Single Fin Guide

Try to research Cheyne Horan - he designed single fin teardrop shapes and almost won the world championship in the late 70s using some kind of weird fin - a double keel single fin (looks like an inverted Y) taken from America Cup sailboat technology. Maybe right before the thruster was invented by Simon Anderson in the early 80s. So he was looking for an alternative to the twin fins (MR inspired) and the standard single fins (Lopez inspired) of the day. I don't know why it faded from the scene, maybe too back weighted with out enough forward drive to work on hollow waves?

 

It's a single fin, you drop in and trim.

 

Ride it like this guy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AzkSzqzRLg&feature=player_detailpage

 

they were super cool shapes at the time but simon kinda won the argument.

 

Those are reverse teardrops, from the description it seems that we are supposed to be discussing a teardrop shape with the narrow end at the tail.

Singlefin shortboards have usually suffered due to poor fins, I used to re fin mine.

At the risk of being accused of advertising I suggest that the Warp Drive spitfire fins which I'm making improve the ride immensely... no more nursing the board through turns and no more soggy response.

 

i'm sorry, horan did WHAT now?


whose name is on the nose of that board?


70s-style single fins like the one the OP is talking about want to be trimmed more heavily off the front foot. this can be tough for most surfers who grew up in the modern era b/c today's standard thruster hpsb & it's variants need to be surfed more heavily off the back foot. often times, you need to take a "less is more" approach to surfing single fins.

 

bingo.

though, to be fully honest, more foot movement, less upper body movement. when i was riding that kind of board a lot, i found myself trimming & barrel riding from a more forward position on the board & then taking a step or so back to the tail to do any kind of hard turn, like a full cutback. it's actually a trait i've held onto & i think i makes my surfing smoother. in fact, when i feel like my surfing is starting to get spastic or flappy, i'll hop back on one for a session or 2.
i don't think it's a coincidence that the guys we think of as having a timeless style-tom curren, lopez, etc...all grew up initially riding single fins of the type you're talking about.

 

How. To. Rip. A. Single. Fin. in 3:07 -
http://vimeo.com/58138164

 

paddle like hell & get in early.

 

alex knost is a little (a LOT) too hand-jivey for my taste. i prefer smooth stlye like tudor:

[video=vimeo;10661985]http://vimeo.com/10661985[/video]

(technically, not a single fin, but you get the point...also, look up his surfing in One California Day & Sprout.)

 

one of the advantages of the tri-fin set-up is hold in the face whilst dropping; in this regard the single fin
fails by comparison. simons idea works on different layers.

 

Thanks, I'm well versed in those 2 flicks. Dig Tudor And agreed somewhat on the Knost factor. Harrison Roach and Ellis Ericson do standout here though and the rest are technicians as well. Bonzers are a Whole different universe. And Hulls.
Machado brings nice things to the table with his single fin work. And it's INsane to watch Busting Down the Door and see what thos guys were doing at that time. Shaun Tompson? Damn.
Nice to see some kowledge and appreciation here. Thanks man.

 

can't really disagree though i would like to toss out a little dis-appreciation. a good surfer combined with
a good wave can make a BAD SHAPE look good. the right fit for a single fin (hpsb context) is an expert
surfer who CHOOSES to regress.

 

what you call "regression" another calls "experimentation". a lot of good (in terms of design evolution & volume distribution) has come out of the much-maligned "fish revival/retro movement" of the late-90s & early-00s. a lot of the shapes that everyone froths over trace their lineage directly back to classic keel fish, eggs, & stubbies that were revived & refined during that period.