Greenough 4a vs Nat young fin?

[Prancing monkey]

Hi folks

After a few sessions on the new board (9,6 surftech - identified as a randy french hp by folks on this awesome forum) I think I need to swap out the current 8” orca fin plus sidebites for a single. The side bits are making it feel a bit draggy and I want to get a bit more glide.

I have the option of getting a 9.5 Nat young or 10” 4a second hand for a decent price. Just wondered on people’s thoughts / experience?

[Prancing monkey]

Problem solved!! Bought both and will sell one of them on once I have worked out which suits the best.

[billie_morini]

Problem solved!! Bought both and will sell one of them on once I have worked out which suits the best.

This is a brilliant solution! It's how I often approach these types of things and wondered if I'm a little nutty because I do. Well, maybe I am. But, now I know I am not alone!

Please report impressions and results!! Inquiring minds want to know.

[Prancing monkey]

Will do; should have them by the back end of next week.

I basically spent hours agonising over each one, effectively paralysed by the amount of internet data you can get on this kind of stuff (on the 4a anyway).

And then I had a couple of beers, chilled out, and realised I had enough cash to buy both after selling 3 different fcs centre fins from a previous smaller

[waikikikichan]

For the 9'6" Randy French HP, the Greenough 4A at 10 inches is too big in my opinion. ( especially if you're looking to decrease drag ). I would've gone with a 9.0" or 9.5". But try the 10" and see how it goes. The limiting factor is you can't move it up in the box much.

[Prancing monkey]

Hey waikikikichan

Bizarrely enough the guy I bought the fins off had a 9” 4a and I went for that instead of the 10” (in addition to the Nat young) on the basis that I don’t push too hard and saw some posts on the +9 being fairly sticky. So a nice valedictory post from you today!!!

They won’t arrive till next week, so today i used an old, nicked, glassflex 8” connect fin.....which worked great. Tiny ankle height @ 14 sec and still managed to get the board on a rail. Can’t wait to take it out on some bigger stuff. Nice SE winds later this week that should help!

[Prancing monkey]

Right. Had the 4a in for a really scrappy, 3-4ft @5 secs in 18mph crosshore and first thoughts are it has transformed the board. Loads of drive but I didn’t notice any ‘stickyness’ on the the turns, although i had put the fin completely forward in the box. If anything it felt easier to turn than with the 8” orca and sidebites. Nearly managed to hang 5 in less than ideal conditions so well chuffed. I also took it out on a flat day just to keep my wife company when she was paddle boarding, and the paddlespeed has increased massively. Going to keep it in for a calm / small session on Tuesday and will then swap Nat young for comparison. Only downside was that my leash snapped and managed to chip the fin when it rolled onto our gravel beach (the board missed a metal gryone by millimetres so could have been worse)

[Prancing monkey]

So finally managed to use fins on back to back days in similar conditions at the same spot (clean, knee high, slight offshore, weak swell, beach break).

Definitely prefer the 4a. I found the tail had a tendency to drift a bit with the Nat young, and it was also a bit harder the maintain a line when trimming. It also seemed more sensitive, to the point where i managed an accidental cutback when I lost my balance on my backside. The 4a seems to have a more ‘positive’ / predictable response when I try to turn, and I also seem to get more speed when doing the last few power paddle strikes just before take off. The speed helped me to catch the wave much earlier which meant I could set a nice line and maintain it for longer.

The big caveat to above is that conditions were very small and weak; however any bigger and I would be riding my 6,9 hybrid anyway.