Harry filmed this session last week.
Ive been wanting to see how the different number of fins would affect the boats surfing during a session. The one thing that i did learn was that it will need a few more sessions before i get it right. The first trip to the water was with a 5 fin set up. four 2.5inch in the outside boxes with a 3.5 in the middle. Right away i thought the boat little slow and tight around the top turns. I would like to try this set up in bigger conditions. When i got back to shore to change over i noticed that i had knocked on of the outside fins right to the back of the box and this may have had a big impact on how the boat surfed.
Next up was the quads with two 3.5 on the outside and two 2.5 on the inside boxes. Ive been using this set up for a few weeks in small surf and love the speed that the boat had down the line. I surfed the same break the previous week in big light onshore conditions and don't think I've ever went as quick across the wave. Unfortunately this session didn't go that well. The boat seemed to lack drive in the sections where it needed it most. When i got around the sections you can see the boat slip. The plus side of the quads is the really loose and wide roundhouse cutbacks that it perform, after looking at the tape a few times i think that the fins needed to be placed an inch or so further back in the boxes.
The final test was with the thruster set up. Three 3.5 fins. Right away the boat felt better and faster across the sections. It had lots of drive around the bottom turn and it never felt that it was slipping. I really want to keep trying the boat with the different fin placements but after 2 hours in the water in these conditions the thruster set gave me the best performance grip and speed.