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Sunday, 30 March 2014

Best surfboard fin solutions: why the mysterious Vort-X tunnel fin?

 Here's the unique 6 inch, scalloped trailing edge, double laminar flow foiled, heart kahikatea wood tunnel fin for the new 'Rampant' 10'6" wooden surfboard.

The question is: why does the most expensive surfboard in the world use such an unusual looking fin?

Best surfboard fin solutions: Vort-X tunnel.
It's a simple matter of the ride: to deliver a high performance ride of outstanding ease and comfort. To leave all competitors literally in the highly efficient wake while appearing to observers to be applying little effort. It's all about a comfortable user friendly surfing experience.

Of all possible fin setups, single finned surfboards have the smoothest and most predictable response. The Vort-X plus one fin configuration effectively supercharges the single fin without changing the beautiful handling qualities which the time honoured single is renowned for. The rail to rail action when the board rolls during turns is completely unaffected by the half round pipe section of the Vort-X tunnel. The axis of rotation of the tubular fin is aligned with the axis of the surfboard hull, so there is no added resistance to roll and the tunnel equipped board retains its singlefinesque effortless turning and trimming capability. 

The bonus is of course that the tunnel  provides  added dynamic planing lift, this allows the advantageous use of a narrow tail in the hull while retaining the lift of a wide tailed hull, achieved efficiently due to the low pressure tip turbulence free action of the 'annular' wing half pipe.
The comfortable ride: Rampant wooden surfboard.

The result? Incredible drive, rapid acceleration on takeoff and a high top end speed, all with a classic single fin ride.No fuss, no handling anomalies just an eye watering, easy glide in all wave conditions. 

Fine tuning of this hydrofoil over a 16 year period ensures that the optimal foil section, water flow volume, placement and lift angle  is achieved to suit each surfboard hull.

Rampant 10'6" will be launched during the month of June 2014, price US$1.3 million.

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11 comments:

  1. Kent Sommer3 June 2014 at 21:39

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. Unknown4 June 2014 at 18:45

    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  3. Unknown4 June 2014 at 18:46

    Oh, I see, you are link farming. Rude of you to link to 'a best surfboards site' using my blog while not including my boards in your list.

    ReplyDelete
  4. sam5 March 2015 at 19:58

    Hi roy, is this fin still made and available for purchase? Also would the fin make sense on a smaller board, 6'5" 20.25 2.75? My style is more power carving and speedy down-the-line runs rather than lots of quick turns or aerial maneuvers. Waves in southern nj, which is where I live, tend to be smaller and mushier but we also get some nice steep fast days too. My board has relatively flat entry rocker, single concave down to a slight v under the fins, double bump swallow tail. 3 fin fcs set up( also is this fin fcs compatible?) Thanks in advance...

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    1. roystuart7 March 2015 at 16:22

      Hi Sam, up until now we've been making them in wood but have a few orders for 3D printed tunnels so will be making some soon. They will be available with fcs or futures tabs and will be ideal for long or short boards.

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    2. roystuart16 September 2015 at 18:26

      glass and resin tunnels for fcs are available now if you are interested.

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  5. Anonymous14 September 2015 at 17:50

    Hi Roy, its moza. just curious (as usual) how much short board testing has been done with the latest Vort-X Tunnel fin? would such comments be available on your facebookpage.
    Cheers
    Moza (naki)

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    Replies
    1. roystuart16 September 2015 at 18:25

      By the way Arch and JM from an FM station rang me up live the other day for a bit of banter. they were both talking at once so I'm not sure which it was but one of them rode your board (I'm guessing) at Wai******o

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  6. roystuart16 September 2015 at 18:23

    Hi Moza, I made a 5'8" with tunnel a while abo but just let the kids play with it. Quite a few people are asking about tunnels on shortboards, I know that they work very well at 7 to 8 foot lengths and see no reason why one couldn't go shorter. I just don't have time to ride everything. It's up to you to give it a go if you are curious enough.

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  7. Backyard.Stories2 February 2016 at 08:50

    Hi roy, I am small blogger from another part of the world without an ocean, but I am still writing a surfboard blog as I love surfing. I am creating a small article about new inovations and possibilities for fins, and I would like to use one of your photos of Vort-x tunnel fin, as well a video of you riding it. (which is amazing btw) Of course I will be adding all links to your blog for people to find your content online. thanks for the answer :) P.S. You have really nice work

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  8. roystuart2 February 2016 at 11:32

    Yeah that will be fine , thanks for your support!

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for posting, I will get back to you soon..