TRIBAL WEEDSPEED

With straight leading edge weed fins, the rake has to be set for the span-wise flow to pull seaweed along the leading edge to the tip. This causes the lifting surface in the tip to be located a long way behind the centre of rotation of the board (trim axis). This is not really a problem deep off the wind with short speed fins, but as you go larger the problem becomes worse. In the end, the straight leading edge is a big compromise in balance. Upwind or across the wind, where the centre of pressure of the fin is too far back for optimal balance with the rig, is where you notice this the most.

The TRIBAL line solves the weed problem with a more upright base region, which helps to keep the centre of pressure forward, giving more of the same feeling on the water as an upright fin. Weed is accelerated down the leading edge as the curvature increases, effectively shedding most types of weed, without the balance being destroyed. We specifically incorporated techniques to control mechanically-induced twist, so that the fin doesn’t lose power as you load it hard and try to bend it.

Off the wind, these fins are incredible. The larger sizes offer unlimited top speed in larger boards, and in the testing phase, we had our crew smash their medium slalom board PBs by as much as 6 knots…

These fins are perfect in slalom boards when seaweed is a problem, or when you want to turn your slalom board into a speed board!

Besides our regular WeedSpeed fins, we have added the SuperWeed to our range for special use in those areas where extreme “sticky” weed growth occurs and our regular Weed fin does not quite cut it anymore … The SuperWeed’s rake is set up at a more extreme angle than the WeedSpeed to shed weed. It does have a straighter leading edge due to the need to keep the centre of pressure as far forward as possible, whilst maintaining an increased minimum rake angle at the head.