Freestyle Fins: How Small is Too Small?

Consider these two fins. Both are attached to JP 109 Freestyle boards. One fin and board belongs to me, the other to freestyle lunatic (and ABK-meisterAndy Brandt. See if you can tell which is which.

Whenever I'm around serious freestyle windsurfers, the thing that stands out most about their gear is their fins. They're all "modified". Modified" is a polite term...they're amputated fins. They are preposterously short.

What about commercially available freestyle fins? "Too big" everyone says. "You have to make your own!" Long Island's Mike Burns has been seen sailing on a cut down wave fin. I can't quite make out what the nub that Mr. Brandt is on was before it was cut away. It seems to me that fin manufacturers could do well for themselves by charging full price for these half-fins. In the meantime, the next time you wreck a fin, just cut away the bulk of it, and celebrate your new piece of gear...you're now the owner of a custom freestyle fin.

(Yes, I know the red 12" fin is not properly seated in the finbox. I just stuck it in there to provide scale.)

Comments

[Scott McKay]

But, but... how do you manage to do any sliding moves at all with 12 inches of fin sticking in the water? Or even easily get your fin clear of the water for things like a Gecko? I'm a total freestyle novice, but it sure seems like you're making things harder for yourself! (But, wow, Andy's fin sure is SHORT!)

[Bunty]

When in Rhodes, Greece in June my son John has a JP freestyle board and he complained all the time about the fin supplied being too long. Every time he tried moves like vulcans etc the fin caught the water cos it was too long. Then his coach, Jem Hall, managed to find a fin on a broken Synchro hidden round the back of the centre and they took the fin and basically cut it inhalf. John did a bit of shaping with sandpaper and elbow grease and he has his favourite freestyle fin now. Very short (almost as short as the one in the pic above). The board is also much much more manouvreable and can then turn on a pin head if you know what I mean. In strong wind a freestyle fin also works well on any other type of board. I tried it and its great.

[Michael]

Scott, that's not my freestyle fin. I put a fin that I use on that board for freeriding, to help show how incredibly small Andy's fin is. I use the commercially available fins, like the oldschool freestyler I am!

[Mike Burns]

Having a shorter fin is the most important thing you can get over any other piece of gear to make sliding moves easier. Your 130 ltr slalom board will slide easier with the right fin than a freestyle boards with a fulll sized fin. The rule of thumb is to make the fin the length of your hand from the tip of your middle finger to the base of your wrist. Mine is a hair under 7 inches. I use it with sails form 3.7 to 6.9. I break out the 8 incher for the 8.2 and 130 ltr Screamer when I really need a fix.
If anyone is thinking about getting airborne to go backwards, start with your fin!

[Derek]

I am currently using a 14 cm freestyle fin with my 100 L Tabou Freestyle board and it's the perfect combo. I'll give you three good reasons.

1) Basically, the main difference is with a fin like this, it makes the board do all the work for you in a move. Say you do a spock, you just have to set the rotation, turn your head and the board will come around for you. I have sailed my same board with a regular wave fin and the result is terrible. Totally different board. I really had to push like hell with my back hand to get the board to come around and often it would catch and throw me in.

2) It makes it really a lot easier to do double moves, like double flakas, punetas, if you nail a good one, you can pretty easily kick the fin out and set another rotation.

3) You can sail basically right onto the beach and it doesn't matter!

[Michael]

Thanks, gentlemen! I like the wrist to fingertip rule, Mike

The spirit of this post was primarily to show Andy's tiny fin, which I think is smaller even then yours. Hence the comment about "serious freestylers". I recently made my own fin patterned after Andy's, which I will be sailing this week.

It still stuns me that there's a market for something in windsurfing that has to be easy to make, but nobody is making it. On the other hand, it's pretty cool!

[Lanky]

Hey guys, do you sail on flat water with those length fins? or are the ok to handel in choppy water as well?

[Chris Pressler]

Many people use too big fins for starting freestyle. In my opinion sizes in between and 22 and 24 are sweet for starting. Later on you can switch to smaller sizes, especially when get into sliding moves more and more. Anyway the fin gets shorter and shorter when touching the ground. So start with a 22 and will end up with a 18 soon.
But all depends on your personal style.

Chris Pressler

[Loris V.]

Hey guys!
I´m riding a 13,2cm selfmade fin and i realy
love it!All of my friends have selfmade fins and theyre all convinced to ride this.
my weight is 60kg and i can ride this wee fin even with 5,3qm and it works and if you want to learn freestyle a small fin can help you alot because when you train the volcan and you just can jump 140degrees theres no problem to slide.And if you are thinking of shaping a small fin JUST DO IT! use an old wave fin and and cut it:D if you are on the water do some easy moves like helikopter tack and board 360 to get a feeling for the fin. when you are planing just leave the back foot out of the footstrap and dont worry about getting to much downwind! you are a surfer so you can swim!!!!

Loris

[abe caisley]

hey guys its abe. ive been windsurfing for 9 months now im 15 years old and i reeeallyy love windsurfing. i just recently made my own free style fin. its round about 12 - 13 inches its an old slalom fin that i got given. i tried vulcans with it but half way round on the turn it would hit the water and i would fail and this has happend evry time. i wantd to start free style because im sick of just plaining then jybibin then going back the other way then jybing it gets a bit boring!! and im hoping to get into ebents thiss seasion comming up!! thanks this website has helpd heaps the midle finger to the wrist ruel works for me!!