Fins and placement
What happens when you place the fins closer to the centre of the wakeboard?
Wakeboarding
The closer the fins are placed towards the centre of the wakeboard, the quicker and better the wakeboard releases from the wake. The farther out towards the tip and tail they are placed, the longer the wakeboard will stay hooked into the wake and it won’t release as well. Long based finsTheir effect is almost the same as a short fin with a long base because they have a similar amount of surface area. Long-based fins release better, give the wakeboard a loose, snowboard-like feel when riding flat through the water, and they hold up better on rails and ramps. Moulded finsThese are just big channels in the board that act like fins and hold up on rails and ramps. Moulded fins are slippery, but most boards have a removable centre fin. Multi-finned set-upsThese capture the maximum edge hold and aggressiveness into the wake and through the wake. Canted side finsThese are fins that lean out on an angle. These fins are not as active when the wakeboard is riding flat through the water, but the more the rider leans on edge, the more the wakeboard hooks up. The inside fin digs while the outside lifts, creating leverage to help the wakeboard edge hard. Great for 50-50 grinds, nose presses and tail presses. Cupped side finsThey have the same effect as canted fins but add more of a push-pull effect. The cupped fin allows for the use of a smaller fin but still gets the hold of a bigger fin due to the increased surface area of the cupped side of the fin. These fins are very deceiving – they look small and loose but really aren’t. No FinsSome riders prefer to ride finless, as some boards are specifically designed for cable parks or other uses, some uses of which can benefit from a finless design.