THE 2010 Asl FIN TEST
Starring a carvy C-Drive, a ferocious FCS, a positive Power Base, a sharp Shapers, and a bunch of their finny friends… Sometimes fins show their merit without even being submerged. Test guest Ben Godwin busting out the C-Drives.
They said it couldn’t be done, but yet again, Team ASL proves the doubters wrong. You CAN test fins! And have an excellent time while doing it. We checked out the core ranges from four leaders and innovators in Finworld – and here’s the ones we felt Ruled the Test….
THE C-DRIVE orange medium Troy from C-Drive says: “I’m not really heavily into the science of fin design to be honest… I’d always liked a lot of base in my fins and I thought if there was a way to build base into a fin that would also be free in turns, then you could have the best of both worlds. We use a traditional 32-layer glass panel that’s machine cut to the template then hand finished, partly because I like the flex of a hand-worked fin, partly because the fin is very fine and might not take well to the sandwich core thing. This orange set is suited to surfers between 70-85kg.”
Dimensions: base 128mm / depth 118mm Shape: Deep cutaway slicing over 40mm out of the trailing edge, creating a long base and secondary trailing edge Fits: Any two-plug two-screw system (ie FCS, Surfinz) Materials: Panel moulded fibreglass, computer cut and hand finished Background: C-Drive’s a backyard outfit on Sydney’s northern beaches run by guys who are simply enough stoked on their design.
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TEAM ASSESSMENT All were fascinated by the C-Drive’s unique and very aesthetic curves, and we put them to the test in both a normal shortie and a high performance style miniboard. On many waves it was difficult to tell a huge amount of difference between the C-Drive and a standard fin template, everything felt pretty normal. But then in longer glidey turns, the fin helped carry all the way through and we started to feel the effect of that longer base. It seemed to let go a bit in tighter short-arc turns but always regained grip afterward. That glideyness and base speed felt really fitted to a little board where it replaces some of the missing rail and helps gain speed for airs, etc. We wanna keep a set!
OTHER MAGIC FROM C-DRIVE FIN THINGS WE LEARNT
The quality is absurd.
Not just among the fin companies involved in this Test, but right across the board. (Ha ha!) We can’t be sure exactly why – maybe a combination of competition among makers, factory experience at the Asian source, improvements in computer aided design and cutting systems, or materials price cuts – but don’t kid yaselves, this is one area in which the surfer customer is getting good treatment.
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C-Drive purple Depth: 114mm Base: 122mm The smaller version of the design, suitable for surfers 60-75kg. Looser and freer but still retaining drive along the stretched base.
C-Drive green Depth: 120mm Base: 134mm The larger version of the template, suited for surfers over 80kg. Plenty of area to push against while still retaining the looseness of a reduced middle and tip.
The second generation K-fin loves a tight corner. Tyler tweaking ‘em around in the pocket.
THE K 2.1 PC style Dimensions: side base 110mm / side depth 115mm / rear base 109mm / rear depth 112mm Shape: Upright low-raked custom front fin matched with conventional G3 template rear fin Fits: Any two-plug two-screw system (ie FCS, Surfinz) Materials: “Performance Core” – lightweight resin-injected sandwich mould Background: Original fin set designed by Kelly Slater and released in 2000 in composite material
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Mike from FCS says: “Some fin designs run their course, some have troughs and peaks. I guess this one had proved itself in the range over time. Kelly had designed the K3 for more downthe-line and on the face surfing but he still uses the 2.1 a lot in hollower pockety surf. This rerelease was as a result of demand both from Kelly and from the market for a lighter, stiffer version of the template. There is actually a K 2.1 quad set, we’ve been talking to KS for a while about quads and the ball’s in his court right now; his feedback is that the front set is probably the right one and it’s the back fins he wants to fine-tune.”
TEAM ASSESSMENT We immediately liked the look of this fin in new materials – it’s been overshadowed the past couple of years by the K3, but its pivoty angles seem really suited to the current miniboard/quad design frenzy. Not surprised to hear it’s being packaged as a quad set as well. The 2.1 is an alert fin set, quick to turn, with plenty of feedback and able to swivel hard on the front set – all of which is helped by the switch to PC materials. It also has a surprising amount of drive, probably due to the longish front base and the overall fin surface area – greater than the FCS standard 5 template. It’s not a cheap fin but quality always comes at a price.
OTHER MARVELS FROM FCS Goods1 Base: 111mm Depth: 115mm An elite fin, lightweight composite core, wide range of conditions, suits smaller framed and quick reflex surfers. We love the Goods, it’s sharp as a tack.
PG-5 Base: 110mm Depth: 115mm Solid fibreglass flat-foil version of the great allround 5 template, great tip flex through the materials, a pro standby for over a decade.
PC-3 Base: 111mm Depth: 112mm Classic lightweight stiffflex performance core fin based on the long-lived 3 template, suits smaller high performance boards and surfers. Zip!
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Powerful base, yet still able to let go bit with control. Asher edging out the Armour DL set.
