Surfing Waves

i was jsut checking htings out in the shop today and came across this new fin design thats supposed to increase stability, turning and speed in all wave conditions... its endorsed by some big name pros so it cant be taht bad... they retail around $50 AUD, i was thinking of getting one and testing it for myself but i was jsut wondering if anyone on the site has used one of these??

take er ease
Rizzzer

Do you mean the Turbo Tunnel?


Or is it something different?

likn didnt work its www.tunlsurf.com

aaaaah.
I've seen it around and in the mags but have no first hand experience of one to be honest.

Great idea though!

Yep, got one. A nice bright blue one. My shaper gave me his trade sample to try after him.

When I first saw it I thought to myself....here is a design that makes sense, it looks logical, smaller all over but with more fin "face" than a normal fin, the idea of the parallel bottom wing or blade would hold a board steady in a choppy wave face & not skip or anything...that's what I thought.

But, it's made all wrong, why isn't it wafer thin & made from fiberglass or carbon fiber...if it was it'd be a better product...but it's made from xxxxx molded plastic, each blade is about 5-6mm thick front-on and the drag that results is noticable. In my shapers words "why not just tie a bucket to your legrope & drag that around instead, it'd be cheaper"

Try one though, just don't pay good money for it.

Brent wrote: In my shapers words "why not just tie a bucket to your legrope & drag that around instead, it'd be cheaper"

Got me killing myself here Brent. Just spat tea everywhere!

Its a good idea... but it doesnt provide as much stablity if you rock left to right, but good stability front and back,... but thats why you have the side fins i guess...?

wait which fin are we talkin about, the turbo tunnel, or the tunl?

Yea I thought his comment was pretty funny too. There was me being all geek-like & talking like an engineer trying to explain why I thought it was a good idea & just made poorly. And he comes out with that one-liner.
Yep. Doesn't mince his words that boy. Good shaper too...

Yeah ... my friend got one and said it's a joke. It's expensive, corny, and he was about to sue the company for false advertising. And did I mention you'll look like a jackass on the beach.

Rizzzer wrote:i was jsut checking htings out in the shop today and came across this new fin design thats supposed to increase stability, turning and speed in all wave conditions... its endorsed by some big name pros so it cant be taht bad... they retail around $50 AUD, i was thinking of getting one and testing it for myself but i was jsut wondering if anyone on the site has used one of these??

take er ease
Rizzzer

If you want to see how tunnel fins should be set up, then go to my site at <edit dead link>.

Hapabalapx wrote:Yeah ... my friend got one and said it's a joke. It's expensive, corny, and he was about to sue the company for false advertising. And did I mention you'll look like a jackass on the beach.

For your information, fully immersed foils (tunnel fins, Starfins and other 'hydrofoil' setups are able to provide a better lift/drag ratio than simple planing hulls, and if correctly designed and applied they deliver in a big way. They are not, however, able to be bolted on to any board . . .they need to be designed as part of a complete board/foil unit. I have been designing, building, and riding horizontal area finned boards (like the tunnel fin) since 1997, and I can tell you one thing for sure: the tunnel fin is the most efficient horizontal area fin configuration possible, and that it is definitely the fin setup of the future, particularly for longboards.

I have a lot of experience with tunnel fins, having surfed them on a daily basis for the past 6 years, so if you would like to know how to utilse one correctly, then ask me nicely and I will give you the low-down on how and why they work, and what kind of board they need.

By the way, the board I am surfing on the "gottobejoking" video thread is a tunnel board.

Brent wrote:Yep, got one. A nice bright blue one. My shaper gave me his trade sample to try after him.

When I first saw it I thought to myself....here is a design that makes sense, it looks logical, smaller all over but with more fin "face" than a normal fin, the idea of the parallel bottom wing or blade would hold a board steady in a choppy wave face & not skip or anything...that's what I thought.

But, it's made all wrong, why isn't it wafer thin & made from fiberglass or carbon fiber...if it was it'd be a better product...but it's made from xxxxx molded plastic, each blade is about 5-6mm thick front-on and the drag that results is noticable. In my shapers words "why not just tie a bucket to your legrope & drag that around instead, it'd be cheaper"

Try one though, just don't pay good money for it.

Brent, 5 to 6mm is exactly the thickness which I use for my highly successful tunnel fins, and I can tell you this with absolute certainty . . . the tunnel fin (which is a form of 'Annular' wing) is the lowest drag fin configuration which it is possible to make, largely because it avoids all tip turbulence, but also because it is able to provide lift more efficiently than the surfboard bottom (which is a simple planing surface).

If you find that your tunnel fin isn't working, then you have it on the wrong board (most currently available surfboards are unsuitable for tunnel fins) and possibly also because to make a tunnel fin really move out, you have to tail ride . . noseriding is a no no for tunnel boards if you want to go fast, they are very sensitive to fore and aft trim.

By the way, who is your shaper?

deathfrog wrote:wait which fin are we talkin about, the turbo tunnel, or the tunl?

I think they are referring to the turbo tunnel

deathfrog wrote:wait which fin are we talkin about, the turbo tunnel, or the tunl?

I think Rizzzer was either suffering from texting dyslexia or from the fickle fat finger on fone syndrome when he was typing but the fins are a drag better to go with the winged keel type fins if that's your lolly.
There is also a fin that displays the winglets of a jumbo jet wing does it work? In fairness I don' t know!
IMO I think you have to have basic surfing ability 101 down pat before you go too fancy.
Caveat emptor!

Hey Rizzzer - In my opinion a fin is a fin to go surf on just like a different ‘board. Like it or hate it but master it and then try go something different. At the end of the day it’s all about having a rocking time in the surf be it board, fin, or size !