Got any opinions or thoughts to share on fin configurations for Great Lakes waves?

I've had a few thruster boards and several single fins... considering a quad for my small board (~80 liters)

Andrew

Hi Andrew,
I'm not a wave sailing expert but I sail Lake Michigan in all conditions.

From my own experience, the idea behind wave sailing in waves is to slow down the board enough so that you can make turns and avoid overshooting the wave or be bounced around too much over the chop and swell at full speed on the out tack. I think both thruster and quad will do that for you but great lakes are choppy, swell is shorter and steeper than on the ocean and wind is gustier. So, here's why I would think thruster setup is a better option for us here:
A thruster setup has a larger center fin that provides more lift than quads and that's a good thing:
- to prevent the board from losing traction as it bounces around on the chop,
- to get planning and be powered quicker through rough shore break and shifty/gusty wind (waves come closer on the great lakes than on the ocean) or if your spot has a combination of wind shadow and shore break (Like at my home launch!),
- to get more traction upwind in off-shore or side/off-shore wave conditions.

If you plan on sailing mainly side shore and without much shore break to contend with before you are fully powered (like protected by a jetty), then a quad setup will be good and more turny (Never tried one - just from reading what everyone says).

For what it's worth...
Anyone, chime-in