F-148 (05) - Fin size

[luis_martino]

Hi guys,
Finally I bought the F-148 to complement my carve 111. I will use it with a 9.8 gaastra GTX (05) sail. My questions is which would be the optimum fin for such a combo (Iam 45, 85 kg. intermediate sailor). What do you think about a race 58 cm. long fin?.
Thank you in advance.
Cheers

[Roger]

Hi Luis,
You have the F-Type 148, right..... the one that's 96 cm wide?
It comes with a 56 cm Drake fin as stock.
Upgrading to only a 58 cm fin is not going to give you any appreciable increase in early planing.
I'd suggest something in the 60-66 cm range to get the best early planing, and use the stock fin with your smaller sails in higher winds.
A powerful 9.8 m2 like the GTX really needs a bigger fin in light winds.
Hope this helps,

[o2bnme]

With my F-Type 148, I use a 9.8 V8. I find I am comfortable with anything from a 66 to 70 cm fin with this sail/board combo. When I want to plane as early as possible, the 70cm fin comes out. I find I can be very efficient with a 68cm R13M as well. The 66cm fin is a great size for when the sail is powered up or overpowered. My next smaller fin is 56cm, and that's too small for this sail/board combo. So, I can't speak for using anything in between. I weigh 65kg.