Surfing Waves

Hey Guys,

I just received my new custom 7'7 23' 3' retro single fin pin tail board. Anyone one here rides single fin that can tell me what they think? Usually I ride a 9'4 23' 3' single fin... what to expect from the 7'7? was the pintail a bad option?

Thanks in advance

A pin tail is a great choice. Most of the time they say to go with a small longboard fin but it will slide, try a cutaway fin instead, 7 to 8 inches, it will hold up better but still give you a great turn. . Do a google search on cutaway fins, it will give you an idea of what I am talking about.

Just like with most board, your gonna have some trial and error to go thru. Experiment with different size fins and shapes ( like the cutaway ).


at the beginning of the video, Chris Ward is having a hard time on the MR single. But at :49 he adjusts the fin further back and then the board rockets.

But I would recommend starting with a 7.5"ish fin set up in the middle of the box for your first go out.

I think you are going to have a lot of fun.....Merry Christmas!

Have any pictures?

Hey guys, thanks a lot for your advices...

Had my first ride with the single fin yesterday, super fast down the line, I was expecting to be a little difficult to turn but ir turned very very well. Love the new board.

Abut the fin, I was told than a fin with a lot of flex would be the best, what do you guys think?

Here are some pictures




the board is not pink, but red wine purple. I dont know why the camara captured it as pink lol

Nice board. I used to ride a similar board long ago. I loved my board and I bet this will be a decent all around board. About the fin .....I don't know we couldn't change the fins back in those days

Fin answers are a personal option, try one and see. Have a read of the fin primer! While you are getting used to the board, just this will help you get your personal spot

Fin forward , board gets looser in turning , back tighter and requiring more pressure over it to push the turn.

Hugo wrote: but it turned very very well. Love the new board.

If the board is working good and you are happy with it. Then leave it alone ! Learn it's quirks. How to slow it down, how to roll from rail to rail, where it paddles best under chest. After you got that down, then maybe try another fin.

Flex fin ? I like the Greenough 4-A

I'm currently using a 7' center fin, with no flex, by Lufi, but it's on "loan" from a friend of mine that used it on a longboard (9'0)... I think I'm going with a cutaway fin and see from there

Thanks a lot for all the advices bro's....

Hugo...looks like I'm following in your footsteps....I have wanted a board like the one you posted for some time, but haven't wanted to splash the cash on a new board until I knew what I wanted and used single fins around here are a rarity....

Anyhow, stumbled onto one secondhand and picked it up....had three surfs on it in the last three days including overhead barreling Balangan down to fat waist to shoulder waves this afternoon and the board is aces; it's the best board I've ever ridden, makes surfing easier and just feels "right"....I love this board!

To address some of the questions that you had; the dims of my board are 7' x 21 3/4" x 3 1/16" and I'm 85kg. Previous owner said he had a friend visit 7 years ago and borrowed his board (cali hand shape from a local guy from his friend's area) liked it so much he took it to a local shaper and had a copy made....only used it 4 times after that he said. I like the tail shape a lot....no problem catching waves that were on the fat and weak side due to the volume of the board and the distribution with foam forward under the chest; board paddles great. In the bigger, stronger waves I could feel straight away the tail digging in, more control and less of the rear ended slingshot feeling of a wider tailed board....much smoother catching waves and more bite once in them....

....now about the fin....started out with an FCS plastic dolphin 8" fin (can google it, basic 8" fin with a medium base and not a whole lot of rake)....used that in the bigger waves and I was sliding out the tail like Mick Fanning.....was fun but not what I was looking for, was really loose and rather than biting fast turns the tail kept breaking free....fin positioned in the middle of the box. Next time out waves were strong but not as big as the day before, shoulder to just overhead and I used a relatively wide based no name dolphin shaped fin with more rake in a 9" size with the fin pulled all the way back. That held and no sliding out....have the feeling it was overkill though....used the same setup today on smaller waves and it felt stiff for the conditions. My next fin will be an FCS dolphin plastic 9" fin (I bought a 7, 8, 9 and 10" fin a year ago to use in different configurations in my longboard and to learn what different fin sizes would feel like and affect the ride....no other real way to learn other than experiencing it and those fins were like 20 bucks each so no biggie). I'll let you know how the 9" FCS works out....one thing I will say is the rule of thumb that I applied from my longboard experiences which is 1" for every foot of board (9' board gets a 9" fin) as a starting point is undersized for this shape of a board for me. The 9" FCS I have to pull from my 9'6" longboard, and I have the feeling it is going to be the best fit though I still have a couple more to try.

BTW as a note to all those who have asked questions along similar lines.....

If there ever was a board that paddled and caught waves like a longboard but surfed like a shortboard, this is it. Going to watch M.O.T.E. (Morning of the Earth) again and try to tap into that style mentality....this will be the board I take out to Uluwatu when I get out there next (and everywhere else! )

BiG H,

here in portugal the conditions are awful... Since I bought the board, I only go to ride it 2 times but with over the head waves , I had a lot of fun.

