Fins.

Contrary to F2, Starboard enclose a 70 cm fin with their formula boards, and this fin is actually pretty good. If you wish to improve the performance of your board, however, it might be a good idea to buy a good custom fin. For some years the fins from Deboichet have dominated the market for fins among the racers, and among these the R13 has been the classic choice. New Deboichet fins with more specialized designs (too extensive to refer to here) have joined the classic R13, but instead of being outdated the R13 has grown more and more sophisticated with different stiffnesses and rakes.

A "soft" R13 produce more lift than a "hard" R13, which in turn give the sailor better control. And a more raked forward (that is a more vertical leading edge) R13 also produce more lift and less control than a more raked backward R13. The measurements might be a little confusing: As the tip of the leading edge of the original R13 was approx. 12 cm raked backward from vertical, a (theoretical) vertical R13 shall have the name +12. From this follows that for instance a R13 +8 is a fin, which is raked backward with approx. 4 cm relative to a (theoretical) vertical R13 - and exactly this rake (+8) together with a soft flex is for the time being what most racers think is the best combination of lift/control for a R13.

During 2006 a new fin was developed. A R13 was shortened with 5 cm, and the profile nearest to the tip was redesigned. The fin is called R19, and the recommended edition is a R19 Soft -- (extra soft that is) Rake +8. However, in winds heavier than approx. 8 m/sec. most sailors still prefer a R13 Soft/Medium Rake +8.

Descriptions af Deboichet formula-fins.

An old and heavily used 70 cm Deboichet R12 has been raked 4 cm forward (the fin can now be labeled a R12 Rake +4). The red arrows show places on the fin head with new material put on (epoxy putty is most often OK), and the blue arrows show places, where some original material has been removed.

The yellow arrow indicates the rotation point for the raking forward - and with a little imagination it's easy to understand that this particular fin shall violate the formula rule saying that the max. length of a fin is 70 cm - unless, of course, a little material shall be removed from the tip of the fin.