The lose of Any Irons was a complete shock, not only for how sudden and unforeseen it was, but also because Andy always seemed a bit invincible. His competitive drive and pure talent are what gave him the reputation as being Kelly Slater's rival in and out of the water. Without Andy, who can say that Kelly would have reach the level he has? Every great athlete needs a challenger to push them to excel and be the target of their energy. While there is no doubt Kelly and Andy had some bad blood between them at some point, no one ever wanted the rivalry to end like this. Here is a short clip from VAS about the relationship between two of surfing's greatest competitors.

Andy Irons Died At Age 32

3 time ASP World Champion Andy Irons died yesterday in his Dallas hotel room. He contracted dengue fever at the previous surfing contest held in Portugal, and became so ill that he pulled out of the Rip Curl Search Pro in Puerto Rico. Andy won the ASP World Surfing Tour Title 3 years in a row and he was the only ASP surfer to win at every ASP tour stop.

Andy leaves behind his wife Lyndie who is due to give birth to their first child in December.

Surfing in the Matrix

There is so much technology put into fins, that it is easy to go on tangents looking at any and all technology. On such a tangent, this video was discovered. The photographers may be stretching a bit to say the images they capture showcase the boardshort's technology, but seeing surfing in 3D is pretty amazing. It was tough to get a close look at what Mich Fanning is using now that he has signed with FCS, but you could see clearly that Matt Wilko was on K2.1 PCs.

For the SUP'ers out there

Stand Up Paddling is burning across the map like a wild fire, and while we've spent a bit of time on them, we don't claim to be all knowing about how they handle and what works best. For this reason we turn to the experts for their advice. Our friend John Ashley runs paddlesurf.net, and between him and his following, I don't think there is a single SUP product on the market they haven't tested. I was on youtube today and came across a video of his, with Art Curtis talking about their favorite fin setup for noseriders style SUP's. These guys live and breathe SUP surfing so we take their advice seriously. Here is their review of the Futures Albacore Flex with Vector Tech Foil 3/2's on the side.

How to Select the Perfect Fin

At the Gallery we get quite a few questions from people about how to choose a fin. With multiple manufacturers making signature fins for the same pros, it can get complicated. We wrote this article and posted it in the Fin Theory section of the site to help you pick the best match for you and your board.

Whether you are looking for a single fin for your longboard, a flex fin for your hull or a set of removable fins for your performance quad, there are a few basic rules to follow when choosing fins:

A wide/long fin base will have more drive and draw out your turns

A narrow/short fin base will have less drive but be easier to turn

Deep fins will hold better on steep faces and be more stable in the white water

Short fins release easier if you are looking to slide your tail out on hard turns

Fins with more rake (sweeps further back) will draw out your turns and capitalize better on the flex patterns of the fins

Fins with upright postures will be more responsive in weak, slow surf.

Smaller fins are looser and more forgiving but offer less hold and drive

Larger fins offer more hold and control in big surf, but will track in smaller waves.

While those concepts can be applied universally to almost all fin configurations, here are some tips for specific fin setups.

Single Fins:
The standard size rule of thumb is one inch of fins for every foot of board (9” fin for a 9' board)

A fin with more tip area will be more stable for nose rides

When adding side biter’s to create a 2+1 setup, cut two inches off the length your center fin.

Raked fins allow more of a carving turn while upright and D fins are designed as pivot points for more traditional old school turns. (drop knee cut backs, top turns then to the nose).

Twin Fins/Fish
Keel fins, with a long base and vertical trailing edge, are all drive but tend to lock up when going fast, often attributed to the very wide tails they are typically seen on

Twin fins with a more raked template are know for being very loose and fast

The addition of a small trailer fin has gained popularity because it offers stability and control when going fast, and helps prevent surfers from turning too hard and killing their speed.


Thrusters
Bigger fins with more base will help control your standard board in bigger surf

Small size differences are more noticeable because the difference is multiplied by three fins

Side fins with an upright posture combined with a center fin that has more rake can produce great drive while remaining loose.

Wider tails benefit larger fins unless they have deep channels.

Quads
Using smaller trailing fins with symmetrical foils will significantly loosen up a quad

The addition of another fin and placing the fins so far out on the rail allows quad to us smaller fins than thrusters.

Generally:
Your boards template, rails, and bottom contours will help determine your fin choice as will your weight, where you ride and how you ride.

These fin tips should make shopping through Wave Riders Fin Gallery much easier and more productive. Feel free to ask us questions about specific fins by clicking the question link on the individual fin pages.

Riding Broken Boards

This is a video found on Korduory.tv that is a prime example of how much fun it can be to experiment with boards. Critter Baugh broke the tail off of his standard thruster between the side and trailing fins, and decided to glass the tail back up as is and keep surfing it. I'm sure he is one of those guys who can make surfing a the coffee table look fun, but i doubt he would be out on a day this good if he didn't really enjoy the ride.

When they show the board at the beginning of the video I can't help but think of the Mini Simmons boards that are gaining a strong following. The wide blunt tail with the fins out on the rail and all the way back seems to be working for surfers these days.

Here is the video and a Mini Simmons "bar of Soap" to compare.

Broken Wonder - Sea Movies from www.KORDUROY.tv on Vimeo.

Last night our friend lee was talking about a new board he is making, and how he wanted to install FCS plugs so he can try out the new H-3 Nexus fins. These puppies look hot. Like the Futures Solus, FCS has combined three different materials to control the fins flex patterns, giving maximum drive, hold, and control. Both the Nexus and Solus are designed around this concept, but vary a lit in how it was implemented.



The construction that futures uses is a Carbon fiber base, Texcellium mid section, and a fiber glass tip. This keeps the fin stiff at the base for drive, and allow gradual flex instead of a pivot point in the fin. Futures didn't use this new material technology on one of their standard templates. They implemented their vector foils to give the Solus several different planing surfaces on the inside face, and rounded out the vector hatchet center fin.

The FCS H-3 Nexus didn't go half way either. They used Bi-axial Carbon and Uni-directional Kevlar to control the flex and twist of the fins. FCS designed the Nexus using a low aspect ratio elliptical template. The base of the fins are also long, providing drive. This is combined with a highly cambered foil through the fin base further increasing drive and hold.The tips of the H-3 Nexus fins on the other hand feature moderate volume and a low cambered foil, offering stability and fin release.

Here are some videos from the manufacturers describing the fins themselves.

FCS Nexus Development from FCS on Vimeo.