Sunday, May 24, 2009

Sub Vector Fins

I did a lot of fin testing this weekend on my sub vector.

For front fins I tested

Vector II 450
Vector II 460
Vector II 550

For rear fins I tested

375
400
437

The results are:

Vector II 550s created way too much drag. Board was slower and I could feel it dragging.

Vector II 450 and 460 too close to call.

375s in the rear for tiny waves. Makes the board pivot/snap/slide and spin the best, but looses drive.

400s best all around blend of drive and looseness.

437s best for head high high waves and big driving bottom turns.

I'm going to keep 460s in the front and swap between 400 and 437 in the rear depending on wave size and power. It takes some effort to get 437 rears. You have to buy replacement rears from a thruster setup.

If you're wondering about 2+1, forget about it. I tested 2+1 versus quads in identical 9'0 C4 bat tails. 2+1 was too draggy. So much so, you could feel it just paddling. Long live quads! Want more drive, use a larger rear fin and stay quad all the way baby!

2 comments:

Unknown said...

DW,

thanks for posting, your quad experience, I just got a new pair that my friend picked up for me, I dont even know the name of it, he thought I told him to buy it but I didnt, I just paid him and took the fins. I looks smaller than the 550's but bigger than the 450's. I never did swap out the trailers, I have the 375's in there, now I have more options to explore. I tried the 550's on the SV and didnt like it but, I did work well on a 10-6 I demo'd from Tropical Blends, I had it as a quad set up in head high waves. I am trying to get my hands on the Controller quad set, I have my order in and hope to get it soon

Mahalo

CT

NC Paddle Surfer said...

I saw a Controller quad set in the local shop. Wow, very expensive!

I was very impressed with the performance change when using larger rear fins. It transforms my bottom turns into Blane Chambers style surfing. My bottom turn was so fast and powerful!