View previous topic :: View next topic |
Author |
Message |
mchaco1
Joined: 08 Sep 2010 Posts: 645
|
Posted: Sun Jun 24, 2012 5:18 pm Post subject: Trifin |
|
|
I was cleaning up my old boards and looking at my poly board that Ive been waiting to get good enough to use... Its about 90-95L and from the ealry 90's probably. Ive only tried it once with a single fin and I think it was too underpowered that day. I was wondering what effect using the all three fins would have on it, mostly in regards to upwind ability and ease of getting it up out of the water and on a plane. Are the extra little fins going to drag it down or is the extra bite going to help get on a plane? |
|
Back to top |
|
|
isobars
Joined: 12 Dec 1999 Posts: 20936
|
Posted: Sun Jun 24, 2012 6:00 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Thrusters (those small side fins) aid maneuverability at the extremes, not planing or pointing/pinching upwind.
Mike \m/ |
|
Back to top |
|
|
mchaco1
Joined: 08 Sep 2010 Posts: 645
|
Posted: Sun Jun 24, 2012 7:45 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Will they hurt early planing though or just not make any difference |
|
Back to top |
|
|
isobars
Joined: 12 Dec 1999 Posts: 20936
|
Posted: Sun Jun 24, 2012 10:07 pm Post subject: |
|
|
I'm no fin theory expert, but I'm pretty well convinced afters scores of thousands of Gorge miles on thrustered boards, then thousands more on the same shapes without the thrusters, that their primary -- essentially only -- effect is on tracking and control when pushed beyond the maneuvering limits of single fins by ordinary sailors with imperfect technique. Pushed to only 90% OR ridden by truly expert sailors, they make minimal difference of any sort. Once I brought my skills up to the ballpark of boards like these, the thrusters became moot most of the time. Their most obvious boosts then, for me, were for superior control at high speed in extremely overpowering conditions in extremely harsh terrain, sticking sideways jump landings deliberately with no spinout, preventing and recovering from spinout when I screwed up, and carrying bigger sails with full control than could other boards of similar volume. Generally speaking, the primary function of thrusters is to boost lateral bite when the board is way up on one rail pulling high g's in rough terrain.
Caveat: I'm talking small thrusters like you probably have, not newer boards with three or four bigger fins. But even then, in my own professional head-to-head comparison of half a dozen thruster boards for a high-performance Gorge gear magazine on a full-nuke day at the Hatchery, the differences among those boards was night and day due to design; thrusters alone do not transform an ordinary hull. Shape still matters very dramatically. Also, my comments apply mostly to one specific brand and style of thrustered board; I never found any other marque that even came close when my lead foot and amateur skills pushed them in any of those performance regimes I mentioned.
For your goal of planing sooner, your path includes bigger sails, bigger fins, far better technique, tons of TOW, and sufficient volume. Sure, hulls designed for earlier planing plane earlier, but around here you don't need to spend $2,000 to plane; the much cheaper path above should suffice, and won't beat you up in the chop.
Last edited by isobars on Sun Jun 24, 2012 10:42 pm; edited 2 times in total |
|
Back to top |
|
|
westender
Joined: 02 Aug 2007 Posts: 1288 Location: Portland / Gorge
|
Posted: Sun Jun 24, 2012 10:09 pm Post subject: |
|
|
So you're not going to try it to see for yourself ?
Some people spend half the day screwing fins on and off?
? |
|
Back to top |
|
|
mchaco1
Joined: 08 Sep 2010 Posts: 645
|
Posted: Sun Jun 24, 2012 10:42 pm Post subject: |
|
|
westender wrote: | So you're not going to try it to see for yourself ?
Some people spend half the day screwing fins on and off?
? |
I certainly will, but I have limited room on top of my car and I would have to leave one of my proven boards behind to take this and try it out (and it would have to be on a good high wind day). I just wanted to check and see if the tri fin was worth trying or if it was completely opposite what I wanted. Sounds like its worth trying though.
Im still looking for a van so that I wont have to pick and chose what to take |
|
Back to top |
|
|
isobars
Joined: 12 Dec 1999 Posts: 20936
|
Posted: Mon Jun 25, 2012 12:18 pm Post subject: |
|
|
To give you a target, once you get used to 90-something liters, a 6.2 day -- 20 mph average -- is plenty. |
|
Back to top |
|
|
U2U2U2
Joined: 06 Jul 2001 Posts: 5467 Location: Shipsterns Bluff, Tasmania. Colorado
|
Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2012 10:03 am Post subject: |
|
|
A 3 fin will go upwind better
You can start closer to the beach. It will have more drag less top speed
BUT their are too many variables on things to make more specialized comments.
IE. the board..size fins..toe in ..fin shape...fin profile... _________________ K4 fins
4Boards....May the fours be with you
http://www.k4fins.com/fins.html
http://4boards.co.uk/ |
|
Back to top |
|
|
noshuzbluz
Joined: 18 May 2000 Posts: 791
|
Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2012 1:45 pm Post subject: |
|
|
For you OO riders. If you want to go without the side fins, check with Brian. He will have plugs to fill the void. Basically a base without a fin that work pretty sweet. _________________ The Time a Person Spends Windsurfing is not Deducted from their Lifespan...
http://www.openocean.com |
|
Back to top |
|
|
WMP
Joined: 30 May 2000 Posts: 671
|
Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2012 5:35 pm Post subject: |
|
|
I went with thrusters installed on my 8.2 OO for many years without taking them off... happy camper. Then I took them off one day and never looked back.... much happier camper now. It's a looser feel without the thrusters, it just works better for my style of sailing. |
|
Back to top |
|
|
|
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum You can attach files in this forum You can download files in this forum
|
|
|