THE POWER BASE Armourflex DL Greg says: “The thing with this is that we’ve managed to take something that already existed – the grub-screw plug fin mount – and make it do something different. When you screw a Powerbase fin into the plugs it actually drives down into the board, and the roving-style base spreads the load across the bottom of the board like a brace. It means we can use materials that with a normal plugin fin, would just snap off. This fin template is one of Soar’s biggest ever sellers which is why we’re using it to run out the idea; in the next few months we’ll be releasing a range of other templates, a DXL (bigger), and a DM and DS (decreasing in size).”
Dimensions: base 112mm / depth 115mm Shape: Classic Soar DL outline with flared glass-on-style base Fits: Any two-plug two-screw system (ie FCS, Surfinz) Materials: 45% glass-fill nylon moulded Background: Designed by Soar fins founder Greg Trotter, with help from Dave Byrne of SurfTech
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TEAM ASSESSMENT We were most intrigued by this fin concept with its flared glass-on style base and cutaway access to the plug screws. Only once we fitted a set to a board did we understand the true effect of the base flare – it wedges the fin solidly against the board, creating a rock solid feel along the baseline. Surfing the set on a very straight-up squash thruster, we felt none of the drag we’d semi assumed might occur as a result of the cutaway bits. The slightly flexy fin material felt tougher and stiffer in the water than expected, which must’ve been thanks to the lock-down base effect – you could get away with a fair bit more flex in the Power Base than you’d normally go for. Really functional and potentially a serious step forward for fin systems.
FIN THINGS WE LEARNT
Quads are turning it round.
Four fins and their design complications have been a wrestle for board designers, but seemingly a lot less so for finmakers. Again maybe it’s a combination of things; for sure the fact that quad sets work best when all the fins are similar templates makes things easier. The result: a growing flood of quad sets are pouring into fin ranges all over the market. Chuck out one back fin and some of ‘em don’t make bad thruster sets either.
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OTHER GREATNESS FROM POWER BASE FlowFlex Depth: 112mm Base: 115mm A softer, flexier feel in this material, 15% glass filling in nylon. Moves a bit in the tip, softening the impact of hard turn transitions and defending you from your errors.
ElectraFlex Depth: 112mm Base: 115mm A medium flex material with 30% glass filling in a nylon matrix. Still feels sturdy as despite the extra flex, nice and solid with just a bit of give in hard snaps.
FIN THINGS WE LEARNT
Your choice of fin mount, sir?
The range of plug/boxes able to hold more than one fin brand is slowly growing – not before time for the true fin addicts among us, who’d like to try Company A’s sets but whose boards are full of Company B’s plugs. This is a long-awaited breath of air in a restrictive scene and over time it’ll help us access the best fins for our boards, whoever happens to make ‘em.
The trick with quads isn’t in gaining speed; it’s finding a fin set that helps you control it. Pacey chucks ‘er out the back.
THE SHAPERS Quad-X Dimensions: side base 110mm / side depth 115mm / rear base 109mm / rear depth 112mm Shape: Upright low-raked custom front fin matched with conventional G3 template rear fin Fits: Any two-plug two-screw system (ie FCS, Surfinz) Materials: “Performance Core” – lightweight resininjected sandwich mould Background: Original fin set designed by Kelly Slater and released in 2000 in composite material
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Daniel from Shapers says: “This set originally came from a thruster set. A lot of the quad sets we were seeing were pretty thick in the tip and big-based, and the back sets were a different template again and they seemed to fight each other. Short thicker-tipped fins might go up and down but they’re not going to surf a nice down-the-line wave with clean drawn out turns nearly as well. So we went this way, with some rake, still with drive but with a thinner tip … really a normal high performance fun outline. The back set is basically a small version of the front. We do a Jack Knight quad set and Jack used to drum into us that four fins need to add up to three – that you need to keep fin volume down and let the front set dominate.”
TEAM ASSESSMENT We used this set in two different boards and it handled really well in both. One was a near conventional high performance model with a lot of speed in the rocker line, and the fins had no trouble harnessing that speed in carves and turns that often felt quite “thruster-like” but without any loss of momentum. The other was a playful semi-trick-oriented board where the fins needed to control a lot of tail area and re-connect quickly, and the Quad-X did this just fine. It’s a sensitive fin set which doesn’t clutter up the back end of a board and seems really flexible from stick to stick. Shapers’ quality caught us on the hop, nice job.
OTHER JEWELLERY FROM SHAPERS SMF-M Base: 113mm Depth: 113mm Classic stylish open-face surfing fin for surfers up to 80 kg. Light sandwich construction and control flex to the tip helps control in bigger turns.
SYU-4 Base: 113mm Depth: 114mm Sleek raked low-area tip fin made from light core sandwich materials, freesurfing and quick. The slightly smaller centre fin reduces back end drag.
SQV-1 Front Base: 113mm Front Depth: 116mm Back Base: 94mm Back Depth: 113mm Core-lite sandwich construction keeps this set light. Feels really good in a glidey board for controlling speed generated off a flat rocker. Fish, here we come!
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