New freemove boards?

[coachg]

Joe,

There are just too many variables to rely on a fin chart. Your chart seems ok down to around 70 cm width but below that it could be way off depending on equipment. A 65 cm wide freestyle board is not going to want 31-38 cm long fins, more likely 16-19 cm. Its personal preference for sure but I would think twice about even putting a fin as large as 20 cm on a 51 cm wide board and definitely no sail larger than a 4.5, maybe a 5.0 if really powered up. And my 56 cm board has never seen a sail larger than 5.0 and normal fin would be low 20ish cm, surely not 28-32. 28-32 would be a 60 cm wide board for me.

Coachg

[adywind]

I think the Freemoves are wrongly pitched as some kind of FSWs. RRD started marketing them as such and it was successful for a while, but it seems very misleading to me. It stuck dough and they keep fiting them with those smallish fins. Maybe the smallest size in 3 footstraps mode is capable somewhat of freestyle and waveriding, but on the edge of boring- they are just too subdued-control freaks of a sort to fit in the playfull, high jumping FSW category.
For me my AtomIQ 110 is just a great flat water blaster -outboard footstraps and a sail-appropriate size LiquidPro fin that everybody started copying. I love it's great range and how much easier it is to sail it powered up then a slalom board,to the extent that you don't need a cambered sail to keep it down -it just sticks to the water by itself! I like the sail size x5.5 fin formula for it - the 40cm LP works perfect for my 7.5 , 42cm would work also but they will be some tailwalking at the top end. The 120ish L sizes are also good blasters for heavier guys and then the bigger sizes are geared towards the beginners .

[swchandler]

Sometimes these days I think folks rely on too small a fin when it comes down to the use of larger sails. I have an old Mike's Lab Course Slalom that is 9'4" x 23 3/4" that I use with an 8.3, and my ideal fin for the setup is a Tectonic 50cm Mirage. When I bought the board in 1998, I used a 46cm Tectonics Spitfire with a 7.7. But when I moved up to an 8.1 in 2001, the Spitfire just wasn't enough. The 8.1 actually felt slower to plane with the 46 than with the 7.7. The 50cm Mirage changed everything.

As narrow as the board is by today's standards, you wouldn't dream of using 46 or 50cm fin, but believe me the matchup works great, even in winds solidly averaging in the upper teens (17-18mph). For some perspective, I'm not a big guy at 5'8" and 160-165lbs. Still though, as comfortable as things are in the upper end, the kit is very quick to plane and powerful in the 12-14 mph average.

If you want to make big sails go in the lightest of winds, you need to think bigger fins. Too many folks think that big fins are slow, but in the very low end, a big fin is king. Demo some larger fins, and I think that you will agree.

[coachg]

swchandler,

I'm nor sure this analogy is correct when choosing fin sizes, but it works well for me. I choose fin sizes like I choose gears on my road bike. If I want to get going quickly on my bike or go up hill I choose the larger back sprockets just as I'd choose a larger fin to go upwind or plane early. If I want to go fast or downhill I choose the smaller back sprockets or fin. A bigger sprocket (fin) goes quicker but hits its upper speed limit quicker as well. But as you say, in light winds who cares about top speed?

So heck yes, go with a bigger fin in light winds. In 12-14 mph winds I've matched a 48 cm fin with a 7.3 sail because I just want to get up & go.

Coachg

[swchandler]

coachg,

I have to agree with your outlook.

My usual fin range for 5.0 to 7.0 is 32cm to 38cm, but that's with different boards where my selection isn't for the lightest of winds. Still though, with a 7.0 sail and a 38 fin, I'm in there for a reasonable up and down light wind game. But, that's only with my more slalom style boards. In high wind and waves, things are quite different.

[joethewindsufa]

from coachg:

[dllee]

Too big a fin drags the bottom, loads the finbox, and provides a heavy feel in higher winds.
The Freemove catagory is supposed to be light feeling and manueverable, not having a nailed down tail feel.
40 on a 76 wide JPMagic seems fine. It's wide aspect, so lots of fin area.
My narrower by 11cm SSport has a 38 fin, just fine for 6-7.4's.

[J64TWB]

Zirtaeb, how does that SS 112 compare to what I assume is a 118 MR? Is the SS more nailed down and much faster? I have never tried a SS, but have always wanted one.. What do you use when it blows 5.5? I think you are the same weight as me.

[dllee]

You nailed it, SS is faster, more straight line oriented, more precise, and much closer to slalom performance.
5.5, I use a '97 North Spectro, good up to around 28 in flat water, and a thin, hi aspect 38 fin, much smaller than the stock 38. The 109 jumps great, in flat water like Berkeley, but I don't want to jump it much, preferring to save it for lighter wind days. For jumps, I use a lower aspect 34.
MR jumps well, but lands like a tank.

[dllee]

Oh, my SuperSport is a 2012 109, with the double concave bottom going into a flat panel V shape, at 65 wide and a 43 OFO the tail width.