best powerbox wave fin for control

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Take your pick, I would base your model choice on your size compared to the rider who the fin is designed for.

AB....

I know that Select fins have a generic base that allows you to mount it in a power, tuttle or trim box. I think it may be called a conic or something like that. Select fins are sweet. I have converted a 21cm US fin in the past to a powerbox using a conic fin adapter bought from Surf Sail Australia. Worked great, though it was a MFC Goya FPT.
Great with a 4.7m on a JP FSW 84.

AB...

in my experience mfc leaves select in it's wake.

mfc doesn't spin out unless you want to.
mfc doesn't whistle like a brass band on a broad reach
mfc doesn't have a retro fitted base that lets the fin wobble

i guess i don't like my select X1 evo

like big al said, with mfc , just pick any of them. one thing i've found with mfc is that what they say in the description is exactly wht you get.

you cant wave ride properly with a freestylewave. doesnt have the drive or rails for good bottom turns. the best freestyle wave for waves is the quatros. but still not comparable to a real wave board!

Seahorse,

I have said this elsewhere on this forum before. The JP stock fins are good alround fins but not particularly great at any thing. Especially for the FSW range I never understood why JP doesn't give the option of providing a set of high performance MFC fins.

I got a 92 FSW from '08 and found that the stock fin was ok but not great. I now swapped it for a couple of North Shore Maui fins. I use a 27 cm Freeride fin for bump and jump and a 25 cm wave fin for waves. It's simply amazing what additional performance I get out that board with that fin setup.

The FSW boards a simply my favourite boards with that fin setup... yes a twin fin is great in side shore down the line waves and a slalom board is awesome when you want top speed. But nothing comes close in versatility when you look at the 92/ 84 JP FSW. I don't rate the other board sizes in that range as much but I think with the 92/ 84 size boards JP has some real winners. If only they would finally add some real high performance fins to their boards. If I'd be JP I'd add a high performance upgrade option to the Pro Edition. Throw in a decent light weight foot strap setup as well as two different fins. Charge $300 for it. I'd buy it in a blink.

Sorry to say but this only makes sense if your weight is a measly 60kgs... in which case you might as well look in the kiddy section for a board.

If your weight is anywhere over 85 kgs., which is the norm if you are not a 5.8 decedent of midget parents, you it really will need a big swell with a lot of wind for that board to be too big if you use a good small wave fin.

Take this for example, I sailed Shoalhaven Heads in mushi 5 foot cross onshore slop. I was nicely powered on a 4.7 (probably could have gone the 4.2). I used a 24 cm MFC wave fin on an '08 JP FSW 92. Perfect setup for my weight and the conditions. There where a number of people out on twin fin boards with bigger sails. Most of the time they seem to be struggling on the way out... then when they got the plane they all seemed to be dogging along.

don't get me wrong. I think a twin fin board with low volume can be bliss in places like Gnaraloo... but unless you have a bottom less wallet most people will have a one or maybe two board setup. In my opinion the JP FSW 92/ 84 for many years have been the perfect all-round boards for our coastal conditions here in Australia.

No, I am not sponsored by JP (unlike some people that here on this forum that speak favourable of brands like Starboard or JP). Just ask anyone that has a 92 or 84 FSW. You won't hear anything bad... except perhaps for the so so fins they ship with the boards.

If anyone from JP or any other brand for that matter is reading this. Please listen up. Stop insisting on shipping mediocre fins with your pro edition boards. Spend a few dollars extra and provide the option of get a set of two good quality fins from companies like MFC at a reasonable price. You customers will thank you greatly for it!

My JP FSW 78 has the 23cm fin and I find it quite big in 5.0m weather. I have an MFC 22 and it makes a big difference in calming the board down and helping it stick to the water. The JP 23 is reasonably stiff and has a lot of surface area, it easily drives my 5.8m power wave sail....However uless your a heavyweight a FSW 93 sounds pretty big for those conditions.

