Surfing Waves

Advice please (again, but you lot are so good at it!)

just bought a southern swell 8' board and it has a 2+1 8" fin set up. the two outer fins are easy and only fit in one position.

the centre fin is huge and has a bar at one end that slides down into a groove, a screw with a square nut type thing and it goes into a slot, where it can be positioned anywhere up and down?!?!?!

now this probably sounds obvious to you guys, but its confusing for me!!

do i position it middle, at the back or front of the slot? does the screw and place need to be used as the fin seems damn stiff to get in and out? should i take the fin out everytime i finish (can't close my bag zip with it on!!)?

help!!!

thanks in advance.

Hi Batrunt, have a read of my fin primer that might help, but some basic advice...... centre fin forward board looser in turns centre fin back board tighter in turns. as for your problems in fitting the fin in the slot, do use the nut and screw, it may be tight but the force of a turn can do surprising things to your fin like pull it out. Or a leading edge bump will dislodge it so if you riding a screw loose do not run over anyone
To fit a little easier in the fin box lightly sand both edges of the part of the fin that goes in the box equally and don't over do it.( if you do see post on wobbly fins).

Next if you place the fin further forward don't place the leading edge of the base further forward that a little behind the the trailing edge of the base of the side bite fins..
There is no right spot generically for the centre fin, only what works well for you! Same with the fins you choose, just because board X came with fins Y doesn't mean they are the right ones, some shops just put in the cheapest one around.
Only one drawback, there is not a way to change fins across systems without major stuffing around so play within the system.
At your stage it's just try it and see.
Have fun

Hello,
Maybe try to get a slightly smaller fin maybe a 7" and try that out and see if it is still stable enough for you. As you have the side bite fins to help you with stability and drive. Maybe a smaller fin will allow your board to fit in your board bag. They also do make board bags with rear fin slots that zip up. Some surf shops might have some demo fins you can try out before purchasing, to see if a smaller fin will work for you. If not I would get a different board bag before I took my fin out after every session. You want your surf equipment to be simple not complicated.