Multi Fin Confusion.

[U2U2U2]

argumentative....nah

without looking things up, to me a wave is a wave, not so much what formed it, is it chop, full blown chop or a wave .. is it , lite green , green or turquoise in colour , or color ?

my intuition says that the waves & swell, at Hood River are formed by the wind, and the water being funneled along side the shore, with more swell being formed the tighter the shoreline, something makes it better in some areas, Swell City just one

BTW my boards don't care what its called or how its formed

[einhorn]

My point wasn't so much about what to call our local waves, but that in pretty extreme conditions many sailors turn to tri-fin boards. I'm not as good as many, and am constantly amazed at how much I can do on my Open Ocean. It planes quickly, is really stable, goes upwind, downwind, up and down swells and cuts and slashes like a skateboard or great mogul skis. And it doesn't spin out, not in psycho chop, not when jumping, and not pushing hard upwind.

I was sad to learn from Brian Hinde, the maker of OOs, that after several decades making boards he's calling it quits at the end of 2011. (Happy for him actually, but sad for the rest of us sailors)

[westender]

I have many OO boards and Brian is great but I only use 1 fin.

[GURGLETROUSERS]

A lot of us share your doubts about forests of fins Westender, and have always stuck with one, but there must be advantages with three aren't there?

Surfing has been through all this carry on, and it seems that trend is now being pushed onto us. Two fins somehow don't look right, and four don't ring my bell, but three do seem to offer something according to those who now swear by them.

What IS the advantage over single fins??

[isobars]

There are often far more differences between two single-finned boards or between two multis than between single- and mult-finned boards in general. i.e., Shape and execution matter more than fin count (dang; I gotta watch my typing. Spellcheck misses a common typing error in that word ... and in my own name). Just as today's mag and online reviews of multi-finned boards show a wide performance disparity, so did PWR's head-to-head comparisons and individual tests of multifinned Gorge boards almost 20 years ago. There are dogs and gems sporting any number of fins from 1 to 5, depending on the rider's criteria and applications and the shaper's skills.

Even before I could jibe often I could tell GIGANTIC differences among the half-dozen Gorge multis of the early '90s. They ranged from dogs to eagles even when compared head to head in the same conditions. The eagle changed my sailing skills and aspirations literally overnight; the dogs and middle-of-the-roaders got left in the dust, at least behind my van (and I had free access to all of them). Many years later, my skills are better and I can do almost as much on singles as I can on any of those multis; the differences are at my ragged performance edge, where the best of those multis can cover up rider error. Of course, excellent sailors easily transcend my ragged edges, and thus didn’t gain the advantages I did back then.

Today's multis are a significant variation -- we're told -- from the usual "Gorge" 3- and 5-fins (single central fin + thrusters). However, I'll bet the new crop, tested head to head, would still reveal a wide performance range depending very much on the usual factors: shaper objectives and skill + rider criteria and applications. i.e., multifinned WS boards, whether from 1992 or 2010, are not inherently a panacea. If I had ready access to sideshore or side-off DTL wave sailing, I’d have already demoed a few of the new breed of multis. The literature (the hardcopy and virtual mags have discussed today's multis at great length, board by board and across the board, for our reading pleasure) downgrades their benefits for onshore/Gorge sailing, however, so they’re low on my priority list. YMMV depending on your venues.

Mike \m/

[jingebritsen]

Onshore wave action is the best description I can come up with when discussing the gorge. That's wind and waves going in exactly the same direction. Lots of onshore days in the oceans have some differences in wave and wind directions. The "break" and steepness of the waves are distinctly different too. The gorge may offer a crumbler that could break up to half way down its face. Fun place, lotsa wind, beautiful scenery, etc, but it is not surf sailing.

Steeper, faster surf may allow for better performances of multifin boards. That was the original applications for multi's in surfing. Tighter turns and better fin lift in steeper faster portions of waves to be specific. Going with 3 or so smaller fins at higher speeds keeps the board tracking, in theory.

How do multi's do in onshore surf sailing in less than gale conditions? Not-so-hot-so. Needs a larger center fin for the power to drive upwind. Goes back to what is a multi fin board best for? Got conditions like that a lot?

The new Exocet Long Boards will have multi fins, but will have a longer center with side bites. I like the slide factor when doing cutbacks with the 11'5 Kona with a 32 cm single, we'll see how the new one performs.

[isobars]

[GURGLETROUSERS]

Thanks both for the input. I can't be the only one struggling to get his head around the pros and cons of it all! Like most, I'm not in a position to be able to try and compare all the options, so must rely on informed opinion from those who are.

As it happens, tumbling onshore type stuff with only the top half of the wave breaking is a favourite, so the choice narrows to either a good single fin, (new for old Evo replacement), or a good trifin (Chakra) with bigger main and smaller thrusters, for stronger winds.

As for medium winds, the Cross 94 suits well enough, (I'm tickled pink with it), and for lighter winds - well, when funds allow the Kona 11.5 is still top of the list. I almost hope the new Exo X2 long board isn't a success to free me from the compulsion of having to buy one, then the 11.5 will come sooner!

[swchandler]

"The primary, and probably the most angry, deniers are SoCal surferdoods who inexplicably feel threatened when we want to apply their ROW guidelines to our freshwater waves."

What kind of a fool would offer such nonsense? It's no surprise that it's from one wingnut from the Great Northwest with virtually no experience with real waves. While the Gorge can offer very challenging conditions that can be very exciting and fulfilling, in reality the river swell is simply windswell that has been influenced or affected by the river bottom. Something entirely different than the breaking waves one finds along the ocean shoreline.

[U2U2U2]

both the OpenOcean and Real Wind boards have a huge following , especially the NorthWest USA, the fin system on the Real Wind is large center with very small side bites, (I think the box is unique for the fins) the OO , I'm not sure of, its not a thruster set up, the sides are smaller, but how much ??

their is liitle doubt that they work as intended in those conditions.

being in the UK, your prices are really out of wack, compared to USA, pretty sure my Witchy cost less than you could get one for, even with shipping, no VAT here, no tax for out of state orders, and none in Oregon, period, actually doin the math a lot less.

possible a new quad may work as well, but little doubt the Chakra would