Hanalei Fins

Return of a Classic - WTF2-425 TWIN

One of the most unique fins in our range has been the WTF, which was only available as a molded fin. Now, we have updated the design so it can now be made on the CNC machine.

The main changes from the original design were lengthening the blade slightly and narrowing the throat slightly to make it more wing-like. The original version had a double bend when viewed in profile. This revised design employs our BLENDED-WING concept to smooth out the fin, making it easier to produce.

Its improved flex allows it to spring back more in turns. As with the original, it features a narrow base for turning ability.

The WTF2-425 is the only size in this series. It is an excellent back fin for a quad setup and can be used with almost any of our larger front fins. It adds improved hold and extra drive to any quad setup. Some people like to use it as a canard fin in a twinzer or reverse quad setup, where it excels due to the BLENDED-WING profile.

It also makes for an excellent side fin in a 2-plus-1 setup.

The WTF2 is offered with both FUTURES base styles so it can be used as either a front or a back fin depending on the setup you choose.

More details on the WTF2 series can be found on the Performance page of the website.

https://hanalei-fins.com/performance/ -series

Sanded Australia Lancelot Pearson GEARBOX Surf

NEW A4C-600BW TWIN

Super stoked to finally get this new design into production. It's a significant step toward improving our product line and offering customers something truly unique to choose from. This twin fin expands the series by adding a larger twin option. It builds on the success of the A4C-500BW and A4C-550BW, offering increased area for more drive in a larger twin-fin option while still offering great turning abilities, helped by the deep cutaway.

With the addition of this model to our lineup, we now have a more complete range of options for customers looking for that perfect blend of performance and power, especially for twin fins.

The new template incorporates all of the key design refinements from the previous versions, most notably improved hydrodynamic profiles across the entire body utilizing our BLENDED-WING profile for increased efficiency and enhanced lift.

As with all of the previous iterations, we are still utilizing a base-back approach, which means the center of effort of the fin moves back as the size increases. So for a fin this size it would want to be ridden further forward on a board.

More details on the A4C series can be found on the Performance page of the website.

https://hanalei-fins.com/performance/ -bw-series

We'll be back with more new fins over the coming days; stay tuned.

Sanded Australia GEARBOX Surf Lance Carleton Lancelot Pearson

NEXT UP: The NRG-550 TWIN

As part of the range of new production fins, we are stoked to be finally, after many years, getting an updated version of the NRG design into production.

Starting with the NRG-550, this is an awesome twin fin that has a lot of keel-like characteristics but can still turn really well. It is a very stiff fin, so the response is immediate. No flex at all in these fins, and they feature very full foils so they fly.

It features a very unique inside foil that radically enhances the performance characteristics of the fin. Has a twist in the trailing edge profile that focuses the water flow out the bottom of the fin and provides a ton of drive.

Available with either GEARBOX (can be converted to DUAL TAB by request) or FUTURES bases.

Initially, we only have a couple sets of each base type, but we have more on the way; they are just going to take longer to get here.

More information on this design can be found here.

https://hanalei-fins.com/specialty/ -series/

Contact us if you need more info.

Sanded Australia GEARBOX Surf Lance Carleton Lancelot Pearson

NEW DESIGN PRODUCTION FINS

We are excited to finally have the first small batch of the new production CNC fins in stock.

There are not many in this first batch, so if you want to get in early, don’t hesitate.

We’ll be introducing each of the new fins here over the coming days.

It will take a couple of days for them to make it up onto the site for purchase.

CNRD/BW TWINZER

We’ll start with the small version of the CNRD/BW twinzer combo, featuring the CNRD-350 canard fin and the BW-500 main fin.

You can find more info on these fins on the Performance page, https://hanalei-fins.com/performance/ -series, and the canards on the Specialty page, https://hanalei-fins.com/specialty/ -series

We will also be featuring these on the website at the same time.

Contact us if you have any questions.

BTW, the bulk of the new fins will be arriving early August, but for now we have two of every base (FUTURES and GEARBOX) and template in stock.

