Since you drive the board off the rail, the fins mostly just add drag.
So, if you want an efficient twin-tip, it should have the smallest possible fins that still give you good control.
Don't get me wrong, the benefit of drag is you get much better control, But if you are looking for the ultimate light wind board in a twin-tip, you have to keep in mind that the fins are mostly just adding drag.
I respectfully disagree with this, at least when it comes to maximizing light wind performance. Note that I do agree fins are not actually needed on a twintip. When wakeboarding behind a boat or at a cable park I perfer to ride finless. And I have ridden finless while kiteboarding. But I do think fins can help with light wind performance.
In order to get upwind you must point the board upwind. While fins add some drag, they can help you maintain an upwind track with less edging allowing you to ride the board flatter and thus exposing more surface area to the water. Without fins you would likely need more edging, thus exposing less surface area to the water. I suspect that the drag from the additional edging required when not using fins is at least equal, if not greater than the drag introduced from using fins.
The design of light wind specific twintip boards typically include large fins and often have an asymmetrical fin setup i.e. putting all 4 fins on the heel side edge. Such a design would seem to maximize the ability to go upwind while minimizing the need to edge.
The design of light wind specific twintip boards typically include large fins and often have an asymmetrical fin setup i.e. putting all 4 fins on the heel side edge. Such a design would seem to maximize the ability to go upwind while minimizing the need to edge.
I don't quite understand the physics of this. When edging the toe side part of the board is often out of the water, so the fins there are not doing much. But when riding the board more flat on the water, all fins would engage, so I don't understand how having all 4 asymmetrically closer to heel side helps upwind?
Great video by Anton here, how he describes most people do not not have the right stance when going light wind. He also makes the point about using fins to go upwind instead of edging which I found helpful. The graphics are great for visualizing!
It depends how you want to ride. For sure you can drive a twin tip off the fins, but to really experience this takes some practice and probably fins that are over 40mm long.
It is sort-of like engaging the fins on a directional board, but really not the same thing, especially if you have choppy conditions.
My opinion (based entirely on personal preference, I guess), is that with a low-rocker light-wind twin-tip board, I can be much more efficient on a larger board with less fin.
Of course others might have a different experience from mine.
