MACIEK RUTKOWSKI
If I had to pick one element of my gear that is the most important it would probably be the fin. Maybe it is because all of the sail and all of the boards are very similar and fins can range from very good to very bad. The fin feels like it makes the most difference. It is one of the elements that you can change and play with. Your masts, battens and fins are the kit you can switch so they can make the difference. It all adds together. We all have decent fins now on tour but you can still get a bit of an edge. If you are exactly on the right fin for the right conditions and you feel comfortable that can help you win races. If your board stays on trim due to a fin when a huge gust hits then that can make all the difference. Guys can get lifted and lose places with the wrong fin choice. My fin quiver is worth a lot of money. I brought 20 fins to Korea and Japan and I paid for all of them. I am looking for a fin sponsor! I easily have 4-5000 euro worth of fins. Back in the Formula days it was crazy, I think I paid $1400 for a Kashy fin. Those times were ridiculous. Kashy drives a Porsche now! There are a huge amount of elements with fins. The outline, most fins are quite similar on. The profile, in theory, most fins are also similar on. Then you have the flex, twist and construction. I have worked on fins based on measurements of the best fin and it had exactly the same flex but because the construction wasn’t the same their reactivity wasn’t the same. You can’t just copy a Carpenter! It is impossible to copy a fin! I heard you can burn a fin layer by layer to find out what is inside but even the layers have different characteristics and carbons. If you have the drive for perfection you can make a lot of money making fins. This guy from Poland, Jack Carpenter, is the most anal guy in the world. He is just slow and meticulous. It used to take him five days to make a fin. Now it takes him three to four days for one fin. He just makes sure everything is perfect. The waiting list is usually over a year. I have known him since I was eight years old but I still have to pay full price! That is the reality! You have to do what it takes to score the best fins. They are that important that you need to make all the effort possible to be on the best.