Fins or no fins

[jan]

Hi,

I just entered the sport of kitesurfing last year and since I like building stuff and since I already have some experience with building skim boards as well as riding them I decided to build one dedicated for kitesurfing. I am not jet that experienced with kitesurfing yet, i just learned how to do small jumps and how to get myself upwind, but after visiting this site I will be spending my time on the water learning to ride strapless.

I am building a foam skimboard glassed with epoxy and fibreglass and I was wondering if I should install fins on my board or not.
can anyone tell me what the disadvantages and advantages of a skimboard with fins vs. a skimboard without fins are?

and if I should install fins on my skimboard, what kind of setup is best for a skimboard? I was thinking of a tri fin setup with small fin found on regular kiteboards as center fin, and even smaller fins used as sidefins.

so please tell me whether I should use fins and if so, should I use a tri or twin fin setup.


Jan
Ps.: the outline and shape of the board will be like an exile

[mattv]

Fins or on fins is a question of personal taste. I started with 3 fins on a LF Wakesurfer until I detroyed the board, then switch to a Triple-X wakesufer with a single center fin and now I ride a Roush custom and a homemade woodie both with no fins. Now that I am used to no fins that is the way I prefer to ride. A big factor is also the type of board you ride. My Triple-X did not ride well without a fin but the Roush and woodie are great without fins.

If you are making the board yourself I say give yourself the option. Put the fins holes in the board and you can always fill the holes with surf wax when you ride without the fin and pop the wax out when you want to add a fin.

[Lonny]

Hey Jan,

Welcome to LTS! Thank you for joining us here and posting your question. We have had some interesting discussions regarding fins and skims here on LTS, and here are my previous thoughts on riding with fins:

Should I take the fins off my skimboard?
One hundred percent - take the fins off the board. If you want to learn to ride a skimboard properly, and not need to re-learn some skills then keep the fins off at first. They are sort of like training wheels, helpful, but you need to learn again without them. Once you learn to ride a skim properly you add fins when that is the desired action you are looking for, but only once you are comfortable riding without them do I recommend using them.

I would definitely recommend riding without your fins for 2 reasons. The first, is learning to ride your skim with proper technique. Even though it will be more difficult to ride at first because the board will feel super loose, and almost like it wants to come out from under your feet. However, believe me when I say that the fins are not necessary, especially once you learn the proper technique of riding the rail of your skimmy and getting your stance and kite position right. In some ways the fins can almost cheat you of developing a good skim technique because you don't really feel a skim fully until you ride it fin-less. Once you have your skim mastered then you can add fins when you want them for extra grip or waves. Lets also not forget that you look way cooler to all the other people riding without straps and fins!! Second, if you remove your fins you will find it much much easier to learn to slide your skimmer and learn shuvits. Also, removing the fins will make it a bit easier when riding your board backwards and when you are learning to turnaround.

Skimboard - FAQ

With all that said, I would agree with Mattv, that if you are going to make one all-around board, sure puts some fin holes in there. That way you can test it or mix it up depending on the conditions. Also, unless you are make a surf specific skim 3 fins is over kill. Remember you are not trying to make a skimboard that rides like a surfboard - they are different animals. If you want a true skim feel than keep the fins small and too a minimum. One center fin on either end, or just the back will work. You could also do a twin fin set up. Find some small wake fins and experiment to see what you like. I am sure Tungsten will chime in with his massive board building knowledge.

Let us know how we can assist you further.

[tungsten]

Hi Jan, I've built a number of skims and other boards and played around with fins and no fins. For a start, you ride a skim off the edge, therefore a sharp edge works best. For an all-round skimboard (for chop and waves) a fin can come in handy. Fin setups like thruster and twin are trying to mimick a different board and are overkill IMO. The resulting board feel is not a skim anymore, and you will not develop any skim board skills. Those boards feel awkward to me, locked in and inert, whereas a skim is vivid.

In choppy stuff, you use the fin basically when carving, transitioning from one edge to the other. As long as you are riding on the edge, you don't need the fin, it has not much of an effect apart from slowing you down. When going through the turn, you have a split second where you transition from one edge to the other. In chop, it's easy to lose the right angle, and you skid out. This is where a fin gives you a pivot point and a bit of lateral resistance to avoid skidding out.

I found a single fin to work best for this purpose. Fin position depends on the tail shape of your board, a good position is somewhere between your back foot and the tail. A good fin size for bad conditions is 1,5", and you can always go smaller. You could drill a couple fin holes to find the best position, and fill the bad ones with epoxy once you're happy. I only use 1 fin on my skims. When I ride them backwards the more pointed tip acts as a pivot point, no fin needed. The wider tail has more surface which is better in low wind, and I have 1 fin there, which I take off when the conditions are not too ugly.

Here are sources for good & cheap fins:

http://www.fins4sale.com/
http://www.slovakfin.com/

cheers, Tungsten

[jan]

Thanks a lot for all the information, this is information I can really work with.
as soon as I'll start shaping my board I will post some pictures to illustrate my building process.

Jan

[tungsten]

Yo, post your stuff, it's always inspiring to see other DIY projects! No worries if boards turn out to be lemons, this is part of the game, and those are the ones where you learn most. I use to give mine away to kids on the beach, they love it.