Flex Fins Prototype

Thanks to a friend of mine, Rod Michael, I was able to get some really nice, ultra thin, flexible surf kayak fins created by Chuck Ames at True Ames. We have been working on this for about a month or so and finally they came! First ones! Two dedicated right and left side fins and one dedicated middle fin. Chuck based these fins off a Christo Fin I gave him, but he went more into a correct foil to fit the surf kayaks better. These particular fins are 3.5"

How did I get into flex fins? Well, the concept is nothing new, of course, but I knew that fins were going to be one of the major improvements to the now, better, evolved surf kayak designs. I have always used True Ames Fins, but, for surf kayaks, they seemed to be too thick and non-flexible. I needed something ultra thin and flexible. Not rubbery, but a give...then a flex back!

I think I got a couple of Christo Plastic fins, sides only, from Dennis Judson, slapped those things in the boxes, and gave them a whirl. Wow...the projection into and out of turns were way different than I was used to! A sort of sling-shot effect...still catches me at times even now! I then got a center fin and the whole ensemble seemed to come alive for me in the REACTION!

I told Rod during the great Pitas Waveski Event he puts on my ideas on what I would want. It was on from there. Off to let Chuck Ames put his expertise in the fin design and foil design for these particular fins. I could not be happier. Thin, light, and strong, with a bit of flex.

Until now, these sort of fins were very hard to obtain. Yes, we all had the FCS and longbox adaptors (expensive as hell!), but the FCS fins seemed to not work too well in most surf kayaks because of the lack of shorter lengths available. I think these new fins will take the current high performance surf kayaks to new heights.

I will keep all updated on the fins and availability soon. Until then, enjoy the photos.

vince@2pointmedia.com