To cheater fin or not to cheater fin

[escmanaze]

Hi Guys,

Here is my situation: I'm 5'11" and 190 pounds. I'm skiing at 15 off. I run 28 mph passes on a 69" senate and in good water, it is abnormal for me to not go 12 for 12 on two sets. I also run 30 mph passes on that senate and I'll usually go 5 for 6 on those. I also run 32 mph passes and I'll go maybe more like 1 for 2. For the 30 mph passes and the 32 mph passes, I also have a 68" vice-c that I'm trying to transition into as I start to ski faster and faster more and more often.

 

Some guys at the dock have suggested that I should get rid of my cheater fin. They say it is doing more harm than good at the relatively low level of skiing that I'm at. What's your opinion.

 

P.S. I know that I'm on skis that are larger than they should be. For some reason I just like large skis better. I tried my buddy's 67" senate and didn't like it as much as my 69", so I'm sticking with skis that are a bit bigger.

 

P.P.S. Do people even still call these cheater fins?

[gregy]

I call it a wing. Try it without it. Then try different angles. See what works the best, they do have some stabilizing effect on the ski. My opinion is that a ski that big is great for 28 or 30 mph but it will hold you back at as you progress.

[escmanaze]

Hi Gregy,

Thanks for the comments. I think you are right, when I started skiing 32 mph a lot at the end of last year, I felt like the ski was suddenly just skipping across the top of the water, and I was losing control a bit. So I went for the next most aggressive model and the next smaller size. With the vice at 32, I certainly wasn't skipping across the water anymore, I definitely had more control, but it was also a lot harder on my arms and hands (so I'm sure I just need to work on strengthening those.) Part of my thought here is that maybe at 32 mph on the vice, it won't be as hard on my hands and arms if I pull that cheater fin off to take away the drag as I am building up speed. Then again, maybe I'll pull it off and be skipping across the water again without it.

 

As far as pulling it off and putting it back on again, I'm a little hesitant just because I don't have the right tools to measure things to really have good control of my fin settings. I'm probably getting to the point where I better just go buy those tools.

 

[Bill22]

Everyone I talked to said take the wing off until you ski at 34 mph or can run -15 @ 34 mph. You can draw a line around the wing with a pencil or very fine sharpie before you take it off. Then you don't need wing gauges to put it back in the same place.

[Horton]

@escmanaze you need a smaller ski. your wing is not really an issue

[skialex]

It does not matter really, choose which ski you like most put everything at stock (boots, fin, wing) and commit on improving your skiing.

Mostly have fun!

[gregy]

@escmanaze a ski that is not set up right can really screw you up. You need some wing gauges and 8" calipers. I heard there are some you could print from Goode and laminate. I use these and really like them.

 

http://www.theskidoc.com/ski-doc-wing-gauges.htm

 

You should be able to get some reasonable priced calipers online.

[Waternut]

I think more issue than any wing is that you are skiing 2 ski's on a regular basis. Pick one and stick with it. When you start swapping ski's around or even swapping bindings, your technique has to adjust and that's a stiff learning curve to have to keep going back and forth on. Takes me at least a full set to settle into a minor fin or binding tweak.

 

Especially at slower speeds, I think the larger ski's work well. Nate Smith is on a ski way too big for him as well and it obviously works for him. I personally ski better with a ski where I'm on the lower limit of weight or below and ski like crap with the same ski where I'm at or above the max recommended weight.

[wtrskior]

If you want to improve you have to challenge yourself. Stop running so many passes at slow speeds. Run the pass you make 99% of the time max 2 passes per set. You will never up the speed or cut the rope if you never up the speed or cut the rope.

 

Ski is too big like Horton said and as long as the wing is 6-10 degrees it's not making a concernable difference