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Three years ago I didn't own a weed fin, Since then I have had 14 weed fins, 8 of which I still own. It all started one day at Budgewoi, some guy called Milsy sold me a powerbox weedy for $20. I stuffed it in to a slalom board that I found for free on a council pickup day and did 32 kts at Canton.
Initially I didn't much like the feel of weed fins and only used them in very weedy locations, but the more I sailed on them the more I adapted to them. I now almost exclusively sail on weed fins, so having recently purchased a Simmer Godzilla slalom board for those really light days I really needed a weedy for it. I looked at my 700mm redundant Drake formula fin and thought "How hard would it be to make that in to a Huge weed fin?"
Measure once
Cut Twice
Plaster of Paris in a plastic bottle with an old deep tuttle fin
Roughen up the surface
24 hours later, pop the fin out of the mold.
Weigh out some resin, should have only made 100g
Pop it in the mold
24 hours later break out of the mold
Quick coat of black gloss
And Weedzilla was born...............
The leading edge is 73cm, angle of rake is 45 degrees, so the depth is around 51cm. I plan to use this with a 9.2 metre sail.
The board is 85cm wide. I am guessing that this may be too long, how much should I chop off?
First thong I'd do is align the tip with the flow, that'll get rid of a cm or so.
If you're really ambitious, think about moving the fin box forward, so the fin center of effort isn't so far back, should make the board easier to trim.
Looks good big powerful fin looks like drake R19
Unfortunately the r19 had a bit of flex Tip which may be an issue with such a long fin.
With weed fins the centre of effort is moved back the longer and more racked back the worst they are.
I hate weed fins compared to a pointer there not in the same league not even close but they are a necessity in many places we sail now .
Put your mast track as far as possible no exception to the back of the board.
Yes I plan to chop off the flex tip bit perhaps as much as 5-7 cm. But thought I would try it first, as there is no going back once you make the cut.
Ha ha, same fin, but I had shortened it the butcher way before, used it on the formula for windy days, then made it into a weedy. Now it's 40 deep. It's very stiff, but I have never tried it, only go to Budgi when it's windy.
