RealSurf Surfers' Forum

...

Most shapers seem to have it dialled now, thanks to Bruce Mckee and his mission quattro. Although early on a fair few or them were simply putting quad setups on thruster shapes. There's quite a few variables on fin placement (as Ignatius already alluded to). Bruce's stringer-centric quads with a fair bit of space between the front and rear fins have the drive and speed characteristics that are often associated with quads. The rail-centric style tend to have the front and back fins set closer together enabling tighter turns with a reduction in the drive. I've got a couple of boards with closely clustered rail orientated fins that surf pretty much like twinnies. Getting the fin combination right on this setup took me a couple of months. Once the penny dropped, it was a bit of a revelation (to me) and the boards surf so well, especially on punchy little beach breaks. Having said that, the thruster setup seems to be winning the arm wrestle.