Two Crows Belly Board

[jbw4600]

My son showed this page to me. It has little fins. What do you think? I see little fins on boards made by standard surfboard shapers. http://twocrowssurfboards.blogspot.com/ ... rd_13.html

[SJB]

I cannot remember if it was Rod or Ted that turned me onto 2 inch side bites to use with thruster set up. Works great. I would think too small however to do much as sidebites alone.
FCS 2 inch sidebites.
http://www.turbotunnel.com/product.asp?productid=165177

[rodndtube]

I can see those fins functioning but it wouldn't be the same as having 3" or 4" fins installed on that board -- different feel and different conditions. Ted came to like the 2" sidebites that I use on the Austin type design. Not sure what depth the fins in the twocrows blog board has but it certainly has more rake/length and surface area to it. Also, from the pic it is hard to tell offset from the rails, toe-in and cant.

[bgreen]

I've been communciating recently with some Simmons and hull aficinados. Small 3" fins are their preference.

I have a pair on one board, I think they need to b longer at the base - they're 4"

I'm curious to know some more about TC's.

Bob

[rodndtube]

Looks like they are near Haleiwa (he Old Sugar Mill Waialua) and in Santa Cruz. The Old Sugar Mill has become something like an incubator in the surf industry -- a fin producer, old Turbo-style bodyboard builder if I recall and others.

[jbw4600]

I am going to try some "keel" type fins next time I buy fins.

[bgreen]

I e-mailed Two Crows. Nick & Carl replied, not sure which one though. They said they make a board a month or so and are experimenting with fins and bottoms.

I asked for some more details regarding who is riding them/where.


Bob

[Ted]

The low volume and dished deck look attractive to me. Rod's 2" sidebites with 4" center work great on the Austin, but after riding a finless board for a while, I wonder how much fin is needed.

[krusher74]

The low volume and dished deck look attractive to me. Rod's 2" sidebites with 4" center work great on the Austin, but after riding a finless board for a while, I wonder how much fin is needed.

I agree totally, i have never had a finned board, when i had a go on a friends paipo with fins it tracked horribly, i can grind a turn as hard as a like just on a rail, no fins needed and break the rail free for 360's

[jbw4600]

There are many different styles of riding. But I surfed for 20 years without fins/skegs and I am having a blast with fins again now. I don't do 360s, but crank turns as hard as anyone and on my board the fins don't inhibit turning at all. I can turn on dime. I find they really help on making sections when you are going down the line and make your bottom turns very fast. The fins on the board you surfed might not of had any toe in or cant. If the fins are straight and uncanted, they make the board track too much. The great thing about Thomas Patrick boards is that he also puts a bevel in the last foot or less to help initiate turning. The other thing is that with fins you don't have to push the inside rail into the wave or drag a swim fin to hold onto the wave. The fins/skegs do the work for you. But there are many ways of doing it.

[bgreen]

I think it is a matter of being able to draw different lines. I have a couple of boards I have ridden with and without fins. I now mostly ride them with fins, for shorter arcs and a bit more control (both when going really fast and when hitting a fat section on a wide tailed board). Again, it comes back to how you want to ride a wave and the type of waves you are riding (and how much water is beneath you).

Getting the fins right can be difficult, I've certainly had boards that tracked too much, hence smaller fins, foiled on one side only (twin fins).

I think your surfing background (standup, bodysurfer, bodyboarder, kneeboarder etc) is going to effect how you see this as well.

vive la difference
Bob

[rodndtube]

As in any discussion on board design it is a matter of compromise. I would argue that fins are better for projection and for sustaining momentum in white water sections. I also find them useful for many other things but to an extent that is conditioning from 4 decades of riding with fins. I tend to ride a 2x1 setup with small sidebites -- 2" -- and really notice a difference when they get up to 2.75" or more (tracking?). My center fin isn't huge - 4 to 5 inches.