Mission Quattro

Jan 30th, 2008 by Joeie

Scheveningen - Single fin, Twin fins, Tri fins and now: quad fins! You'll find fins in all shapes and sizes. Last year the quad setup made a come-back. FCS advertised in the media with an air of Kelly Slater on a test model of Al Merrick. Under the board you could clearly see the quad setup. Is the quad setup finally making its mark in the surf scene, which is becoming more and more high tech?

HISTORY - In the beginning of the 80's the Quad setup made its entry . Soon enough it became quite clear that it would not survive the 'thruster' hype at that time. Surfers saw it's resemblance with the twin fin setup, but at that time they were only looking for something that would enable you to turn fast and give stability. De Quad setup had disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. Thanks to his big brother, 'thruster'.
As we all know today's surfboards are incomparable to the ones in the 'good old days'. These days we pay attention to the smallest of details when purchasing a new surfboard. Surfboards have become much better! A number of shapers thought so too. To distinguish themselves from the rest, they started experimenting with the quad fins again, most likely with the latest surfboards. Nowadays, the motto ‘Speed is the key' is definitely justified, looking at the trick arsenal of the average WQS surfer. Professionals like Kelly Slater, Tom Carrol, Bruce Irons and many others carry a quad surfboard in their quiver. Dane Reynolds designed the POD shape together with Al Merrick. Even the Ksmall is equipped with quad fins these days. For an A-shaper like Al Merrick these changes lead me to conclude that the quad is here to stay!

ADVANTAGES - Nuff said about the resurrection of the Quad. What are the advantages? Here is a short list, but keep in mind; not every wave surfer will have had the same experience.

More speed when surfing rail-to-rail.

Fast response when turning.

More grip on the 'big days'.

FIN CHOICE - Still quad surfing does have a disadvantage. Right now there is just not enough quad fin supply, the biggest supplier is FCS. This could be in your advantage, if you used to surf tri fin and want to change over to Quad setup.

Bodyglove Teamrider Kasper Boonstra - NS custom 5'6 x 19 3/4 x 2 3/8:
"For my new small-wave fun board I chose a quad setup because I heard and read some good reviews on it. The setup is great, I get more speed from my board when I'm surfing rail to rail, it's flexible, has a good drive in bottom turns and stability in hollow waves. My tricks (360's, Ollie 180's etc) are better and because of the greater speed, the floater, lipper or air are easier to pull off. I think the quad setup is a great addition to the short wide fun boards which I love to use in our Dutch waves. Since I have my new board (Nigel Semmens custom 5'6 x 19 3/4 x 2 3/8) with quad powerrr, I have more fun surfing in Holland than ever!"