Maui Fin Comany

[pueno]

[capetonian]

[sailingjoe]

Capetonian, so what do you think of MFC, the actual topic here, and how their fins compare to other mfg.'ers? In addition have you ever sailed with a Hydrotech fin?

[capetonian]

I haven't sailed a Hydrotech fin so can't comment on them.

My experience is based on using these fins with race sails (Maui Sails TR and Hot Sails Maui GPS) and slalom boards (Fanatic Falcon, Starboard iSonic and Exocet Warp Slalom). My experience is not necessarily relevant to no cam sails and freeride boards, so bear that in mind when making your decisions.

Certain fins are better for providing low end power (e.g. the Tectonics Spitfire) but top out earlier, while others have no low end power but are excellent in overpowered conditions (e.g. C3 Venom)

A good fin with one board design may not be a good fin with another board design. For example the C3 Venom fins work extremely well with the Starboard iSonic, but not as well with the Exocet Warp Slalom.

With respect to the MFC KP-RC, I found this shape to be a good all round fin, not as much low end power as the Tectonic Spitfire or the Select S10, and not as good top end as the C3 Venom, but if I didn't have a quiver of fins (currently over 15 fins) I'd choose the MFC over the C3 or the Select. I liked using MFC with a Fanatic Falcon, but experienced a lot of spin out using an MFC fin with an Exocet Warp Slalom. Though I found the Exocet more fin sensitive than most boards.

My current favorite all round fin is the Black Project Type R fin - good top end speed, excellent pointing, good low end power and acceleration and zero spin out vs. the MFC in similar conditions. I only recently bought it so don't have a lot of time on it yet, but so far I am very impressed.

[zirtaeb]

Seems this fin thing can be a real puzzle.
Most boards prefer one kind of fin, hate other's.
And most boards, you sail powered, underpowered, overpowered, but how do you know from the beach?
Fins generally work well in two of the 3 above states. Hard to find any fin that works overpowered, correctly powered, and underpowered, unless your standards are low, or you don't care.
The old adage of "3 fins per board" seem about correct.
Sometimes, even the slowest, draggiest fin can be correct for the conditions.
And the fastest in theory, most slippery, will often be the worst fin for underpowered upwind sailing.

[isobras]

And who cares about them straight things in the picture? Who uses stuff like that?

What I'd like to know before I buy my next bushel of fins is how MFC, Curtis, etc. compare in crooked-line sailing ... you know, fins <10 inches long with no straight lines?

[sailingjoe]

[coachg]

[isobras]

I've studied magazine tests of wave and "Gorge" boards for two decades, with emphasis on pre-2010 boards. The fin sizes you cite sound much more realistic. Sounds like fin size is growing along with tail width as of late, as it should.

Probably one of the most common statements I saw prior to maybe 2010 is some variation of, "Will need larger fin for onshore use, getting upwind, or heavier riders ... hell, just about any real world conditions." OK, I lied about that last phrase, but something like it squeezes out between lines such as "Doesn't go upwind for crap", "Slow to plane", and "Just not enough performance for average guest testers". These guys who call spinning out "sliding" and do it deliberately and/or ride only on glassy waves might like the tiny fins that come with these boards, but throw in chopshit, onshore/Gorge winds, huge gusts, big sails for the holes, long upwind runs, and my heavy butt and feet and I just put them cute little thrusters most shapers provide as center fins in a box, buy something about 20% larger, and put those little toy fins back on when I sell the board. I can sail a 10" fin under a 6.2 on 80 liters, but if I want to WINDSURF I want that same fin with a 4.0. Unless unusually high in area, them cute little 8.25"/21 cm fins that come on so many 80L boards is for gurls, more wind than those boards are intended for, slippey-slidin', and/or far better sailors than anybody I know.

That's my opinion based on the 60+ carefully selected fins I own and the 200 others I've sailed, and I'm not changing it until my skills get a LOT better and/or I start sailing more gently/carefully ... like maybe when I hit 75. Until then, I wish more wave/B&J/freeride shapers and manufacturers recognized that some people, probably many, maybe most, buyers don't sail on glass in side-off winds with the skills of the pro whose names grace their board.

Seriously ... a 21 cm wave fin for an 80L board used in the Gorge by overfed Americans? TWO, maybe, or FOUR, but ... ONE?

Mike \OO/

[sailingjoe]