I have a couple of old 6'6" single fin boards, and I am wondering what would happen if I added fin boxes for side bites., Just for the ability too surf them differently. One is an almost flat, very fast G&S water skates, the other is a swallow tail Jacobs. Thoughts?
I say go for it...they're already old boards. How do these boards turn as just a single fin? (last time I checked, single fins, alone, don't turn very well). Are you planning on installing the boxes, yourself?
You can't turn hard on these things, need to use a lot of rail but be careful not to dig the rail in, lots of sweet drawn out stuff on a decent day. The Jacobs needs big waves. But they paddle great. I would not do the boxes myself, I would botch it! I can port two stroke motorcycle cylinders, but I don't want to mess up the work on one of these old boards. Eddie Camara in Little Compton restored them, I would have him do the boxes.
This perfectly describes why i no longer fool with shorter single fins. The last two i had were a 6'0" vintage Surfboards Australia and a 6'10" i shaped myself as a 2+1. Love the single fin longboard however. As long as the guy knows fin placement, its easy to do, so no reason not to go for it, unless you think the boards are collectible and you think their value would be impacted. My guess is that's not an issue for you or you wouldnt be thinking about it to begin with.
Single fins turn just fine... you just can't push them too hard or you'll spin out. Sidebites might help, but let's face it... those first generation single finned shortboards... the kind I learned to surf on... were dogs. That's why those designs are all but dead. You could go with a smaller center fin and sidebites for a change of pace. Just don't over-fin the board. Try a 6" bonzer center fin half way up in the box and adjust from there.
I just wonder if it will make the boards hold better in a hard turn. Problem is they were not designed for thruster or 2+1 setups. Probably just a waste . I have a nice thruster. Thanks for the thoughts. I should ride them as is.
Also remember to take into account the rail design - which has a lot to do with turning and how the water flows over the rail. A lot of the older boards had rounded or almost 50/50 rails, which work great with a single fun. But not as well with a thruster But if you check out a modern thruster- the rails in the tail are usually hard down and sharp rails- which work great with a thruster but not as well with a single. If you don't mind experimenting and possibly ruining a board- go for it!
If they are real 70's single fins that survived intact you would be crazy to mess with them. Nothing worse IMO. Side fins pointing at the nose will just create drag on a board shaped for trim speed and not for pumping speed up. If the tails are narrow then they were not meant to ride off the tail so much like multi fin cues. Like a '74 camaro with a JC Whitney wing and a hood scoop, doesn't really help and looks gay. Single fins don't spin out they just don't go straight off the bottom and hit the top very well straight up but more laterally on the wave face . Ride them in a longboard line on the wave and look for high trim lines (challenging in crap surf & super fun in clean hollow surf). They are fast without pumping. If they are in fairly good condition you will ruin any value they have.
I think on balance I agree with you, Garbanzo. They are remarkably intact, although the Jacobs has got a lot of ugly repairs, Eddie reglassed it and it is intact and water tight. THat board has a really narrow tail. The G&S is beautiful. It has a square tail and is great for soft RI waves. I am not a ripper, and surfing them the way they were meant ot be surfed is probably the right answer! Thanks.
Do not do anything to that G&S, then. They are the Mercedes Benz/Rolls Royce of Surfboards, imho. Butchering it would be exactly that,,,,butchering!!
Single fins turn great- and can be much looser then a thruster... They just turn different. My advise is to just learn how to ride them since they ride differently. And like garbanzo said - only take them out on select days- when it's clean and peeling... Not a sectiony day or close outs....
"Do not do anything to that G&S, then. They are the Mercedes Benz/Rolls Royce of Surfboards, imho. Butchering it would be exactly that,,,,butchering!!" It really does look amazing.
