Multi Fin Confusion.

[swchandler]

U2U2U2,

Check out the fin configuration of Open Oceans at the following website.

http://www.openocean.com/oo.htm

I thought maybe you saw one of my Open Oceans at the Delta last year, but I guess not. Brian Hinde will either glass-on the side fins or install the finboxes for them. The one thing about the finboxes though, they only allow vertical mounting of the side fins. To achieve the cant as depicted in photos on the website, Brian had custom fins manufactured where the cant is achieved in the fin body itself and not in the base. If you look at one out of the finbox, they are very bent looking.

[U2U2U2]

swchandler, I remember now, they are glassed on ?

really don't show much on the OO site, most boards don't have a center fin, so you can get no relationship with size.

[isobars]

[swchandler]

U2U2U2,

Yeah, the board you very likely saw had glassed on fins, although I had another in a bag with the little finboxes. However, the one you saw has smaller than normal side fins, unlike both the larger glassed-on and finbox fins ones on my 8'2"s over the years.

For some recent photos on the iWindsurf forum, you can check one on izitwindy?'s post on the following thread.

http://www.iwindsurf.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=20833&start=15

Also, check out the crane.jpg photo that Mike Godsey (windfind) included on the newly added "Windsurfing is Cancelled" video thread. It depicts an OO, or it looks that way to me. There may be more shots in the video, but I can't play the video on my computer due to an older browser and the lack of needed software upgrade.

[noshuzbluz]

[swchandler]

Really, jumping is more about the attitude and input of the sailor rather than which brand, or whether the lightest board, is best. That's not to say that a notable benefit might not be possible with different brands or light weight. Clearly though, even a heavy board like OOs can style big time.

[phazle5499]

You might want to take a look at Art Colyer's custom quad fin at http://www.northpacificsurf.com. Art has been shaping boards in Hood River for about 15 years and brings a wealth of experience from shaping the old Hi-Techs and surfboards that are popular on the Oregon coast. He brings design and shaping ideas from surfing into dthe design and shaping ideas for windsurfing. His boards are probably not what someone would want for their local pond back home, but his tri fins and quads rip in gorge conditions. Lets face it, we are led by the nose by production board designs, marketing and technology. What are we supposed to make of a production, generic "wave board". Don't waves differ from location to location and from rider to rider requiring different shapes for different riders and locations? Surfers have known this for ages, relying on local shapers to provide what is needed for their spots. But marketing and advertising have led windsurfers to believe that a generic "wave board" will serve the purpose of riding "waves" everywhere--in the gorge, at your local pond or in Maui. The reason why you don't find many Open Oceans, Cascades or North Pacifics outside of the gorge is because they are shaped for the local conditions in the gorge. It's a shame that production boards punched out of the same mold at some factory in Thailand and called "wave boards" or "Free-style boards" have driven out of business so many local board shapers.

[GURGLETROUSERS]

Hmmm! Coming from a surfing background originally I know only too well the 'custom built for the location and particular surfer' way of the world. I had a custom tri fin wave ski built some years back (and still use it) when keeping up with the high performance short board gang proved too difficult. I preferred to mellow out!

I don't buy into the idea that all breaks are so different that mass produced windsurfing wave boards can't work in the majority of places.My old battered and now falling apart Evo works well enough wherever I take it, if only the bloody wind cooperates. I simply want a replacement that will last as long, and do likewise.

The custom tri-fin ski has characteristics that I like a lot, so it's easy to see why tri-fin windsurf wave boards are so well liked by those who use them. But cost (over here) is a big problem, and custom boards are not discounted. It looks as though a new updated Evo will be the way to go.

[isobars]

Maybe it's just through sheer ignorance, but I've enjoyed the hell out of many "Gorge-specific" custom sinkers in lakes all over the country. As long as it goes fast and turns hard and jumps and rides smoothly, I don't care who shaped or assembled it nor where he did so. Isn't that strange?

OTOH, them little Gorge sinkers are a PITA on the Oregon coast and at The Wall in NW winds, when the wind has more holes than an abused Cobra factory board. Likewise, my Evo is going to last me for a decade because it's one harsh, even dangerous, little beast when overpowered in Gorge chop; it gets used primarily when the winds are unusually steady, the water is unusually smooth, and I'm powered unusually lightly.

So while there are valid points to the claim that local boards have advantages, many people apply that mantra too universally.

Mike \m/

[gemoore]