RealSurf Surfers' Forum

Matticus Finch wrote:Interesting aren't they. With my weight and with the little ones in I reckon its probably a bit like finless, until they do that grab thing when you straighten up. When you've messed around with them for a bit give me a yell if you want to borrow some of the other sizes to try with them.

Cheers Matt!

So far I wouldn't want to go any bigger in fin area, the overall hold is perfect. What size rear fins do you have? Double or single foiled?

I rode the C-Drive Quad rears with K2.1s in the front this morning, which I haven't ridden for a while. Awesome straight line speed but also very easy to turn and in fact I noticed some of the observations made above with the tail releasing if you really push it hard and once you tend to wash off a bit of speed (drive) the fins really then slide/release.

Not sure if anyone else has noticed this, but the C Drives seem to make it slightly harder to catch the waves. The board tends to get hung up high in the wave on the paddle in, rather than shooting off down the wave face. Anyone else noticed this? Could also be the fact I've been out of the water for 3.5 weeks and so may (no have) lost a bit of my paddle fitness.

6 fin C Drive Quad set on eBay for all you C Drive frothers !! You might have to beat me to it !

Bump...
More Ebay c-drive sets.
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/C-Drive-Fins ... 4cfcaf1089

Further bump.

MC has been hyping me on trying C-Drives in the deep concaves. He has been basically kind of freaking out about 'em.

So yesterday and today I put a set of small C-Drives in a wicked little 5'8" round pin MC, the board Maurice made for Kelly last Bells and Kelly knocked it back 'cause it was too manic.

And...fcuken hell.

I've had to deliberately calm this board down in the past using an H3 template 'cause they don't drive as much as most other fins. It's worked but it's also felt like the board was anaesthetised a bit, some of its ferocity removed in the service of sanity, but killing its fine upper edge too.

The C-Drives dd something else entirely. It restored the fine edge while keeping the manic thing at bay. Felt to me like the fin bases helped to engage the lift of the concave in longer turns, and the thinner tips helped with release in the ends of turns, esp vertical turns. But very much more than the sum of those parts.

Gotta do some more surfing on these and switch 'em between other MCs to get a better feel and assessment.

Nick, Quad or Thruster setup?

Wonder if Powerbase fins would do something similar for the MC? Generous base but with added flex in the tip? Who knows but might also be worth a try. Have you tried them NC? Is the board you are talking about the one in the latest board bible.fk wouldn't mind giving something like that a go in good waves.

Yeah donw it's a thruster. Just probably not like many boards you'll have looked at. 5'8" x 2.3" x 183/4", low entry rocker, 3/4" concave peaking just in front of the fins, 14" flat section along the stringer to 3" from the tail, slight vee behind back fin. Extreme lift off the concave, turning spread between rocker and outline.

Natho, nah not that Board Test one, I'm gonna put the C-drives in that one over the next few days and see if the effect transfers. I think what the C-drive is doing is quite different to the Powerbase, got more to do with where the volume is in the fin.

Pretty sure I saw KS surfing that board at beacons .......IMO it surfed way better under his feet than the CI he rode to victory. (2010).

nah this is the 2011 model - a round pin. Better than the 2010 one I reckon (I snaffled both of 'em). I think Kelly wanted to feel a bit more tail rocker than this nasty little fcuker contained. He should have tried it with the c-drives.

Nick Carroll wrote:
I've had to deliberately calm this board down in the past using an H3 template 'cause they don't drive as much as most other fins. It's worked but it's also felt like the board was anaesthetised a bit, some of its ferocity removed in the service of sanity, but killing its fine upper edge too.

what do you mean about the H3's not driving as much? What do they do well and what sort of board do you recommend them for?

OK. This is just me. I am sure fcs would say differently.

The H3 template and foil, like the H2 before it, is a "slippery" fin -- ie it lets water move past it very easily. This is great and all but it does mean that the fin set doesn't feel to me like it provides a whole lot of lift in turns.

