Oh for more wind

 Second session on the new 81 Tri fin. No major wind, but planing in the gusts. 5.3mtr not enough for the lulls. Such a great wind direction and nice clean lined up waves. Just needed more of it.   Great gusts, as well as long and tedious lulls, it was weird, in the lulls there was actually no wind at all, and then a 25knot gust would come along and take you flying, still, had a nice time on the water with a nice gentle cruise around in Vazon.
 



In early 2013 I began thinking that I wanted to get a new wave board and probably a quad.  However, knowing that I would likely be sailing in side-on to on-shore conditions more frequently than side-off, I was concerned that a quad board might not be the best choice for me. Then after doing much research and chatting to other wave sailors I pretty much confirmed that I still prefer a faster, single fin design over a quad for typical Guernsey conditions.  I like a wave board that can still get you up on the plane,  accelerating quickly as well as offering that extra speed when needed to aid in schlogging on the inside.  These are all good things here for sailors my size and can significantly aid in countering the effects of our typical strong on-shore conditions.  These attributes also help get you out over the breaking waves on the inside when still schlogging or marginally planning.  I have notice that Quads seem to be slower to plane and not as fast as my favorite single fin boards. Not everyone wants to go fast but I live by the saying, “Speed is your Friend” and “when in doubt, NAIL IT”!

A rare off-shore day,
 The boards seem to offers more control on a wave
allowing me to stay more in the critical sections with more comfort 

Unless you are sailing in solid down the line waves, you really don't need a 4th fin.
We only ever got quads because designers couldn't get Tri fins to work well and it was easy to add a couple of fore fins to a twin fin design.

Looking at surfing and windsurfing where they have used thruster set ups 25 years ago, this always seemed like a cop out to me and a fin too many, with extra drag and not much lift.
 The new shorter and wider designs of Tri fins today are superb all round boards, easily as good as the best quads, and a heck of a lot better than most quads in typical cross on Guernsey schlop. For me, where most of my sailing is with onshore wind swell, my Tri fin boards have opened up opportunities to really play with the wind swell, rather than just straight line to get airtime. The boards  seem to offer tight drivey turns and provide more surf time on a wave.
 What is exciting is seeing how good the Tri fin designs are in normal bump and jump sailing, an area that has been dominated by single fin boards. As for opinion, I reckon that what we will see next are more single fin boards again. All good sailors in powered up euro condition will be on multi fins unless forced by their sponsors to sail something else. Back foot heavy punters and people that are slow to plane will be on tri fins. Quads with small front fins will become specialist boards for good waves and sailors with a particular taste. Riding oriented mush sailing will be dominated by thrusters or big fin forward quads - ie surf style setups. Surfers have mucked around with fins on there boards for years whether it's 1'2'3'4'or even 6 fins, at the end of the day it's what works for you and the conditions that you sail in....
  

I have sailed and seen many a board shaped by my late farther who made Blade custom surf and sailboards back in the 60,70 and 80's and from what I have learned after playing with countless board design and fin set up combos, I agree that board shape and rocker line are more significant than fin numbers in the back end. But fin numbers can improve or detract from the boards performance if used in the right or wrong setting.

Single fin –
For: earliest planing, due to single fin and simple alignment with water flow along boards centre line. (Less drag).
Using a longer fin exerts leverage on board which the sailor 'holds down' and this in turn lifts the board in the water, allowing it to ride on the tail to reach better top speed. So single fins are faster.

 Against: can over power when too long a fin is used, causing a board to tail walk in extreme conditions.


Twin fin –

For: If you change from a single fin to the same area but spread over two fins, the board suddenly feels very different. The tail may feel insecure for the heavy footed sailor – but is very loose for turns and 'skatey' on the wave.
The lack of leverage with such short fins means the board tail doesn't over power, so any board gets a wider wind range.

Against: Tail can feel insecure for the heavier sailor – and may appear to plane later if you don't know how to unload the back foot. You can however overcome that with longer or more powerful fins.
Top speed won't be quite as good as for a single fin – due to two fins adding more drag than from a single fin.


Tri Fin –


What comes around goes around
Myself on an 80's custom Blade Tri fin


For: You have more tuning options with three fins – for example, using three equal size fins for a planted feel, or else using a longer central fin and two thruster fins set in the rail.
The tail should not overpower unless you go too long with the central fin.
The rail fin comes into its own when hooking a tight turn on a proper wave.
Three fins can also hide a lot of fin area, meaning you can point high and appear to go upwind well.

Against: Three fins will not help top speed. Setting the fins at the rail requires toe-in to match the water flow direction at the rail. The toe in that is optimal on the wave will not be the same toe in that works best in a straight line.


Quad fins –
For: Short fins that make the tail feel planted and the board won't tail walk when overpowered, so again you get a good wind range.
Lot's of fin permutations mean lots of tuning options. (Some might say, too many, confusing, tuning options.)
But the main plus for the quad is when on a wave – where the amount of fin and area in the tail can be used for drive on the wave and to generate speed. The fin tuning options can be optimised for any good sailor on a specific wave but that's pretty advanced.

Against: Toe in needed for outer fins and potential for getting this wrong is greater as the water has to flow across four foils. Four fins can mean the board is slower and later to plane than a board with less fins. Quad sailors all report their boards feeling a bit 'draggy' at times, say in a straight line – although you won't read this in most mags or online.
The sheer amount of fin area in some boards can mean they need a lot of sailor weight and good technique to drive them through a turn – and with bad technique or with bad fin tuning/placement you may find they 'straight line' in a turn.

  I am drawing the conclusion that the only place where a multi-fin is useful is wave riding, and even there if a single fin is used proficiently in conditions like the one we mere mortals have we would not have to go through the complication (and added weight) of multi-fins? Otherwise for flat to B&J to mast high wave riding, the single fin would appear to still be king. For where I sail (cross on/on shore wind) the only reason for a three fin, with small sides,center fin would seem to get a happy medium between a Quad and single fin, (And to be honest, I find the idea of having 5 fin boxes on a board as some manufactures offer a bit ... silly? Way too many options and all the possible combinations would be kind of overwhelming. We could go on and on so I'll stop here and say one last thing. I think it's time that the leading board manufactures gave you the options off buying all four variations of fin set ups to suit your personal choices.............