5th centre fin for Sweet Potato

[cuttlefish]

thanks Chris.
The owner of the local surf shops' 5'10" will be mine for a spin this morning.

High tide, small (1-2') beachbreaks on offer. Sweet potato territory.
At least all my curiosities will be addressed by taking one for a spin.
We can all talk until we're blue in the face but it only goes so far and ultimately the proof is in the riding.
I know for my height (6'1") weight (92-95 kgs) and skill level Adv/Int I'd be on a 5'4" or so but the age has to be taken into account.
Sure I can ride a tiny board sometimes but it's more hard work than I'm interested in and surfing flat out with big manouvres all over the place can have me waking up the next morning feeling like I've been beaten up (P'nator but "oh, what a feeling") .
So I'm going for the cruisier end of the spectrum. I've had a 5'6" mini-simmons with 43 litres of volume long before the Sweet potato appeared and it's Achilles heel was being able to paddle fast enough in a crowded point line up to nett me my fair share of waves.
That's why I'm interested in extra length and volume. I recall reading over in the old forum archives of some posters saying longboarders would paddle past them like they were standing still...or they could not catch many waves compared to their longboards. I'm always competing with longboarders for waves and they are super greedy where I live.
It will be interesting to see what my next post reveals after riding the 5'10". Too much board...spot on...or just a few litres more in a 6'er thanks?
I'm predicting 6' X 23" X 3" is my set of numbers. Spent 11 years in Thailand and the Thai made 6' Sweet potato has great set of Buddhist numbers. The number 3 and multiples of. :-)

[prjwebb]

I took a 508 SP out for a spin and it paddled a lot quicker than any of my other boards. It didn't have the glide of a longboard but it did shift.
I found you couldn't really catch a small lump way out like a longboard either and the best bet was a well positioned take off with 1 or 2 paddles. Once in the wave though the thing takes off. Key was to get your weight on the tail though. I imagine the PN is similar.
The trouble with going oversized though, when you're surfing right off the tail your front foot can end up too far back to weight back down the face after a top turn.
That was my experience anyway. Looking forward to hearing how you get on. I was addicted after one session and have a 5'2" on the way for summer.

[cuttlefish]

Took the 5'10" for a paddle.
Full high tide trying to swallow 2' of swell, offshore and a few out on longboards and shortboards.
The board paddled well and I duckdove it with no issues.
Not too bad at catching waves and it's speed off the mark is a kick.
Great planing across the flats and easy enough to go vertical.
I had no issues with it being too large and/or corky.
The longboarders still had the advantage for sure.
Need to up the ante and go for the 6'er to even things up or its a waste of time buying one when I have the P'nator already.
Went back and looked at the 5'10" and the 6'er side by side and there's not a lot of difference. The 5'10" had me floating at just above my belly button with the board level underneath me. The 5'10" was loose enough that I know I can trade off a tiny bit of manouvreability for increased paddle power.
It is after all a pure groveller so wave catching is premium. If I want to do turns that make my old heart sing when it's smokin' waves I can grab the P'nator or my 6'4" dynocore anyway.
The P'nator is still the board for surfing top to bottom snaps, off the top gouges and little pumps to get the board flying along a wall. The P'nator is still the board that Spitfire/Dominator owners will feel right at home on whereas the sweet potato will be a bit alien (at first) for most.
Luckily I'm used to a mini-simmons so there was no acclimation necessary for me.
The sweet potato is more a, drop into the wave and let the planing area do its thing, with no need to pump for speed if you don't want.

[Chris]

good stuff cuttle.

[iggy]

P'nator is still the board for surfing top to bottom snaps, off the top gouges and little pumps to get the board flying along a wall. The P'nator is still the board that Spitfire/Dominator owners will feel right at home on whereas the sweet potato will be a bit alien (at first) for most.
Luckily I'm used to a mini-simmons so there was no acclimation necessary for me.
The sweet potato is more a, drop into the wave and let the planing area do its thing, with no need to pump for speed if you don't want.

Simple and concise

[Chris]

poetic....as a poet aficionado might say....

[SDsurf]

Would it:

> allow for more stable, agressive turning?
> provide more grip/control in more punchy/steeper waves?
> provide more drive?
> look cool? : )
> or could it completely ruin the dynamics of the board?

In the last case, I am tempted to go ahead anyway with getting a local shaper to add an extra fin box (Futures) and if it doesn't work, fill it with a box filler. I'd be worried about ruining the V in the tail though.

If it could work, what would be the most optimal position?

> Inline with the rear fins?
> Slightly behind the rear fins?
> Slightly in front of the rear fins?

I got my Potato from Bird down here in San Diego. He had Roper put in that 5th fin on his, a 5'4 I think. Bird swore by it. He said it provided more stability and had surfed it "double overhead." Not sure about that, but whatever.

His was placed slightly behind the rear fins, and was FCS so he had the option to move it up also, which would have put it sort of even with the rear fins I think.

I personally like the feeling of the SP being able to slide the fins out when you want to, I think the 5th fin would eliminate that option.

Just my opinion