Quad fin set-up.

    I frequently have people picking my brains at the beach about many technical aspects but a recurring theme is definitely fin set-ups so I thought it might be helpful to explain how I set up my quad for different conditions. I spoke at length a while back to windsurfing legend and pioneering board shaper Jurgen Honscheid about quads and he is absolutely convinced that quads are not merely a fashion statement and that they will remain a major, if not the major, design in the future of many different types of windsurf board (interestingly he believes that they are not restricted to only wave use!). He is in the envious position of being able to make two identical boards and test different fin set-ups in them and he told me the results of these tests proved to him that the quad is surely the most versatile fin system on today's market, although he also stated that there is still a great deal to learn about different fin combinations and how they affect the performance of the board.

     Anyway, in an effort to keep things simple I will now show you the way I set up my Fanatic Quad 89 for onshore and cross-off wavesailing. Firstly, for cross-on wavesailing I move my front fins back and my centre fins forward, pushing the fins closer together under the back strap. This makes my board turn in a tighter arc, particularly at slightly lower speeds, so I can ride a wave without outrunning it which is important in cross-on. It also has the effect of making the board more slidey, which is also great for onshore cutbacks and takas etc. The drawback of having the fins set up in this way is that the board might be harder to control in a turn at very high speed, not really an issue though in these conditions. Check out the pics below of my cross-on set-up...

     Next, my set-up for cross to cross-off down-the-line waveriding. Here I move my centre fins almost to the back of the slot and my side fins almost to the front, creating a much bigger gap between the fins. This has the effect of making the board carve in a slightly longer arc but with far greater control and grip than with the above set-up. The board will be much more controllable during a high speed bottom turn and also have much better grip in the cutback, with less tendency to slide out although you will still be able to create a tail slide using more back foot pressure. Here are some pics of my cross shore set-up...

   These small changes will definitely make a very noticeable difference to your board's handling in different conditions and I recommend you try them out and see what you think, but remember that every board is different so you may have to play around a little (or get a Fanatic ;) ) and also that, according to one of the best shapers in the world 'we still only understand a tiny fraction of what this fin set-up is capable of'...