Here’ a quick lowdown on the mainstream fin systems currently on the market and some background information on those innovative companies.
Futures Fins
Future fins are a US based company. Born in California Future fins was set up by the Longo brothers. Both surfers and engineers by trade they used their surfing knowledge and engineering skills to come up with the unique product which was both functional and practical and not to mention the latest in cutting edge fin technology.
Continually experimenting with new fin designs and shapes, their proximity location next to Huntington beach means a fin can be dreamt up, designed and cut in a few hours then straight down the beach for some product testing. They’ve admittedly got it wrong in the early years but now with an in depth knowledge and design process they continue to get it right. In recent years the Future fin has become the No 1 selling fin system in the US and their team riders list is like a who’s who of the surfing elite.
Probably the easiest of all the fin systems on the market to fit. Simply slide in the the fin , it anchors itself at the back then the front of the fin is tightened by one allen key grubscrew which secures in seconds. Quick easy and simple to use there are no loose attatchments which can be lost while swapping fins in and out.
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FCS Fins
The first mainstream removable fin company came about in the early 1990’s. Brian Whitty approached three local surfers from the Northern beaches are of Sydney with an idea about removable and interchangeable fins. What a great idea it would be to be able to take your fins out while travelling to avoid airline damage and also more importantly be able to change your fins for performance to suit the conditions on that given day. An idea was born to secure fins to the board by inserting two plugs into the surfboard then the fins just simply slot in and out and are secured by two allen key grubscrews.
The fins were first released in Australia in 1992 and then released worldwide in 1994. FCS stands for Fin Control System and the product was patented shortly after the global release. FCS quickly transformed itself into the most widely recognised fin system on the market. Since its release it has won more ASP world titles and professional surfing contests than all its competitors, no other fin company can boast such true statistics like FCS can.
Fast forward 21 years and FCS came up with their revised concept FCSII. This system simply just clicks in with no grubscrews or tightening mechanism whatsoever. This ease of use also means the end of rounding off the screws or the need to carry allen keys in your pockets. Another plus point is if the fins are in a collision or accident and are forced out with the impact they tend to just pop out of the plugs which leaves the fin boxes intact and ready to just insert another fin.
