New lightweight fin with flex released

A lightweight fin with soft, but crisp flex at the tip is the newest product to be released by FCS, states a press release from Surfersvillage Global Surf News.

The R-2 is part of an ongoing collaboration with master shaper/designer Rusty Preisendorfer.

“He’s provided great insight to the performance sum of the hull and fin equation,” said Tyler Callaway, spokesman for FCS. “With his vast design knowledge and surfing ability, he’s able to take feedback from his team riders and create solutions by thinking outside the box.”

Callaway said the R-2 is an example of Preisendorfer’s creative thinking.

“His idea was to drop the core mat out of the tip of the fin to engineer a stiffer base and more flexible tip that adds forgiveness to critical maneuvers and drive out of turns,” Callaway said.

Preisendorfer said riders in the 150- to 200-pound range are able to get the benefits of the R-2.

“Fill is the key word: a lot of the lightweight fins out on the market have lightweight filler in them,” the designer said. “I was after the flex characteristics of an all-glass fin with a thinner, more tapered tip. The presence of the filler limits how thin the fin can be.”

Like a composite hull, this type of construction creates the opportunity for a lightweight, durable product where flex characteristics can be modified by what gets put in the mold.

Preisendorfer said his thoughts were to pull the filler out of the tip of the fin so there could be more taper, but keep the fill in the bottom two-thirds of the fin where the biggest weight saving would take place.

Preisendorfer describes the R-2 as a fin that is solid at rail set and has good rebound on release.

At the same time, the fin tip needs to be soft enough to be forgiving on reconnects like airs, reverses and slides.

For more information, visit the Surf Hardware Web site at www.surfhardware.com.