Thus it feels to me like it suits a board whose bottom shape generates a heap of lift. Such a board doesn't need much in the way of lift from the fins.

Lifty bottoms: deep concaves, flat exit rockers, six channels, short wide-tails.

Those flat H3 outlines don't seem to give you a lot of feel for water movement. I'm actually wondering if one reason the Cs seem to be so wonderful in the MC deep concaves is because the fins sport so many different curves in their outlines and thus let you feel a lot of what's happening in turns.

Nick, do you notice any difference in the paddling and take off/wave catching ability with the C drives.

For some strange reason, which I can't put my hand on, I've noticed I seem to catch the waves later with the C Drives in compared to say G1000s in the rear. Can't explain why, they just seem to hold you up the face more when taking off/paddling into the wave....well at least that's my observation.

thats in a deepish double concaved square tail quad NC, just thought I better give him all the info DW...
I personally didnt have much joy wth them in several boards ( all quads of varying shape and design ) but am interested in trying them out again, just to refresh myself, think I'll get my hands on a thruster set and take em for a spin soon.... you surfing them in quality waves NC or in all sorts of waves including average beachies ???

pridmore wrote:thats in a deepish double concaved square tail quad NC, just thought I better give him all the info DW...

Cheers Mark. I'm actually thinking about a new board soon......perhaps a couple of inches shorter and I'll go the rounded pin this time around.....just need to assess the finances.

don hell no, I have no paddling issues whatsoever but then again I'm riding a thruster and using a small set.

mark so far given the surf conditions where I've been, most of the sessions have been in 3-5' lumpy muscular reef-beachie type waves, not real high quality that's for sure, but a bit of punch. But I'm not just riding set waves.

As mentioned I think maybe they're working really well in concert with the exceptional lift of the MC concave, when I'd used them before on a fairly flat bottomed non-lifty sorta board I didn't get the same feel and response.

Four fins feel like they might be a bit of an OD with all those different curves in the fin template.

Be pretty sick to try a larger one in a singly.

for me, they were hard to get flow thru turns and bit too twitchy off the top, wouldnt hold that tight arc when pushed hard off the top, as well, seemed to lack drive off the bottom, but like I said, that was in several quads with diff set ups, most with deepish doubles thru fins...singley sounds good

Nick Carroll wrote:OK. This is just me. I am sure fcs would say differently.

The H3 template and foil, like the H2 before it, is a "slippery" fin -- ie it lets water move past it very easily. This is great and all but it does mean that the fin set doesn't feel to me like it provides a whole lot of lift in turns.

Thus it feels to me like it suits a board whose bottom shape generates a heap of lift. Such a board doesn't need much in the way of lift from the fins.

Lifty bottoms: deep concaves, flat exit rockers, six channels, short wide-tails.

Those flat H3 outlines don't seem to give you a lot of feel for water movement. I'm actually wondering if one reason the Cs seem to be so wonderful in the MC deep concaves is because the fins sport so many different curves in their outlines and thus let you feel a lot of what's happening in turns.

Nick I reckon you are spot on here. My Josh Dowling 6 channel (single to double with six slots) creates so much of its own lift that when I put the H3's in every bottom turn I fell ass first. It was maybe 5-6 foot and pretty clean but steep take offs. Really frustrating and not what I have ever experienced with that board. The next day it was much the same conditions and I swapped fins for PC7's and bingo...the grip was back.

I love the H3's on a Stretch quad I have but other than that I havent found a board that works for those fins yet. Whenever I used the H2's which are more aggressive again..it feels to me like I have left the handbrake on...dont like them at all and I have given them a solid workout to come to that conclusion.

Re the C-Drives..I did use a set on a Shred Sled but due to the tail kick in that board it was super skatey... which I didnt like. Felt almost like the rear fin was not engaged right at the base and with the slimmer tip it just had too much release..I have however used those fins on everything from a fish to a regular shooter and love them.