Sailing a lot at Applecross the sandbank can be a dangerous problem.
Thinking of getting a delta fin of around 24cm length for my 65 wide slalom board.
Compared to a standard rake weedy what will be the difference?
Also interested in the comparison with a super weedy.
Shorter fins generally are faster especially when powered up.
Peter, there are deltas and deltas. The original maui delta was crap. For general sailing the fangy is probably the most user friendly, it doesn't tend to spin out in chop as much as most others.
The tribal is probably the fastest.
You don't get as much rotational affect with a shorter fin, it doesn't lift the windward rail as much, a slight difference in your normal trim may be needed.
And in this case shorter isn't necessarily faster, because the area is still there.
I use them a lot, it's the only way you can sail our shallow weed, but i make my own and can't really comment on commercial variations.
I am intermediate sailor and sail Melville a lot and use the Fangy Delta fins to get away from all the wingers and into the flatter water upwind. The FF22 is nearly indestructible in chop on my iSonic 97, 65.5 wide board up to sail size 7, and the FF18 is the same on the iSonic 86, 57 wide board for same sail size. For light winds days (most of time) the FF28 is used for the iSonic 117, 85 wide. I have the FF24 but it gets neglected as Melville always seems very light or fairly strong. Whilst these fins are definitely not as fast as Tribal they are indestructible if you dredge/hit anything and point super well.
I am intermediate sailor and sail Melville a lot and use the Fangy Delta fins to get away from all the wingers and into the flatter water upwind. The FF22 is nearly indestructible in chop on my iSonic 97, 65.5 wide board up to sail size 7, and the FF18 is the same on the iSonic 86, 57 wide board for same sail size. For light winds days (most of time) the FF28 is used for the iSonic 117, 85 wide. I have the FF24 but it gets neglected as Melville always seems very light or fairly strong. Whilst these fins are definitely not as fast as Tribal they are indestructible if you dredge/hit anything and point super well.
The original ones ( I haven't sailed the more recent faster versions) are terrific for making a gusty , marginal day fun.
As others have said it depends so much on the individual model. The very thick Black Project delta 24 is actually a huge fin in terms of range. Happy with a 7.5, decent with an 8.6 and much too lifty for anything under 6.5. By contrast, the Maui Ultra Fins of the same size will go much faster but is suitable for smaller sails - you'd need a 30 to give the same range as the Black Project. Fangy sound great but we don't see them in USA.
Go Fangy or tribal, keep it local. Performance won't be like a weedy or pointer so just be careful when the tide is low or go deltas.