Originally Posted by
Slowman
Ha sounds like me! I have my "benchmark" fins that I try and then I can usually tell from there where I want to go next, for example, looser, stiffer, more drive and so on. Like you I generally never change what works, if it's bigger or smaller changing boards seems to work better. Though when you only have one board subtle fin changes can extend the range a little. I tend to stick with the same template but maybe vary sizes, particularly the centre fin in thrusters. Quads seem a bit trickier, I tend to just leave them once they work. A slight change in fronts or rears can wreck everything.
For a so called XL fin I found them to be very short on drive, good release off the top but it's that release, too much of it, that seems to kill the drive off the bottom...and this was in a TC Plus rounded pin with a tail that had plenty of bite. Perhaps the carbon was too stiff, I have a set of Soar Mick Fanning fins which looked like a very similar template but had noticeably more flex and they had good drive. I even tried the SG side fins as fronts in quad sets but they brought that driveless feeling with them even with rears that in other combinations provided good drive. Another reason why I think I started to just stick with complete quad sets. Quads just seem more sensitive to changes so they take a bit more work when it comes to mixing and matching...and I'm getting lazier!
