Fin size for Carve 99 2003

[berend]

Hi Starboard,

I own a Carve 99 2003 wood, and the Drake Freeride Fin 320 is starting to come apart. I also have a lot of trouble getting up wind (which could be my technique). My weight 75 kg. My goals are to learn to carve a jibe (can jibe, not carving unfortunately), and would like to learn to jump (chop hop) a little. I sail on flat water.

I used White Water's Fin Explorer and it recommended a 34" Freeride fin. Isn't that a bit too long? What do you recommend? I need to be able to buy such a fin here in NZ, so Drake or White Water is ok, but advice for more exotic ones is probably wasted.

[berend]

Ah, forgot to say my sail is a NP Saber 6.2. Wind is 15-25 knots. I don't have a smaller sail yet, but perhaps one day I will, probably something 5m-5.2m.

[Egor]

I had that same board a couple of years ago. Consider a slalom fin like a 32cm Select superfast or similar. It will give you more drive upwind. I don't think you need a bigger fin with a 6.2m Thats a good board to learn to carve jibe on

[Roger]

Hi Berend,
Got to agree with Egor here.
I've sailed alot of Carve 99's and the stock fins normally were fine for
sails up to 7.0 m2.
7.0 and larger seemed to need about a 4 cm increase.
Also, going to a more vertical profile fin (like the Select Superfast or the Drake SR6B or Slalom Pro) will give you better upwind performance than the stock C-99 fin.
Also, you are most likely still trying to sail upwind by tipping the upwind rail down slightly.
This is the "slow way" and doesn't give you the upwind speed and angle that you could achieve by learning to sail upwind "on the fin" or on "fin lift" vs sailing on the upwind rail and using the boards rockerline to keep you heading upwind slowly.
By choosing the more vertical planform (outline profile) you may be giving up a slight bit of the "turniness" the C99 is known for, and it may be very slightly more difficult to jibe, but the C99 almost jibes by itself, so you won't have any problems with jibing.
With the more vertical planform you will get better speed and much better upwind angle.
When you decide on a smaller sail, you probably will want to get a smaller fin (25-30 cm) to go with the smaller sail.
Hope this helps,