I've got the '09 92L FSW Pro Edition, and I have to say, the fin they supply with that is absolute rubbish. I was using a 96L starboard freestyle board before with a 24cm freestyle fin which track better and didn't slip out at all compared to the 27cm piece of rubbish that JP supply with their board.

That said, the board is great early planer in the bay, and bump and jump. But in my opinion, and at my weight somewhere between 70-75kg (depending on season/what i had for breakfast), I fine that the FSW is terrible in the waves. Thou, I'm only a beginner, but I've found that the thing just doesn't turn that well, I think at my weight it has too much volume in the rear to effectively set a rail and I find most of the time i end up just skipping around, and unable to carry good speed through turns.

So as far as a better fin goes, I have no idea, but I've had good experiences with MFC fins. Also in <5.0m weather, unless you are >85kg, the 92L is too big, and no amount of changing fins will really help you. Even if you are more then 85kgs, in 4.5 to 5.0 weather, you would be better off on an 80L board in my opinion, as i've seen guys who are that weight using 80L boards in 5.3 conditions with no problems.

The larger model JP waves or the big twinser would probably be a better option but again in 5.0 weather you ideally want something closer to your body weight in litres.

And no I'm not a JP sledger considering the 2 newest of my 4 board are both 09' JP pro edition boards, but in my opinion there are much better options for floaty/lightwind wave boards then the FSW.

btw, @ 5'9" and 73kg's, and i'd hardly say that is out of the 'norm'. Actually I suppose with australia being the worlds most obese nation maybe I'm not the norm. End of the day, I woulda though the norm in our sport would tend towards the lighter end of the scale.

I think some of you are looking for too much in 1 board....especially a JP. Let's take a sec to look at the JP range for possible wave sailing.
1.Freestyle wave
2. Real World wave (discontinued for 2010)
3. Radical wave
4 JP Twinzer wave
5 Twinzer wave
6. Kauli Quad wave.

Want a waveboard - get a waveboard....!

I think Seahorse was trying to find a fin that kept the FSW controllable in high winds - not a wave slashing demon board. Because of tail size the FSW get's up n going super early anyway and yes does struggle waveriding as the zip usually pushes it past the face.
FSW will work a treat for us +85kg slightly unco heavy footed types (Stehsegler for someone who's pushing 100kg u r like a balarina on yer board) anyhoo, the limiting factor on the FSW for wave sailing is the powerbox fin system itself. No option for fin placement means roughly the middle of the road performance on all counts which is what the board is aimed at, blasting, jumping, tricks, waves. When I convert a fin for powerbox on a FSW I cut off the bolt tab (US box) right to the start of the fin itself and get the fin as far forward in the housing to make the board more turnable & snappy for side/onshore conditions. My suggestion is maybe as small as an 8inch MFC Tebouhl or Goya model fin or if u r lucky an old white Onshore model if u can find it. Maybe buy one off a Twinzer convert.
The best use for a JP fin is for throwing at someone who is attempting to break into your car, if it ends up lodged in a theifs head or lost in the bush then it's no real loss.

AB....

True that, my waveboard is 84L twinser, thou for light days like 5.9 slogging days i use the 92, but probably gonna sell it cause i might as well use my freestyle board. otherwise something like the fanatic freewaves in the big sizes seem a lot better on the waves then the JP FSW

Thanks for the efforts guys - decided to lay it all out in the open with a new thread so there's minimal assumptions required. Definitely keen on MFC fins of some kind though - thanks for that. board discussion now on www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=60671

Anyone under 85 kg's isn't eating enough pizza and drinking enough beer

I love planing past people with a smile on my face and having a great time while others are sinking on their low volume wave boards - FSW cant be surfed in waves what a load of waa - maybe it just takes a little more skill

make more money selling suckers waveboards [}:)]

but yeah you have a point, as his weight 90kg the FSW probably works reasonably well as a wave board cause you need that extra volume at the rear. I figured he was lighter, and a 92L fsw really isn't a great wave board for lighter people.

I greenthumbed you to get rid of the mysterious red-thumbers.