Select to expand quoteMilsy said..
mmmmm, yes, were using much smaller than that, 15 deltas, bottoming out off the plain, the weed we sail through grows to the surface, very thick, really, sailing hasnt improved much in my 8yrs, whats changed a lot, thanks to the gps, is fins, and the flatness of water, people have moved away from sandy pt style strips and sail shallow weed banks heaps more,,, the deltas take some getting used to, definitely require different pressure on deck, let go a lot more, but they do get better with practice, and the spots they have opened up for us on the central coast is amazing, apart from the east coast wind factor, i cant imagine anyone getting better than what we got, and this will be our first winter, with the right fins, and better understanding of what directions, etc, personally i'd love to see carbon art or anders bringal design a board solely for the delta, i think a longer thinner tail, more back of board past back foot but much thinner,,,,,,,,,,,,your fin looks like a finworks, just with less rounded , less curve trailing edge, not really, it might just appear that way because you raked it back more, is pepeweed custom a fin works mould?
The Pepeweed is an original custom design made by Pepe, I've seen all his designs from version #1 to this the latest, actually my 23/48 is the second latest version he has improved it again since. Its not a copy of anything. I think the original mould is a 40degree rake, and we just decided to rake them at 48 degrees for Albany, with the trailing edge to the rear of the tuttle head, and the leading edge further forward, it works superbly, without some of the complaints you hear about the deltas. However if you sail with a big board and a 26cm fin raked at 48degrees in choppy water it wont hold either. However, the Deltas having less depth can go shallower than the Pepeweeds, and people are starting to adjust to them and like them a lot. We just lucky we have so many custom designers here, who have been very unsatisfied with what the market has delivered, so they make their own.
I often blow alphas by trying to go too fast. I am convinced a major cause is flipping rig fractionally early and trying to sheet in down wind.
Your blown alpha looks like that to me Hardie. That does cause a fall to the inside as the mast tries to accelerate into the water. Not well explained but I can vividly remember how it feels as it happens too often. This seems ironic as you have said I flip the rig too late. As soon as I deliberately try to flip earlier I think I often fall as shown in your video.
I've had success at Lilacs with 38 degree fins so if that is all you have give them a go.
As for shallow areas: it is the sandy areas which will catch you out not the weedy ones. the sand is full of large shells and can mangle fins rapidly if you get it wrong.
Select to expand quotehardie said..
This next one is an interesting study of an alpha, when looking at this one you notice I've got very good speed going in, and then to square up parallel going back out, I seem to be unable to get back up to any high speed across the wind. From memory this is one of those one's where I've probably gone at a slightly downwind angle across the wind picking up that extra speed, then when I'm heading back to 50m proximity, I'm needing to pinch up wind, and you see me struggling to get back to that high speed I took into the incoming run, the importance of trying to stay square to the wind both ways: There's a lot to these bloody alphas
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That's probably where I go wrong as I'm always trying to go back upwind after a gybe..so aim to reach in + out?
I have ocasionally try to head up wind slightly for 30 or so meters just before the gybe. My logic is that once at max speed this is unlikely to slow much and it gives me more room to bear off and accelerate after gybing to maximize speed on the return leg and still hit the 50m on a beam reach. Has anyone had success with this method?
Select to expand quotehardie said..Milsy said..
to see carbon art or anders bringal design a board solely for the delta, i think a longer thinner tail, more back of board past back foot but much thinner,,,,,,,,,,,\
Then you might as well put the finbox 75mm forward while you're at it. Currently weed fins are compromised or designed around the finbox being in the wrong place. I think part of the success of the delta fin design can be attributed to the long thick base which allows the leading edge to be almost in the right spot. The best weed fin I've sailed was a delta design built by Keef. His CA sl55 sailed magnificently on it. I offered to buy board and fin on the spot. It's an XL delta with a whopping leading edge overhang. Without the constraint of the finbox location I wouldn't be surprised if that style of fin could be refined to work even better.
Select to expand quoteevets said..
I have ocasionally try to head up wind slightly for 30 or so meters just before the gybe. My logic is that once at max speed this is unlikely to slow much and it gives me more room to bear off and accelerate after gybing to maximize speed on the return leg and still hit the 50m on a beam reach. Has anyone had success with this method?
Yes! 
On easterlies at Sandy Point I have had some success heading up slightly for a second or two before turning into the Gybe. My logic is exactly the same. When it works I get a bit more accelleration into the Gybe without getting too far downwind.