Sanded Australia Carleton Surf Lancelot Pearson GEARBOX Surf

NEW DESIGN - BW-500CK Center Fin

We are getting very close to having the first of the new BW production fins in stock. So we thought it was time to add a dedicated center fin to the series.

This new design sticks with the same basic outline as the BW-500 side fin but adds a KAHI for more looseness and maneuverability. The KAHI is not as extreme as some of our other center fins, but it makes a difference.

This fin also introduces a new color to our range; we call this color GB-RED, as it is based on the Pantone color for the red in our logo. It is an opaque color, and we think it looks awesome.

Currently, this fin is only available as a custom order, but we are going to put it into production very soon. We will also be adding a smaller version for those who prefer smaller center fins.

Enjoy!

BTW, the first batch of the production versions of the BW series will be in stock by next week, fingers crossed.

Sanded Australia Carleton Surf Lancelot Pearson

GR8-613BW Experiment

This is something that we have wanted to do for the longest time; we finally found some time to take a first stab at it.

This is an experiment to get a feel for how the performance of our BLENDED-WING fins is affected by the addition of a fence at the outside base of the fin. The idea behind the fence is to enhance the water flow over the lower section of the fin.

Due to the shape of the fence, it will push the water up from the base and should improve the effectiveness of the fin.

We are going to experiment with this fin a little differently. Instead of testing a set, we are going to have the primary fin have the fence and the other without it. That way we hope to gain some better insights into how this works.

People have experimented with fences similar to this before but not on a fin like the GR8, and certainly not with the BLENDED-WING profile.

We wouldn't want to have to hand foil a lot of these fins, as it is a ton of work but rewarding in its own way.

Once we get it tested, we'll report back with the findings.

Sanded Australia Lancelot Pearson Carleton Surf

Another Material Experiment

This is our BW-525 template that was used in this experiment. The fin is made out of two layers of 1/8" PHENOLIC and one layer of 1/8" G10. The phenolic sandwiches the G10.

The white dots are G10 pins that keep the plates aligned when they are being glued together.

It was an interesting experiment and makes for a nice-looking fin, but man, what a nightmare to foil. The phenolic is incredibly hard to foil cleanly. It would have probably worked a lot better on a design that did not use our BLENDED-WING tech, which made the foiling even harder.

Needless to say, this will never be the first choice for this style of fin. But it does reveal some possibilities. The next attempt will use the phenolic on the inside face, G10 for the center, and plywood for the outside layer. That way, the G10 and phenolic will provide the base strength, while the plywood will add the extra thickness needed for this style of fin.

It is amazing how the phenolic ends up looking like wood when polished.

There are a lot of different types of phenolic; the one used here is a combination of KRAFT paper and phenolic resin. This is my favorite; we use it for a number of different purposes. Primarily, as the routing jig insert for our GB24 fin system.

Sanded Australia Lancelot Pearson Carleton Surf

GR8 BLNDR QUAD v3

We have moved on to testing the next version of the GR8-613BW design, which is version 3.

It features a slight increase in rake, and a narrower more high-aspect profile. If you look closely at the photo, you can see the difference between the v3 and the v2 versions. The v2 version is in the background.

So far, the testing has shown that this new version is both faster and more responsive, both of which are expected with the changes made to the shape. The profile is still the same BLENDED-WING as before.

In the process, we have also come up with a name for this style of quad, as it is not your typical quad set. We call this the BLNDR QUAD, as it does a good job of blending the differences between a normal quad and a twin fin. The testers agree that the name does a good job of describing how the fins feel and work.

It utilizes a much smaller back fin than a more traditional quad. In this case, the back fin is 3 3/8" tall. The idea is that it lends additional drive to the main fin and helps smooth things out. It focuses the area down low for drive, and has a narrow tip to avoid impeding the pivot of the main fin.

It appears that this v3 template will be the one that we proceed with. Once we have gathered more testing data, we will finalize the design. Our objective is to implement this design in production as soon as possible after the testing phase has concluded. This new version has also been tested as a twin fin with a smaller trailer; it works really well as a twin with lots of speed and drive.

