Tuning Hobie Turbo Fins

[dorado50]

I prefer them tight. The harder the workout the better I feel.. Bad advise? I'd say more like personal preference Bob.

[Nic D]

Originally Posted by dorado50

I prefer them tight. The harder the workout the better I feel.. Bad advise? I'd say more like personal preference Bob.

I don't think its bad advise...

I haven't read the thread spoken about above, but wouldn't make sense that you either are pushing more water or less water?

The way I think physics work is if you peddled two different sets of fins, (one tight and one loose ) at the same pace the tighter fins would move more water than the loose fins.

Now in my albeit small brain, its logical that that tighter fins would require you to spend more energy. The loose fins would require you to peddle more times to move the same amount of water as the tighter fins. So it turns out to be less reps but harder or more reps but easier. Your pick!

I'll stay with the middle of the road in this case.

[dsafety]

As a person who has spent a lot of time on sailboats I will add own my small brain opinion. The Hobie fins are really foils just like sails or airplane wings. You get lift or in the case of the fins, forward thrust.

On a sailboat, when the wind is light, you want a lot of curve in the sail. When the wind is strong, you flatten the sail and get more speed. I cannot explain the physics but it just works.

One of the things mentioned in the post on the Hobie site was that kayaks never reach a speed where the "flatter is faster" rule works. I have no idea if that is a true statement but if it is, it makes sense that having a fin with more curve will provide more thrust.

I should not have labeled other's opinions as "bad advice" so if anyone was offended, please accept my apology. What I should have said is that we now have a different theory to consider.

When everything settles out, the difference between one setting and another is probably in the noise and will not have much of an effect on the average guy's day on the water. On the other hand, if you take into consideration that some guys, Skallywag comes to mind, put thousands of miles on their yaks every year, having your gear set up so it provides the most most efficient propulsion could save a lot of wear and tear on the body.

Bob

[dorado50]

I kinda figured you were a sailboat guy.