Bad Fins

[NOVAAN]

Can't seem to buy a good fin anymore. I just got my new Tabou 3s 106. I know, because I'm a 3s guy that the supplied fins are not the best. They work ok but tend to whistle at speed. I tried to sand re-shape ect. with no luck. After some research I got a Makani 37.5 freeride fin to match up with my 6.5 and 5.8 sails. Major spin out issues with the 6.5 and still on the 5.8 and hard to recover. It felt like and early 1980's fin. Had me looking in my box of old stuff for a fore fin. I returned this one for another and had the same issues. I tried a friends Black Project fin and had no spin out issues but it whistled just like the stock fin. Back to the box of old stuff in the garage. I dug out a 20 year old beat up chipped Tear Drop that I retired years ago. All problems solved. I could not make this fin spin no matter how hard I pushed it up wind. You would think 20 years of research and a computer guided machine could make a better fin then Chuck did 20 years ago.....

[nw30]

Bad fins or bad fin box?
I can't offer an explanation for your beater fin working, but I've found that if most all fins hum or whistle on a particular board, it's probably the fin box causing it. It should be checked to make sure that the box is pointing exactly straight ahead and/or not tilted, either one of those can make a fin, any fin hum, especially not being pointed straight ahead.

[boardsurfr]

Most fins are made in China now, unless you're willing to spend more. What you get depends on how good the quality control is - but you also need a bit of leverage, which the smaller fin companies do not have. But some of them have a very "relaxed" attitude towards quality, anyway. I have been lucky with most of my Black Project fins.

There are a few fin companies out there that make great fins, but these are sometimes hard to get in the US. Some don't have any dealers, so you need to buy in Europe. Some don't bother with web stores. At least one company makes excellent fins, but only answers emails about which fins I should get - as soon as I say "how do I pay", no more answers. That happened to me twice with the same company already - I'm buying elsewhere now.

[SPQR]

Not to start thread drift, but now you have a new short style 3S in 106 and 116 liters?

[NOVAAN]

I have had pretty good luck with MFC fins. I wanted to try something different this time. I guess I will stick with them for my next one..

[dmilovich]

Oweee, don't get me started on fins. And I'm not even a power user (meaning lots of days per year) like a lot of the posters are.

I agree with your observations Novaan, and I, too, have dug out some old fins I had, in this case Angulo Sumo 32 and 34, and find they are so well behaved. Some newer fins, MFC included, have had whistling issues. (spin out seems OK on most fins.) I searched this forum and found some consensus that it was trailing edge related and that the TE needs to be sanded so its asymmetric. I have not done that yet, but likely will soon and will report.

The fin box theory is perhaps also valid, but from past experience with first-rate fins like Dennis Parton's Tectonics, I can tell you that fin yaw and roll angle have never induced whistling on any of those premium fins.

[NOVAAN]

The 116 is a bit big for me so I went with a 106. It works well for where I sail and my style... 116 is for sale..

[skyking1231]

Just a thought.... when you put these fins in.... is the base of the fin sicking up a bit in the front? Just a teensy weensy bit, will cause havoc on the fin. It is ok if the back of the fin base is sticking up. If it is sticking up....need to file/sand base, so that the base of the fin is flush with the boards finbox.

[isobars]

Have you tried earplugs?

[dllee]

Well, for SURE, newer is better.
After all these year's, they're bound to make BETTER stuff, aren't they?