Select to expand quoteIan K said..hardie said..Milsy said..
to see carbon art or anders bringal design a board solely for the delta, i think a longer thinner tail, more back of board past back foot but much thinner,,,,,,,,,,,\
Then you might as well put the finbox 75mm forward while you're at it. Currently weed fins are compromised or designed around the finbox being in the wrong place. I think part of the success of the delta fin design can be attributed to the long thick base which allows the leading edge to be almost in the right spot. The best weed fin I've sailed was a delta design built by Keef. His CA sl55 sailed magnificently on it. I offered to buy board and fin on the spot. It's an XL delta with a whopping leading edge overhang. Without the constraint of the finbox location I wouldn't be surprised if that style of fin could be refined to work even better.
Yep, many of the modern boards have the fin box well back.
Great for slalom fins but too much for a heavily raked fin.
Fanatics are around 152mm centre point.
CA are 162-167mm and work much better with lots of rake angle.
Keep the fin box well forward for weed boards.
Not sure about +75mm tho'.;-)
are we building a case here for some sort of adjustable box? I guess there's a lot of people here who regularly change fin angle, at the moment you'd need different boards to get optimum results for all angles.
Select to expand quotedecrepit said..
are we building a case here for some sort of adjustable box? I guess there's a lot of people here who regularly change fin angle, at the moment you'd need different boards to get optimum results for all angles.
IMHO there has always been a case for adjustable 'cavity' fin boxes.
There is/was such a box: The Trim box!
For some reason that escapes me it has not caught on. If you are able to get fins for it I would seriously consider it for a custom board for use with weed fins.
Other than that, I have a few sketches and ideas for an adjustable 'Tuttle' box. I recon we will need it for our next tandem. 
^^ Great idea. Here's perhaps a better one. Simply make the Tuttle box a little longer and place the fin where you need it in the mould.
Has the added benefit of strengthening the whole assembly in the board.
[edit] Plus it has the potential advantage of moving the front screw from under the rear foot strap on some boards...need to look at that also.
Tuttle II?
Select to expand quoteBonominator said..
^^ Great idea. Here's perhaps a better one. Simply make the Tuttle box a little longer and place the fin where you need it in the mould.
Has the added benefit of strengthening the whole assembly in the board.
[edit] Plus it has the potential advantage of moving the front screw from under the rear foot strap on some boards...need to look at that also.
Tuttle II?
Thats exactly what I have in mind
Select to expand quoteBonominator said..
^^ Great idea. Here's perhaps a better one. Simply make the Tuttle box a little longer and place the fin where you need it in the mould.
Has the added benefit of strengthening the whole assembly in the board.
[edit] Plus it has the potential advantage of moving the front screw from under the rear foot strap on some boards...need to look at that also.
Tuttle II?
Its possible to get quite a range of adjustment even with the std Tuttle box.
Just move the box forward in the board.
I have one board with the box centred at 202mm.
Most of my other boards are at 167-170mm.
Somewhere between these and you have a good range for LE position depending on where you set the head.
At 167mm box position, I run my 38 deg LE at the front edge of the head and set them back progressively to -20mm for 20deg fins.
Here is our adj tuttle box, I have made for our new speed tandem. Takes 3mins to adapt any Tuttle fin to it. By drilling two small holes, one in each end. Plus the fin can still be used in other boards. This version has 55mm of adjustment overall. It has two segments 20mm and a 35mm.
Select to expand quoteanthony perkins said..
Here is our adj tuttle box, I have made for our new speed tandem. Takes 3mins to adapt any Tuttle fin to it. By drilling two small holes, one in each end. Plus the fin can still be used in other boards. This version has 55mm of adjustment overall. It has two segments 20mm and a 35mm.
Very clever. Do you have two sets of holes through the board as well?
On the trimbox they have multiple holes in the fin to match up with wherever the fin is positioned, but I guess your idea is to use a normal tuttle fin.
How did you build the box?
Ah that's very clever Anthony. Well done.
Could you have a long slotted hole for fin bolts although this wouldn't be as easy to fill the gap fore and aft of the fin as Anthony's solution.
just cut a tuttle box in half and added carbon strips for strength and foam then glassed over.
the deck panel, for the bolts has to be parallel with the bottom of the box (hull side),so that where ever the blocks are they touch it, this keeps them flush on the hull side.
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