Airush Choptop 2009 - feels so slow..

[vmk]

Hi,

I'm new here and have a question that I think some here might be able to answer. Last summer I decided to get a board for some strapless kiting and ended up buying the 2009 Airush Choptop (this was before I found this great site and the great board suggestions here). All in all I am not dissatisfied with the board and figure I have to learn a lot before I can ride it to its (or other boards) full potential. There is however one thing that bothers me: the board feels so slow. It feels as if it has a lot of drag and in light winds it's hard to keep the speed up (and my kite tends to love some speed). I have tried putting my weight more towards the front and over the board to let the fins do the work and edge as little as possible which helps a little. I think JonModica wasn't far off when writing this:

Definitely not the royal or north. WAY TOO HEAVY.
The airush choptop is okay, but feels kinda messy and slow.

I would wait two months to see what the companies are making for 2010!
-Jon

My question is, is there any way to speed it up a little bit. Perhaps taking off two of the four fins would help (how would this affect the board? I will definitely try next time but still curious to other people's thoughts)? Or changing the fins to a different type? Or is it slow because of the shape of the board? Any thoughts?

Thanks,

vmk

[tyrant]

HI VMK,

Yea, I agree with you. They used some fins that had built in cant. I think if you ran straight FCS fins or FCS with a traditional surf cant, that you will find an improvement in speed. Cheers.

[vmk]

Thanks for the advice - I have been looking at different fins but so many choices and no possibilities to try them out first (that I know of). I did do some experimenting with the stock fins and have been using the board the last few session with only two fins: the largest ones mounted in the front fin plugs. Makes for a real loose board (heavy chop can put you off course/balance) but with much better speed (a lot more fun!).

[JonModica]

Thanks for the advice - I have been looking at different fins but so many choices and no possibilities to try them out first (that I know of). I did do some experimenting with the stock fins and have been using the board the last few session with only two fins: the largest ones mounted in the front fin plugs. Makes for a real loose board (heavy chop can put you off course/balance) but with much better speed (a lot more fun!).

This might sound odd, but I would say this is worth a shot.
Try to find a set of two crappy fins (your gonna cut them so might as well be cheap)
Make them smaller than your rear fins. Now try those in the back and your original back fins in the front.
ALOT of boards can be over finned.
The problem with riding with just two fins is that it just washes out too easy. Keeping the quad will help alot even if going dramatically smaller.

The choptop is not designed to be a "real" surfboard, so there is no point just throwing traditional surf fins in it....without doing some experimenting first!
good luck!
-Jon