Surfing Waves

Hey all - the waves are small again here in SoCal. Boohoo.

So small, in fact that I'm wishing I had a proper small wave board. I don't.

I do have this 7'8" - it has a fair amount of nose + tail rocker and doesn't work great when it's 1-2ft and gutless.

Here's my question -

Wondering if I take the thruster fin out, try it as a twin - will this help at all? Not expecting miracles - just looking to get into stuff a hair earlier.

I've read / heard twins are more paddle-able... but always thought this was more about bottom contours, than resistance from a middle fin.

thx

sk

Where do you surf in SoCal? I surf mostly encinitas and can still catch plenty of waves when it is 1-2 feet.

Realistically, you need a log. I surf a log all year round.

If your question is about something as simple as removing the centre fin to see what it does. Do it and see!
experiment see what suits your need!

BaNZ wrote:Where do you surf in SoCal? I surf mostly encinitas and can still catch plenty of waves when it is 1-2 feet.

Realistically, you need a log. I surf a log all year round.

Hey man - I'm in Oceanside - but mostly surf up in San Onofre. Not far from you at all. Yeah - need a log - I have an order in for a 7'10 - log-ish board... but it's a local shaper, won't be in until May...

As Jaffa says, just try it for a session and see

I’m going to guess it won’t help, you have lost 1/3 of your fin area so that reduces your drive on a board that already has insufficient drive. Twin fins tend to have much larger fins than a thruster for this reason (not to mention that twin fins are usually set in a different spot than the front fins of a thruster)

But I’ve been wrong before

If you want more drive then, after this experiment, try using a set of larger fins and see how that goes. Might reduce turning ability but should assist with speed

dtc wrote:As Jaffa says, just try it for a session and see

I’m going to guess it won’t help, you have lost 1/3 of your fin area so that reduces your drive on a board that already has insufficient drive. Twin fins tend to have much larger fins than a thruster for this reason (not to mention that twin fins are usually set in a different spot than the front fins of a thruster)

But I’ve been wrong before

If you want more drive then, after this experiment, try using a set of larger fins and see how that goes. Might reduce turning ability but should assist with speed

Hey man - Thanks for your input. Tried it over the weekend. Might've helped get in to a wave or two I might not've made... but who knows. It wasn't night or day by any stretch. I totally noticed the lack of drive though on bottom turns... I was able to turn it a lot quicker, however... but it just kinda stalled out - couldn't get back up the face... hard to know because it was so small. But I don't think I'll try it again - maybe with the bigger fins. Thx!