Surfing Waves

Hi all,
I have a 9'5", 23 1/4" with a 10" single fin. Been surfing for about a year or so (on this board), so I'm not very good but can catch green and walk the board a little (when I say 'walk' I really mean shuffle) and turn it but its a hefty beast to turn.
The fin was thrown in with the board as an afterthought and seems very large and simple looking in design. I'm wondering if a smaller fin would make it easier to turn or should I go for a 2/1 setup? But I'm also worried that I might not be able to catch waves as easily if i go smaller or Tri (is that a factor?) Any info and even specific recommendations on size and cut would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

can you move the fin in the fin box? if so, move it farther towards the nose. it will loosen up the board, but you will lose some drive. a smaller fin will do the same. don't go with a 2+1, you really only need the sidebites for if you need the extra hold in bigger waves. longboards are just hard to turn, you really gotta move to the back and use some torks and body rotation to get it to whip around

Different fins make heaps of difference, so it's worth trying a few out, in different positions.

If you get a squirrel fin, where the middle is narrow, with a fuller bottom, then it can loosen the board up. Flex makes a big difference too, as does the size.

Like Twerked says, the 2+1 setup probably won't help much unless you're using the board in steeper waves.

Thanks for the info guys.
Twerked: I will definitely move the fin forward and see how that goes. At the moment its pretty close to the back and I don't mind losing a bit of drive as its got plenty. I also forgot to mention that the board is old and probably waterlogged so its pretty darn heavy. I can't afford a new board at the moment so I thought maybe a fin upgrade may help some. but will try moving it first.

Hang11: Its very full fin (not sure of the name) but its as far away from a squirrel fin shape (had to google it) as it can get. So I may try one of those out. Is 10" the size to go for do you think?

You can for sure go smaller it would make the board looser more too on a 9' and a 9'5" I have 8 1/2" cutaways and am running sidebites (grant you I'm allso using them in bigger stuff. I have a 9' and a 9'2" with 9" and run em single fin, one is a Future Fin classic 9" and the outher is a True Ames Norm Flex and so far am hapy with all the setups.

Fins 101. The three basic fins are the cutaway, the hatchet and the traditional fin. The traditional fins have a long rake and smooth line all the way down, the advantage is in noseriding, it kind of digs in and hold the tail in place, the disadvantage is slow turns. The cutaway is simply that, cut away at the bottom to a slope on top, it also stands more upright, easier pivot, makes the board turn easier since there is less fin to turn but just as much projection into the water, however you loose a little bit of cathing ability since there is not as much push on the fin as a bigger traditional fin. The last is the hatchet fin, more like a cutaway with a big wing at the end, great for catching even small surf, the extra volume allows for more thrust and it can make your board catch anything at the expence of some turning.

Here, you can tell the different types, I get my fins locally from this factory:

http://store.finsunlimited.com/fustandard.html