The board seems to be alive super super fast, and it holds super well. I haven't tryed the board in small, or calm, waves, but I think I'm going to love it anyway.

For me it's the perfect board, at least for now

I'm still struggling withe the Fin's though, as I bought a 8''5 wood Fin, made like a cutaway FCS Fin, but haven't had the oppurtunity to try it. As soon as I do it, I'll tell you more about it.

We are truely with the same feeeling about surfing, altough so many miles appart so cool

P.S. your new board looks awsome!

Oh !! I forgot another thing... Last night I downloaded Morning of the Earth... hahahaha

Hugo wrote:Oh !! I forgot another thing... Last night I downloaded Morning of the Earth... hahahaha

Hahahaha....sweet!

That time was Uncle Jaffa's country soul period, managed to get to Bali in 1979 so still lots of undiscovered places! nice nice and. Nice and the north coast of NSW was the other playground. I never made the grade as anybody famous but I still enjoyed the ride! The best of times, there were still beaches in Oz where you were the first guys to surf modern boards on the beach . Had a number of spots where people from the towns came to see this "new style".
First trip up the coast in 1961

I am going to try this fin on my Aipa Sting when it is finished.

Specs:

Total area: 30.6 sq. inches
Rake/sweepback: 15 degrees
Height/depth: 9 inches
Stiffness: Semi-flex or stiff
Colors: Glossy black, orange, blue, or matte black
Fits Fins Unlimited and Bahne fin boxes

Big H wrote: the dims of my board are 7' x 21 3/4" x 3 1/16" and I'm 85kg.... volume of the board and the distribution with foam forward under the chest... less of the rear ended slingshot feeling of a wider tailed board...

Interesting... I was looking at some boards the other day with exactly that aspect in mind. Due to some fitness/injury issues, I've been struggling to get into waves as early as I'd like on a shortboard, but I don't really get on with high-volume boards. I was debating a high-ish volume board (something like those dims but not quite as thick) but with a pulled-in tail.
Not sure where I'd go with the fins yet... big single fins are a whole new world to me!

drowningbitbybit wrote:

Big H wrote: the dims of my board are 7' x 21 3/4" x 3 1/16" and I'm 85kg.... volume of the board and the distribution with foam forward under the chest... less of the rear ended slingshot feeling of a wider tailed board...

Interesting... I was looking at some boards the other day with exactly that aspect in mind. Due to some fitness/injury issues, I've been struggling to get into waves as early as I'd like on a shortboard, but I don't really get on with high-volume boards. I was debating a high-ish volume board (something like those dims but not quite as thick) but with a pulled-in tail.
Not sure where I'd go with the fins yet... big single fins are a whole new world to me!

For what it's worth.....I would not have bought this size new if there were choices. Would have thought it too thick.....there is a fair amount of foiling in the design sap through the tail.... I was duckdiving head high Bali surf yesterday (not duck drips either). Board is heavily glassed and carries some weight....that's where the feels like a longboard part comes in; Board will carry inertia and you can feel that paddling as well as in the ride. The only thing I would change in a future design would be to stretch the.nose out a bit and add a little bit of nose rocker to help out on later drops on jacking waves. Otherwise surprisingly (or not) the high volume design seems to complement other design features and facilitates a different style of riding (I move my feet around and generally find them closer together than when I'm on a shortboard....also carving turns, the he extra float means that you can hold the arc of the turn and power right through it rather than being able to cheat and stutter through turns like on a thruster which is also necessary as the design demands a small other flowing approach otherwise the board hangs up). Then there is the low rocker; you need that foam to get in early, but makes getting in easy as well as chasing around the lineup a breeze. I think the distribution has a lot to do with the paddle; Everything is pushed forward.

Only story short, don't be afraid of the extra foam.

Big H wrote:Only story short, don't be afraid of the extra foam.

Oh, I'm not... it's length I don't like!

I do have boards that are the best part of 40 L, but now looking at the 50 L mark to compensate for the injured shoulder. However, I've never liked the feel* of boards longer than around 7' (and even that I'd prefer to be on a shorter board). The last board that I got had heaps of volume even though it was only 5'10, but I don't like the fat tail of the board... and so fat front skinny tail is likely to be my next experiment!


* Totally subjective opinion with no logic behind it.

Got it....for what it's worth this board surfs shorter than a comparable length 7' board I have....you don't ride as far back on the board. Paddling as well; with the nose heavy volume you are really forward; I can touch the nose with a bent arm when in paddling position so it's not miles of deck out in front of you and you can still dive down into waves when catching them like on a shorter board.

Reading Wchans post in another thread, those things that I said I'd change.......I guess I wouldn't....leave it up to the shaper and so many things complement or affect the other....the heavy glassing helps with glide and punching out through waves using the inertia going forward....offset by the volume makes it manageable I guess...who am I to change how the nose is shaped? Would affect a lot of other factors that I really know nothing about.....anyhow, definitely something different and if it works here I'm sure it will work there....proving to be more versatile than I thought it would and has reignited my stoke in spite of the rather benign conditions lately (rainy season blues).