TRIBAL DELTA SYM

Speed sailing in shallow water has become quite popular where a bank is not available. This also applies to places where the bottom is uneven and there are sandbars which can be difficult to navigate. Often seagrass or algae is attached, and even protrudes from the surface, resulting in mirror flat water, ideal for speed sailing. For these applications, extreme rake is required - firstly for safety, and secondly for reduced drag from weed/algae contamination. If a sandbar is encountered, the extreme tip rake of these specialised fins significantly reduces the impact loads and saves catapults.

We looked at the locations, and the requirements to suit this style of sailing afforded by shallow seaweed beds. The challenges include the extra drag and erosion when cutting through surface type seaweed, starting in shallow water where the fin is likely to drag along the bottom, and the extreme rake causing problems with balance and power. We engineered the fin to simultaneously consider these constraints, and the design shape is unique as a result.

The Delta Sym was developed for similar conditions as the Delta Weed, but with slightly less rake so we could reduce the surface area and decrease drag as a result. The original Delta offers the highest resilience to debris of any of the Tribal range, with extreme tip rake, thickness for both durability and stiffness, and surface area to increase usability at lower speeds (upwind, or in lulls).

For locations with thick and heavy weed, where getting started is potentially an issue or leading edge drag is substantial, the Delta is the one to go for. If you are confident in starting, and going upwind with slightly less powerful fins, and the weed is not always covering the surface, the Delta Sym has the potential to hit top speeds with less drag. Both designs have been successfully tested in moderate conditions to >45 knots.

The designed-for-purpose foil profiles deliver outstanding low end power and resistance to spin-out, with unmatched recovery behaviour. This means you can run a much shorter fin for the same amount of power, but with drastically reduced drag and increased confidence to push at speed. We have achieved this despite running extreme rake angles towards the tip - higher than with other brands - to give you more weed penetration capability and efficiency where it counts, with a tip shape that doesn’t dig into the ground when you have to start really shallow.