Surfing Waves

Hi,

I need to purchase some new fins as I lost some in my last surf. I'm often feeling like I'm coming up a little short on my speed when surfing. I currently surf with the Gabriel Medina (sorry!) Performance fins in Thruster setup. I will be moving to a quad setup to try and get a little extra speed to make sections. However, I would just like to hear your input on what is the fin designed for the absolute fastest speed out there? (at the loss of control/drive)

Must be FCS II.

Thank you!

This is going to be a challenge, no fin is fast unless the rider has the skills to make it red line.
All the advertising is sales hype, we all know that. Is Mick Fanning a faster surfer than Medina? Or is it fins?
My advice go with what suits YOUR surfing, I don't believe we know which is the fastest! I don't

Solid point, thanks for the feedback!

Bigger fins will usually be faster, wider base esp is a factor, and bigger rake. The fin cant also affects speed but you can’t do much about that

But...it won’t make that much difference. Well, it might make it very hard to turn but not that much faster

You will have a much greater effect by turning at the right time, positioning on the right part of the wave, weighting the board appropriately and properly pumping

I think the quad setup will help your speed. I surf quads pretty much exclusively. Quads are what I have been using for the last few years. I tried thrusters but the only thing I noticed about thrusters was they didn't get as much speed from turning. It is probably related to total fin surface area. I have been trying the biggest fins I could find and they don't apparently make them big enough to make it more difficult for me to turn. I guess my thoughts are that the surface area of the fin turns sideways pressure on it into forward drive. In my mind this also happens when you are trimming along a wave to some extent so the difference between a thruster and a quad increases as the wave steepens because the thruster will lose a greater percentage of functional fin hanging on a steep wall. But overall I doubt a particular fin will make your board go noticeably faster unless you are on a much higher level of surfing than me. Speed comes from the way you surf and the wave and your board mostly, the fin is an extremely minor part in that.

What you want to hear ( sort of ). FCS’s H2 fin was marketed as the fastest most hydrodynamic fin ever designed. The reason I said “sort of” is because it’s not made in FCSII format. But you can still in stall them in your FCSII boxes by adding grub screws.
Something to think about though, if the H2’s were so fast, why did none of the pros use it ?

You didn’t say which FCS Medina fin you’re using, but they only come in Large or XS. So you’re probably using the Large. Did you ever think the fins might be holding you back ? Yes, general consensus is “larger fins create more drive”. But that’s if you got the motor behind it to push them and engage the rail. If they’re too big, they might “track” or delay your turns, putting you out of the sweet spot of the wave.
Back when I was racing triathlons, the training tires were 23c or 25c wide. You raced on 21c or even less. Now the norm is to go wider with the norm at 25c to 28c. “But wouldn’t the narrower and lighter tire be faster ?” They’ve found out the wider tires give more control and stays in contact with the ground ( which moved the bike forward faster ). Not bouncing off the pavement ( thus slowing down ) like the thin tires did. So like the old advertising said “ what is Speed without Control ?”

These are fast.
Have something similar in futures too. Lets the board run for sure.

Btw that’s a twin fin setup with a trailing stabilizer fin.

I'm surprised no one has asked what board and dimensions you're riding? Some fins work better on some boards than others, the depth of conclaves will impact on what size fin etc.

Ironically I was going to do a post on fins after playing around with all sorts and configurations over the summer. The set I'm liking more and more on every board is the creatures of leisure Nat young arc carbon fins. Similar to am2 with larger side fins for drive and speed but smaller rear fin for pivot and less drag. I find them faster, more hold on a wave face and good drive but also more
Pivotal than their 'vert' or pocket style fins.

As the other guys said though, positioning on the wave and having the right board will
Make a hell of a lot more difference than fins alone.

For a thruster, Channel Islands am2 template, always. Seem to work in every board I have. Wide base and plenty of rake. I particularly like the True Ames CI am2 version, the tips are a lot narrower.

I suppose AM1's if you are really light but I'm quite slender and am2's seem to work better for me.

I tend to outrun the wave when surfing quads, I've always found thrusters plenty fast when surfed correctly (as stated by everybody above). But that's just me.

Additionally, why not call up the shaper and ask their opinion? They would know best.