I'm sure someone has a wealth of info on this subject...
I have recently bought a new Naish Raptor, which as most of you know is only designed as a quad setup.
I want to play around with fin setups but not too sure on the differences I can expect to feel when riding it.
I have used the Naish fins that came with it and now playing around with a set of VP's from Piros...(great fins by the way).
In the few photos I have seen of the Raptor online..The smaller fins are in the rears and the larger in the fronts, so that's where I started...Very loose. I then swapped them around and... tada....also very loose..I couldn't notice any real diff.
I have now put the VP's in with the bigger v8's in the front and smaller v6's in the rear. Both of these fins are significantly larger than the supplied Naish ones..Will I feel much of a difference with them...then what if I swap the fronts and rears over....what difference can I expect to see.
I am a giant at about 70Kg soaking wet.!!! Have SUP'd for about 4 years, but surfed and windsurfed for as long as I can remember.
I live on a beach with reasonably mellow 2-4ft beach breaks on most days, so perfect for the Raptor. I'm just trying to get as much out of the board as I can...and to understand what effect fin changes will have on it, so any pearls of wisdom would be greatly appreciatexd
Just try to see what is happening when you turn:
- If you understeer, the boards want to go straight and/or return flat on the water, enlarge the fronts and decrease the rears
- the opposite if you oversteer (the tail slips)
It will depend on your surfing style, foot placement, and the board shape: most boards have an accentuation of the rocker & rail curve near whene the main fins should be...
Hi Treth
I also have a Raptor (the smallest one) and I have been useing a few fins but I find the bigger the fins the better, or the standard yellow Naish fins are ok but if you can use the larger ones on the front and also on the back that is about as good as you can get I think :-)
Hi Treth
It needs larger fins. I have the v116 and had my first surf with a set of HI-1 fins , conditions were chest high glass and a touch fat. It gave the board more drive and held its line heaps better than the stock fins. It stopped the board from "oversteer" ( see colas ) but having said that , you can still slide the tail when doing a cutty.
With the HI-1 fins you can really push them on your bottom turn and they hold well in steeper sections ( tail doesn't slip and chatter down the face ).They seem perfect for my weight 92 kg.
I think you could surf a raptor in some decent size if the surf was a bit fat and not to bumpy. As said in the raptor clip , it gets to third gear really well , it just hasn't got 4 th. For the average beachie and local point wave , that doesn't need down the line speed , the raptor is a great addition to he quiver. Enjoy
