Future Fins New Releases 2012

After having made the transition from FCS to Futures and deciding never to go back I am now searching to fill the blanks and have a set for every condition necessary. At the moment I have the Techflex F4 set which are great when the waves are in the fun sized range and have some punch to them. Also have a set of the Rob Machado set which I must say are insanely fast and when you get them in a nice rippable wave really work well carrying speed through turns and allowing you to effortlessly link things together.

After having seen the New Catalog that Futures Fins released recently I was looking at some the the newer fins that caught my attention and was wondering if anyone has ridden them or gotten to see them in person and can give me some insight on them.

I Have my eyes on the Techflex YU set so when it gets a bit bigger, they are a larger fin than the F4 and have a more raked back template which will provide more hold, yet they still have a narrow tip which in conjunction with the flat foil and overall stiffness of the fin will theoretically work great for solid punchy beach break when Im looking to draw my line out a bit but still be able to crack some good ones up into the lip. I also took a look at the new Clay Marzo fins but they seem to be a bit upright and I worry that while still having more area than the F4 will provide a similar feel due to their overall upright nature.

Also the Josh Mulcoy 5 fin setup looks nice, I like the Idea of getting a 5 fin set because it give you the best of both world all with similar templates, I am looking for a smaller Quad set for my Spitfire and Hellrazor that has flat foils on both the front and back fins and was wondering if anyone has any inside info on these since the Futures website does not specify the Foils of most fins. I want a Quad set that is smaller than the Stretch Quads with flat foils on all four fins to let me skate around on those blown out days that still carry a bit of punch and I want to go out and have some fun experimenting with different setups, try out the F4s and possibly the YU's as front fins with smaller quad rears to see how they go.

I ride a 5'11 Taj & have tried every version of F4, the JC Blackstix, and now the Clay Marzo II. This is my first Futures board & haven't found any fin that works like the FCS PC-3. I just wanted to let you know that the Marzo II rides nothing like the F4. In fact it is the exact opposite - super, super drive & grip in turns, but if my foot isn't almost at the tail of my board, they are tougher to turn than the F4 or PC-3 (like coming out of a barrel & your foot is forward). If my foot is all the way back, then they seem loose & smooth. In contrast, the F4 had no drive or bite. I felt like water was just rushing by them while they did not respond. Also, FYI - I've only surfed the Marzo II four sessions. They worked insane in barrels & some non-barrels, but I am still getting used to how different they are from the PC-3, but I love the drive.

The Clay Marzo's look sick as well!

Fin tests iv done [Me 170lbs, advanced 6' tall 50yro]
on a 6' Hellfire, [which feels a tad big, gonna replace with 5 10 soon]
....all thrusters...
WCT techlex...shoulder high nice shape beachie...Real fast, turned nicely but I would of preferred it turn slightly shorter arc, but still ok. Not as loose and pivoty as fcs k2.1. which are my personal fave in most boards. Heaps of projection out of turns, at the end of the wave, board wanted to launch off into the stratosphere. Not for surfers who like a bit of slide in their turns.

Machado's...Smooooth as hell, like putting innersoles in ur shoes! nice speed, but again personally would like a bit looser.

Clay Marzo 2.......for me the best so far, Heaps of drive, and speed, yet free and not tracky . Has that characterisic that it lets you slide or grip thru turns, depending on how much weight u put on em. Young rippers would love these i reckon. Matches the Hellfire perfectly. Highly Recommend! I think for guys a bit heavier than me, the Machados would be the pick. hope this helps.cheers mac