Sanded Australia Lancelot Pearson Carleton Surf

SP9-700 Hybrid Phenolic/Wood Single Fin

When we first introduced the SP9 fin series, we mentioned that the intended construction methodology involved a combination of G10 and plywood.

This build technique allowed the fin's blade to flex torsionally, a feature that could not be achieved with a solid fiberglass version.

Now we have explored an alternative to this hybrid construction method that replaces the G10 with PHENOLIC. This material is very strong, but a lot lighter than G10, plus it has a beautiful dark wood-like color when foiled. The type of phenolic we used on this build is a combination of paper and phenolic resin. Not the easiest material in the world to foil, but it makes for a stunning-looking fin.

The phenolic is coupled with a Baltic Birch plywood, which, due to the light color, makes for an excellent contrast with the dark color of the phenolic.

The bottom half of the fin is solid phenolic, while the blade is phenolic sandwiched between two layers of plywood.

All the parts are cut on the CNC machine to ensure a perfect fit. They are then glued together by hand. The RED dots in the fin are G10 pins that are used to keep the parts aligned when they are being glued together.

The wood is given a coat of Osmo finish, a natural oil-based finish with good pe*******on properties. The entire fin is then oiled with the camilia oil we use, for the final finish, no spraying involved.

Makes for a stunning fin that really shows off the shape.

Next up, we will be exploring some side fins using this hybrid construction methodology. Stay tuned. It might be a while, as there are lots of custom fins to make first.

You can also follow our blog to catch posts like this one. Here is a link to the RSS feed.

https://mairfoils.com/general/blog/mairfoils-rss.xml

Sanded Australia Lancelot Pearson Carleton Surf

First New Templates of the Season!

As is often the case when a new surf season rolls around in Hawai'i, we start looking at new fin designs. This year is no different.

We wanted to investigate a higher-aspect ratio fin design that optimized lift generation. We had this idea for a new type of quad set design that aligned with our now-proven BLENDED-WING design. The BLENDED-WING concept takes the fin's profile and bends it roughly halfway, creating two distinct facets. The bottom half is used to initiate the drive into a turn, while the top half powers out of the turn. With a high-aspect-ratio fin design, more drive is often needed to activate the turn. To accomplish this, we add a small back fin roughly the same height as the bottom half of the main fin. This back fin is shaped in such a manner as to not interfere with the turning ability of the main fin. This requires a fin with more base and less tip, but with a soft tip for fluidity.

Let’s introduce the GR8 (great) quad setup! This setup features the GR8-613BW (6 1/8”) main fin and the GR8-338 back fin. You’ll notice we’ve chosen a much larger (taller) main fin to boost lift generation. To balance this, we’ve included a smaller back fin, which helps keep the turning smooth while adding some extra power. Also, the back fin’s design makes it pretty flexible in terms of placement. We still recommend a tight fin cluster for this setup.

The initial v1 design of the GR8-613BW has 55º of rake, but after building the first prototype, we are now considering increasing the rake to add more projection to the setup. The next v2 version will have 52º of rake. We looked into more rake, but it affected the fin's aspect ratio and, hence, lift generation. We were looking for something between the rake of the Q2-500 and the BW-500. The GR8-338 back fin has a much steeper rake to enhance its function.

The design of the main fin was also driven by the goal of making it an excellent twin-fin choice. This drove the need to balance the design between turning ability, drive, and projection. The design also features a "base forward" design, meaning that as the fin gets larger, the base stays pinned at the back of the fin. This results in the fin's center of effort moving forward as its size increases, helping keep the template balanced with the box placement.

Currently, there are three templates for the main fin: GR8-513BW, GR8-568BW, and GR8-613BW. You'll notice that they are all taller than would be the norm for our designs.

We are in the process of producing some test sets so we can get these into waves for feedback. Once we receive the ride reports, we can start refining the design, if needed.

Stay tuned!

Sanded Australia Lancelot Pearson