147 Fins

[<Allan>]

Any Luck with the testing of the Formula fins yet for the 147???

When you say that you suspect that the 147 will be better suited to a smaller fin, are you talking about length or thickness of cord??

Cheers Allan
(UK)

[MennoB]

In addition to that, do you plan any side-to-side testing of the F147 versus X186, with identical fins? (in order to isolate board performance)

[sukhdev]

Hi Guys,

finally had the r13h 70 mounted today but the board got used for a demo. I have a 186x at hand so if we get the time I'll do back to back; we have 2 events coming up for the asian windsurfing tour so this might take a back seat for the next 2 weeks; though I will test the r13h 70, 66, 62, and r14h 77 over the next few days.

Allan, its both really, its more the overall lift from the fin needed seems to be less. Some boards need a lot of raw power from the fin/sail combo to climb upwind; others very much less. The 186 (non X) seems to need the most grunt, the 147 the least. Hull weight seems to factor in this "efficency" alot; for example, I have an ultra light 75cm Mike's lab custom that can do incredible upwind with only a 52 or 54 cm fin, the board weighs about 6kg.

[sukhdev]

Ok guys, a good windy afternoon, quite a bit of testing done. Wind was very gusty, at times I was very overpowered on a 9.3, had one "interesting" wipeout downwind.

Had the r13H in the 147, lovely combination.Climbs upwind very well. The 147 seems to like alot of wind. I had no problems with board control even in the strongest gusts, the only wipeout I had happened very deep downwind due to pilot error. The R13H 70 seems to be the perfect one fin for the board, though at times going downwind I could have been happier on a 66.

Keeping the same rig I then took out the Bic FW1.4. Fin was a Hurricane FRB2 70M. I've been sailing the bic for the past year with a r13h so this was a good reference change. The fin was very comfortable, in the lulls I could have used more power from the fin but going downwind it was very very forgiving.

Interesting observation: I had to raise the boom when I moved the 9.3 to the Bic. It was about 6 to 7cm higher than on the 147.

Looks like the R13H works very well with the 147 even when sailing way overpowered. I never felt any wild lift from the board, even pushing it right to the edge.

The Hurricane FRB2 70M seems ideal for the lighter sailors or for very strong winds. Its strongest point is the downwind performance though for a lighter sailor it would work very well upwind too (our Team sailor Meng Wang did very well in the Singapore open on the FRB2, he is about 10kg or so lighter than me.)

Both are superb fins, big guys should stick to the H. 147 behaves very well when overpowered. It was quite fun watching a floatier "other brand" do some tail walking while the 147 cruised with aplomb.

If we get the time, I'll do some testing with Meng using the 2 Bics we have and swop the hulls to see which fin is faster. If Boogie's C3s arrive that will make it even more interesting.

I'm trying to summon enough courage to saw down my R14H 77cm to 70 to see how it fits the 147...
 
 [ 05. January 2003, 07:07 PM: Message edited by: sukhdev ]

[MennoB]

Sukhdev,

Do you plan any back-to-back testing of F147 versus FV1.4, with  same fin and sail?

This in order to isolate board performance alone...
I'd be very interested because the FV1.4 is an important reference (at least for me...)

[sukhdev]

Menno, yes I would like to, likely candidate will be the FRB2 because thats the only custom fin we stock in quantity. Due to weight differences the test will only work in strong winds. I'll do this once our Nitro IVs are in.

[<Allan>]

Hi Sukhdev,

How did the standard fin compare to your other custom fins as yet we are still awaiting te arrival of the new fin for the 147 here in the UK.

Cheers Allan
(UK)