I am certain that a lot surfers don’t really understand the importance the fins have on the performance of a surfboard. George Greenough was the first innovator that worked out what forces were exerted and copied the Tuna fin to design what we now call the Greenough Fin. While the board is being turned the fin is under extreme pressure and the old D fins etc, really didn’t do anything but create a keel to keep the board going in a certain direction. Georges fin was long and foiled to give the tip of the fin more flex so the fin bent whilst in the turn and then gave drive as it flexed back.

Since George Greenough’s design, everybody came out with new and innovative and sometimes just weird fins, however, none were more important than the Simon Anderson Thruster setup. The general consensus when they first surfaced was that they would be too lose and give no direction or drive? Well, that was 1980 and the thruster setup is still the foremost fin setup today. Others said they had two, three, four and five fins prior to this, but the main difference was that the thruster setup is three identical size fins in an absolute triangle.

Amongst these wonders are a few experimental fins from Earle Pederson & Glenn Collins. The wow factor goes off with these ones.