Blade Weed versus Surfgrass Fin...

[SkyRocketnFlight]

I am looking to upgrade my fin on my Quatro 120L this late spring/summer. I have been using the standard sweeper style fin, 36cm with my 5.5 which has worked great in the cape this spring since there are not a lot of weeds.

I want to get a larger surface area fin for times when I use my 6.6 sail.
Would buy another larger sweeper style fin but as the summer comes
so do the weeds.

I like the new surfgrass shape, sort of a modified surf/bump and jump style that also sheds medium weeds. Not sure if this is an extreme enough weed style versus the conventional weed fin that I am more familiar with. If I can get away with a surfgrass style i would prefer it since
it makes the board more manouverable and slashy in chop etc.. but want to make sure that sheds weeds sufficiently in the Norheast areas of Cape Cod, RI etc.....with the name surfgrass it makes me hesitant since in West Dennis and other parts of the cape we get 'clump weeds' style.

Looking for feedback to see what type of fin people are using in Cape Cod
on 120-110 L boards, experiences with weed vs surfgrass etc...

Thanks,
Greg

[shreddbob]

No problem shedding the weeds with Surfgrass on Cape Cod or Buzzards Bay. I've found that any of the True Ames weed fins work fine for shedding weeds around here, even the most vertical Santa Barbara Weed (SB Weed). The challenge is finding a weed fin that keeps your board performing at its best, not simply shedding the weeds.

I like the Surfgrass for 85 - 95 liter boards and 5.2 - 5.7 sails (9.5 inch and 10.25 inch sizes). This is a great fin for maintaining responsive board feel and carving ability, getting you up and going, and making progress upwind when you need to. The 10.25 inch can be used for very powered up 6.5 sailing with a 95 - 110 liter board, but doesn't quite have the power to be an all around 6.5 fin.

For 120 liter and larger boards the Santa Barbara Weeds work fine for blasting around on 7.5 and larger sails, and as I've said, they shed the weeds just fine.

For my 6.5 sail with 110 - 120 liter boards, I'm still looking for a fin that can get upwind, blast around, AND be turny enough to take advantage of small swells etc. This sail size is the transition for me between Bump&Jump/Wave and Slalom Blasting. Unfortunately this ideal 6.5 weed fin doesn't seem to exist. You might think the Surfgrass 11 inch would be nice, but that size fin in the low aspect Surfgrass design gets very large, area-wise, meaning too much drag--Both blasting and turning suffer in all but the lightest winds. I'd guess this giant 11 inch Surfgrass would be fine for low wind and slow speed turning on small waves with your 120 liter board, but for everyday 6.5 sailing I don't see a use for it. The SB Weed in the smaller sizes suitable for a 6.5 (12.5 inch, 14.5 inch) is strangely thick and too stiff, rendering the board unresponsive. Finally, I find the Blade Weed (more flexible than SB Weed but also more raked back) is too raked for my taste, making the board too lackluster getting upwind and too prone to spinning out while carving hard on a swell.

Summer sailing requires some type of weed fin around here. But since any weed design will shed just fine, I keep finding that I want more performance, board feel-wise and maneuver-wise, out of my 6.5 weed fin. I would love to see a blend between Surfgrass and SB Weed just for 6.5. Anybody else??

[vims]

Greg,

I have the Blade Weed in the 32 cm size, which works well for me from 5.2 - 6.6 on my 114 liter board. I also have a 25 cm Wardog FreeWeed, which is similar to the surfgrass. It works well in the same sail range, and actually feels more "grippy" and harder to spin out than the 32 cm blade weed! I thought it was a little too big for my 5.2, though, so I got a 22 cm surfgrass, which I use from 5.8 and down on my 87 liter board. Both the 25 cm FreeWeed and the 22 cm Surfgrass seem to shed thick weeds just as well as the Blade Weed.

But I'm getting away from the original question...

What I would recommend is sticking with the 36 cm Blade Weed for your 6.6. Unless you want to switch to a turnier style (maybe with more inboard footstraps) in which case I would consider the 25 cm (10") Wardog FreeWeed.

Good luck.

[gflederman]

Love my blade weed, 5.3 - 4.2 on both my 110 and my 70.



ps once you're past 4.2 weeds aren't much of an issue.

[vims]

I checked the True Ames fins website and the automatic fin size calculator that I made (based on the True Ames website) and it says a 36 cm blade weed should be perfect for the 6.6.

http://www.vims.edu/general/sailpaddle/SailCalculator.xls

If you want to go for a wave-weed style of weed fin, base the length on the "wave fin" size recommendation rather than the "weed fin" size recommendation. It's a lot smaller.

[paulf.]

yes, the surfgrass will shed bay and sound weeds, but not pleasant bay weed rafts(but nothing does that). probably not a good match for your 120 fast freeride because the fin in 10in to match your 6.6 is slow and draggy. will settle the board if 120 is your smallest/only board and you want something for overpowered, rough conditions. it will NOT loosen up a fast fin dependent board like the quatro, if thats what you were thinking. your jibe percentage might even go down from the scrubbed off entry speed. if you sail upright, waist harness, short lines, soft sail, no straight lines between turns, then go for it. if you ever get into a drag race on that 6.6, get a weedblade.
paul

[speedysailor]

[SeaDawg]

I've used the WarDog Free Weed 10" and 12" with huge success in the OBX 10" works well with 4.5-6.3 Ezzy Wave SE. I use the 12" with my Ezzy Infinity 7.2 and 8.5.

[force5]

IMHO--have had good luck with both types of weed fins - each is good for different conditions.
Surfgrass when depth is a big issue or the water is real choppy.
Blade weed good and points better, but will spin out easier than surfgrass.