the Surfin

The Surfin Systems plug system: "The idea for using plugs to fit fins came to me one afternoon in my surf shop. A marketing rep working for a Byron Bay fin company Multi Fins had come in to ask me a questionaire of what I did or did not like about that company's box systems. I said I didn't like the weight and the hassle of fitting box systems, particularly if the box was not put in exactly.

Then I heard myself say for the first time... 'as a matter of fact you don't need boxes, plugs will work! ' At the time wavejumpers were becoming very popular and I had noticed that the footstraps were being secured by strong plastic plugs. I reasoned that if the plugs held footstraps, they would hold fins. I worked on several early prototypes, but found that the lateral force on a fin dictated that like the rovings before, there needed to be a flange to absorb the fin's lateral force. I made a few proto fins with flanges, and was suprised to find there was no drag. After all that's what looked like would happen.

This showed me one of the biggest insights I have had in board design as I tried to understand why? 

Wave flow moves across a board from rail to rail as the wave draws.... generally not along it. Not only that, the flange actually helped hold the fin into the wave face as the water flow tumbled across it. From there I was now able to design a fuller foil onto the flange base. Apart from the actual fin position on the board itself, foil was the most important aspect of fin design.

The most important few grams of weight in a surfboard! It stabilised the board particularly in white water, and governed true fin tip flex. Adding toe in ( toe a fin across the V and the cant will change accordingly) and slight fore/aft adjustment was important in case plugs weren't set in the right sweet spot in the factory. The fact the fins were backwards compatible with conventional fin boxes (it sits on top of them rather than inside with standard box screws),as well as future proof for the day when removable fins are fitted directly into the fabric of some future plastic recylable surfboard hull that is not compatible with polyester resin made the tooling of the design a must.

While I accept it is not your standard fin system concept as such, every surfer who has tried them has mentioned how well the fin works....'better than glass ons' is the most common comment. Certainly it's the easiest fitting system ever designed. Injection moulding has allowed adjustment of the fibre to plastic ratio, thus varying the degree of fin flex in any particular fin production run. And if you like unique colour patterns we are working on that too..."

Fin size:  Depth: 5" Base 4" Base Flange: 5 3/4" (We've never had a flange break).

Plug: Depth: Brass threaded. 3/4"  Diameter: 15mm  (We've never has a plug come out).

Price: Set of three fins, six plugs and screws. Au$ 64.50 (including postage within Australia). Overseas postage rates -please enquire.