Best Fins to Control a Super Loose Board

[GoneTropo]

Greetings All! I just bought a new board (6'4 Psycho Killer by Lost) and paired it with the Futures Mayhem 5-fin set (in Large; I'm 6'2, 195 lbs.). I've only ridden it in the thruster configuration and found that this setup is WAY too loose and skatey. The board seems to have no drive or directional control at all; it’s just super squirrely, loose, and has no flow. My question is, What specific Futures should I buy to significantly tighten up this board? Is there a fin setup with a Ride Number of 1? If I rode it as a quad and got the TMF-1 trailer, would that tighten it up? I desperately want to make this board more stable and harder to turn (which seems weird to say). Thanks so much for all your help!!

[oldmansurfer]

I am about the same size as you and find that fin options for thrusters aren't big enough so I use quads as I can get more fin area with available quads. However I can't answer if it will fix your problems. In my opinion it all boils down to the area of the fins in the water (and some other considerations of lessor significance concerning the shape and angle of the fins)

[oldmansurfer]

If you want to stick with a thruster try the largest fins you can get. Also try the largest quad fins you can get. That is what I do but perhaps you can find a surf shop that will allow you to try out the fins so you can see what it does. I am not really the fin person. My problem wasn't it getting squirely but not having drive in the turns which made it slower with the largest thruster fins available. Perhaps there are larger thruster fins that the ones I bought but I couldn't find them. The board I had that was squirely was a very flat board with a wide tail and it only got squirely on steep waves with greater than 10 foot faces or somewhere around there. It got so much speed out of the drop I had to let it slow down and drop back into the water before turning it. That seemed to work well but on waves with 6 to 8 foot faces it was awesome. Did you not have this problem with your previous board?

[GoneTropo]

Hi OMS! Thanks very much for your insight! No, I've never felt this degree of squirrel in any board I've ever ridden (and I've been in the water for over 40 years). I'll try it as a quad to see if that helps (and maybe even add the little TMF-1 trailer by Futures for some 4+1 fun a la Kelly at the Quiksilver Pro New York). Thanks again!

[oldmansurfer]

Some boards are meant to be squirrely relatively speaking. Maybe you just need to move your back foot a little further back?

[IB_Surfer]

I looked up the specs of the 5 fin Mayhems and, believe it or not, they come with a smaller size center fin.

Try a size 8 or 6 regular thruster set up from Future, any brand, but if you ask at the shop tell them that it not have a smaller back fin.

For max hold I am partial to Chanel Island fins, but have been looking at the vapor core too.

I think you just got a small size back fin and it feels weird, I don't like them either. I usually like just about all of them, but size M, even on my bigger boards.

[GoneTropo]

Very true IB, the center fin is slightly smaller. By comparison, this Twiggy set has tons of volume throughout and a much larger center fin in the thruster configuration:
https://futuresfins.com/products/twiggy ... d919&_ss=r
I'll probably just bite the bullet and buy these for absolutely max control over this wild board. Rock on!

[mrpopo]

If you want to use your Mayhem 5-fin set as a quad, you can try adding the TMF-1 trailer, which is a small knubster fin that goes in the center slot. This fin will add some extra control and stability to your quad setup, and reduce some of the looseness and skateyness.