Fin review: FCS foil series
I heard that the conditions cleaned up today. Having been denied my share of the weekend action from the non-existent South swell, it was time for some remedial surfing. With Lumbergh and half my coworkers out sick I knew that my premeditated lunchtime surf session was going to evolve to a "Fuck You, Monday, I'm taking the afternoon off to hit the beach".
Ocean Beach, 2:30pm.
The sun was out, ocean was glassy and smooth. Perfect head-high A-frames broke up and down South OB. The parking lot was half empty and insane waves went unridden left and right.
In my mad rush to load my shit I had forgotten a crucial piece of equipment- my fins. Without these three little pieces of fiberglass, my $500 toy might as well have been a couple of 2 by 4s lashed together. As I looked at my useless board I heard the crashing of the next group of sets breaking perfectly left and right. The surf gods were mocking me.
So I cruised down the street to Aqua surf shop and raided their FCS test-drive section. After hearing all sorts of good shit about the new foil system I borrowed a set then paddled out.
http://www.fusionsurf.com/images/fcsfg51.jpg
I had a whole peak to myself. Picked off the first left and...HOLY SHIT!!! I felt like my board had a fucking supercharger put in it. I cranked a turn off the bottom and whacked the lip like a red-headed stepchild before racing the wall and finding out what else feels different.
On the next sets I took off on the right. The board felt like it generates speed even faster and holds this speed through the turns. You came out of cutties with a lot of speed and drive. Even the fat mushy sections were workable.
More people came, but since there were peaks scattered up and down the beach the crowd factor was minimal and hassling was non-existent. The tide dropped and the inside section had some fast down-the-line walls to carve up.
It felt surreal. Here I was in the middle of an urban beach setting with the top of the Golden Gate constantly reminding me where I am, yet this session had the feel of a far away surf trip brought on by the light crowds and being able to pick any wave you want. I got an endless stream of lefts and rights, each experimenting with the new board/fin combo. Yep, it's drivey and faster than I've felt before.
The lulls got longer during dead low tide, but the sets were still worth the wait. pods of dolphins joined me in the lineup as the sun set lit up the sky in orange light. The crowds increased as the rest of the 9-5 crew pulled up. On my last wave I got a long racy left that heaved up and went nuts on the inside section as it threw out into a perfect barrel as I pulled in for a couple of seconds then rode the rest of it to the beach.
It's hard to tell whether the fins really that made that much of a difference, or just psychological. I think it's somewhere between the two and I'm definitely getting a set of these bad boys.
