider base fin should be pull inside the rail to be very effective . For exemple of the MR or MRx fin size template, fins plugs would be pull in the rail and pull back to the direction of the tail. You might give a good balance of looseness and drive to your board in that exemple.
See the last post about Twin fin's from Scott of SMICK board, that is an other very good exemple of how to set fins on a board.