Wakeboard fins

[obski]

I will say first off that I am not that good at wakeboarding, but I sure have lots of fun. I have been working on riding switch this season and have become more comfortable with it - meaning I don't fall right away any more. I have been doing surface 180's to go back and forth, but have had trouble getting the board to turn around. I could feel it 'grab' and hold. I ride a Belmont 140 with the stock 1.9" center fins. I have been wanting to try a smaller fin. My daughter rides finless and talks about how much fun it is.

I finally swapped out the 1.9" fins for 1.1" fins and gave it a try. What a difference! I can now easily go back and forth with surface 180's almost effortlessly. I found that it doesn't track quite as well and had to make a few adjustments in my riding, but all in all I liked having the smaller fins. I'm not sure if I want to try finless yet.

Does anyone else have experience with playing around with different fins and what the differences are? I don't remember reading too much about the effect of fins on riding or how the molded in fins change on different boards.

[chathamsolutions]

I've spent the last season and 1/2 on a belmont 141. It has the 3 small fins (1.1's) on each end. I've really enjoyed the ability this board has given me to progress in riding switch and doing slides. The larger fins are such a detriment, and until you try a board that has small fins, you just don't know what you're missing.

When I lean back into my board the 3 fins hold better than a large fin every would. I love it. I also just bought the '05 Murray set up. 2 small fins on each end and a little different set up on the switch end. They are only 1" fins and there's only 2 of them. They are smaller molded fins though, I'm excited to try it.

OB, just lean back into the fins, they'll hold you well. Just have to know how to dig those fins in at the appropriate times so they'll grab.

[eubanks]

Riding finless, with molded-in fins, or with small fins is definitely more fun and will greatly help your riding. Big fins are a crutch and can surely result in poor technique. You cut into the wake with your EDGE not your fins so when going to smaller fins results into sliding out cutting into the wake...the problem is technique and not lack of hardware.

I ride with .8 P-Wings on my 3DS and they give just enough stability for me but also allow me to break the board loose or recover from poor landings. These smaller fins also showed me some poor technique I had in switch TS landings and I was able to correct it without cheating to bigger fins.

[Daniel]

Hijack on:

Does anyone know where I can get the clear plastic washers that go between the board and the screws on the center fin of a LF Trip.

Try riding with a loose fin, that's a strange feeling.

Hijack off:

I've been wanting to go with a smaller center fin, it's no trouble to spin my board frontside, but a backside surface 180 is hard to do with the Trip. It is hard to break the board loose. The Parks that I learned the trick on was no problem to spin.

Daniel

[Chauncemaster]

IMO, you should ride with as little fin as possible. Molded fins are one thing but anything over an inch should pretty much only be used by beginners to help with stability. Not only do fins mess with surface tricks but people also use them as a crutch to help cut when what they should be doing is getting the board up on a hard edge and using that to cut. Trying to get a nice big consistent wake 2 wake jump while using fins to help you cut is not going to be pretty. People need to learn to use edge control only and the best way to do that is to minimize the fins.

[stewart]

IMO, you should ride with as little fin as possible.  Molded fins are one thing but anything over an inch should pretty much only be used by beginners to help with stability.  Not only do fins mess with surface tricks but people also use them as a crutch to help cut when what they should be doing is getting the board up on a hard edge and using that to cut.  Trying to get a nice big consistent wake 2 wake jump while using fins to help you cut is not going to be pretty.  People need to learn to use edge control only and the best way to do that is to minimize the fins.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Very True.

I have a Player w/ 4 molded in fins and one center fin. It is a blast to ride finless. However, when it gets rough, I put the center fin back in, 1.2" I believe. My Q: What do you do when it gets rough from boat traffic and wind chop. Even with the center fin in, I was having a hard time getting an edge?

[tmcb]

IMO, you should ride with as little fin as possible.  Molded fins are one thing but anything over an inch should pretty much only be used by beginners to help with stability.  Not only do fins mess with surface tricks but people also use them as a crutch to help cut when what they should be doing is getting the board up on a hard edge and using that to cut.  Trying to get a nice big consistent wake 2 wake jump while using fins to help you cut is not going to be pretty.  People need to learn to use edge control only and the best way to do that is to minimize the fins.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Very True.

I have a Player w/ 4 molded in fins and one center fin. It is a blast to ride finless. However, when it gets rough, I put the center fin back in, 1.2" I believe. My Q: What do you do when it gets rough from boat traffic and wind chop. Even with the center fin in, I was having a hard time getting an edge?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[chathamsolutions]

IMO, you should ride with as little fin as possible.  Molded fins are one thing but anything over an inch should pretty much only be used by beginners to help with stability.  Not only do fins mess with surface tricks but people also use them as a crutch to help cut when what they should be doing is getting the board up on a hard edge and using that to cut.  Trying to get a nice big consistent wake 2 wake jump while using fins to help you cut is not going to be pretty.  People need to learn to use edge control only and the best way to do that is to minimize the fins.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Very True.

I have a Player w/ 4 molded in fins and one center fin. It is a blast to ride finless. However, when it gets rough, I put the center fin back in, 1.2" I believe. My Q: What do you do when it gets rough from boat traffic and wind chop. Even with the center fin in, I was having a hard time getting an edge?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Surf.

Really though, lean back even harder. Your fins shouldn't influence your edge, your lean / pull against the boat does.

[zzbutler]

quick hijack:

I took the fins off of my HL Motive wakeboard and put them on my '05 Landlock surfboard. A very good mod...

[Buzz]

I removed the center fin on my Absolute, and will NEVER put it back on. A friend and I removed them on a Shasta trip so we could do surface tricks easier. Changed my riding completely, and hers too. Man! she smokes now doing all kinds of back slides and backside lip slides, etc.

Many riders feel the removable fins are a crutch, and I agree. After removing it, I have learned to use my edges much better, and not rely on the fin. The board smokes now.

I am looking at getting smaller fins for my Parks. The 1.1's really grab. I was told .7's make a huge difference.

I recommend you pull your center fin and take a couple runs. You may find you really like it. You may also improve your edging skills too.

[obski]

I may try taking out the fins entirely, but on my '01 Belmont, which is the same board as the current Motive, there is not much in the way of any molded in fins.

We were out yesterday morning and had so much fun doing surface 180s back and forth and doing slides for the first time. I had a blast.

[Chauncemaster]

IMO, you should ride with as little fin as possible.  Molded fins are one thing but anything over an inch should pretty much only be used by beginners to help with stability.  Not only do fins mess with surface tricks but people also use them as a crutch to help cut when what they should be doing is getting the board up on a hard edge and using that to cut.  Trying to get a nice big consistent wake 2 wake jump while using fins to help you cut is not going to be pretty.  People need to learn to use edge control only and the best way to do that is to minimize the fins.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Very True.

I have a Player w/ 4 molded in fins and one center fin. It is a blast to ride finless. However, when it gets rough, I put the center fin back in, 1.2" I believe. My Q: What do you do when it gets rough from boat traffic and wind chop. Even with the center fin in, I was having a hard time getting an edge?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

having a long fin can make a board feel more stable in rough water but nothing can really help getting a solid cut in really rough water other than a hard edge and trying to compensate for the board bouncing all over the place.

Used used to wakeboard in all water conditions until the time I hurt my knee trying to jump in some big chop. Now I firmly believe that it is a very BAD idea to try to jump big wake 2 wake in the chop because the wake is all over the place which dramatically increases the probability of injury. One second the wake will be like a double up and the next it will disapear. As a general rule, if you can't do a butterslide on the wake without feeling like a jackhammer, you should not be trying to jump wake to wake.