The Fin Paradox: With all the developments in fin design is the question of which fins to use a burd

“If it’s waist to shoulder high use this set, but only if it’s glassy. Any bigger, use these, unless of course there’s some bump on the surface and then you will probably want to use these. Or maybe use the center fin of this set and then the two side fins of this set. And then if it’s anything under waist high, hollow, beach break conditions, you will definitely want these.”
So I sat there in the sand, analyzing the conditions as precisely as possible while reflecting on the shpeal my shaper gave me when I picked up my last board. OK, two to three feet…a couple of hollow sections…pretty glassy…I’ll use…um…these ones.
“Hey Zach you paddling out?” a buddy asks.
“Yep,” I respond.
“Better get out before the tide comes in ‘cuz it’s gonna get pretty mushy out there,” he hollers as he skips down toward the water.
Damn it! I better switch my set-up.
    Board/fin combinations have almost become the surfer’s finger-print. These days, every board design-fin set-up combo is different. Almost everyone has a fin preference, whether it’s on the cutting-edge of removable fin technology or traditional glass-ons. The plethora of possibilities has opened a new realm entirely unique to modern surfing.
The removable fin system was a great stride forward for surfers and shapers. It may even be the greatest advancement in fin technology since Simon Anderson unveiled the thruster at Bell’s Beach in 1981 and revolutionized the sport. Not only have removable fins freed up board bag space, it has enabled shapers to design boards that can work in a variety of conditions. You just need to know what set-up to throw in when it’s pumping or mediocre, fat or hollow, blown-out or oily glass.
The problem is that the different conditions surfers face are limitless. Advancement in wetsuit technology makes perfect sense. Warm and flexible is uniformly accepted as better than cold and stiff. But advancements in fin technology are questionably necessary. You will find more surfers who swear to glass-ons than you will find surfers devoted to the latest removable fin design. You will find more surfers who use what they’ve been given, not even knowing what size, foil, or rake their fin possesses, than you will find those anxiously awaiting the release of the new turbo-foil-bamboo-memory flex model.
Today there are so many set-ups, both in entry design and fin variations within each entry set-up, it would take eons to figure out what works best for you. And by the time you thought you had it figured out, a new model from your favorite brand or a new entry system altogether will have emerged on the market. And the shop guy claims, “This is the one bro. You ever wanted to surf like Fanning? Here you go bro.”
In this day and age, when innovation is in every frontier of the sport, we surfers need an open mind. Twenty years ago, you got a board, it worked or it didn’t; maybe better in some conditions than others, but it was pretty straight-forward. Today, if your board is equipped with a removable system, you have a long road ahead before you can determine how that thing goes. One set-up may make a board feel like magic. Another may make the same board feel like it’s going upside down and sideways.
But we mustn’t forget what fin technology has enabled us to do. Especially when we step out of the realm of the thruster (sorry Simon) and hark back to those quirky set-ups from pre-1981, only now with the lightness, flex, and durability that fin technology has ushered into the sport. Quads would not be making resurgence without advanced fin technology. Shapers are having more fun than ever, now that they can mess around with all of the possibilities of board dimensions and fin set-ups.
Although the thruster still clutters almost every line-up from Cave Rock to Ponce Inlet to the Lane to the Alley, and it is still the preferred set-up for the top 44, we will, and already do, see more and more variations in the lineup. Shapers now can mix eras in board design. Thanks to fin technology innovations, modernity and the past are not conflicting but cooperating. You don’t have to be a retro neo-hippy to appreciate a quad anymore. You don’t need to listen to Men-at-Work to enjoy a twin fin. Thanks to fin technology you can use the favored set-up of the 70’s and still be at the cutting-edge of innovation.
Advancements in materials have also bettered traditional glass-ons. “The innovation of the glass flex material a couple of years ago was also pretty important,” Tyler Callaway of FCS said. “It really improved the flex pattern of molded fins allowing good flex in the tip and stiffness of the base. Having this good material allows us to mold a perfect foil every time in a high-performance material that duplicates the flex pattern of handed foil fiberglass fin.”
Needless to say, fins have evolved and we surfers are better off with fin technology. Even if you are a die-hard glass-on militant (and you break your fins off every time you travel) you can thank the scientists behind fin technology for your ripping. And if the removable set-up is for you, when the surf is big in the remote locale you find yourself, be grateful the technology’s there to allow your 7’6” fit snuggly in your bag. Fifteen years ago, you’d be stuck pulling in on your 6’O” with the side fin solar- rezed back on.