SkiJay

The first batch of WhisperFins is on its way; let the fun begin! If you've placed an order but haven't yet received a shipping notice (check your spam folder), your order will likely be filled in the next batch within three weeks. Thank you for your enthusiasm, support and patience. The ski-tuning kit assembly line: the epitome of a kitchen table, mom & pop, cottage industry.

@Wish, After my wife has driven for me and toweled off the boat, made breakfast, edited my next blog post and packed a few books; she's going to sort through backorder details, assemble fin kits, stuff envelopes and print labels o:)

@C5Quest, Yes there are about this many bronze fins in the batch too. I'm going like hell to get them all on their way. I'll post here what order date this batch covers to reduce the suspense.

Just some of the 1st batch of WhisperFins on their way to a dock near you :) The good news is the first batch of WhisperFins has arrived and will be shipped to customers immediately. The bad news is the first batch sold out weeks ago. Fortunately, the second batch is only 2 – 3 weeks away. Backorders are filled in the order they are received. So the quickest way to get one of these is to get in the cue with a pre-order at: https://FinWhispering.com. We should be all caught up within a month. Thank you for your patience guys!

The first batch is sold out, but the second batch is only a couple of weeks behind. They'll be shipping in the order that preorders are received. The first batch is being etched right now and should be on their way to Florida for distribution tomorrow or Thursday.

The first one in the second row has your name on it, @Ed_Johnson :)

@Swerve200, I don't chase balls personally. I test every day while running 28s and 32s. What I've noticed personally is these passes got easier quickly and technique improvements I've been working on forever have suddenly fallen into place since settling in with a production WhisperFin. Perhaps Bruce Dodd's experience is more in line with what you're asking. He ran within a ball of his lifetime PB his fist set on the fin, then set a national Men's 6 record of 1@41 on it within a couple of months. A couple of weeks ago a demo skier who'd been struggling through -38 ran 4@39 at 36 mph his second day on it. No guarantees on how it will affect your skiing, but the vast majority of demos have been positive so far.

Here is a batch of ceramic coated fins baking in the oven last week. All that's left is laser etching and getting them shipped to Florida for distribution. All the waiting has been torture. Sometimes I think it would have been faster to make them all by hand :|

@jakecuz23, Without video and baseline data, all I can do is guess. But my guess-based recommendation would be to move your bindings back until your offside turns work better. Then you can back off forcing your onside turns with your back foot for symmetry (rear-footing being the most likely reason only your onside is currently working).

I’d like to comment on the great report by @skibug above. He is a very powerful dynamic skier. And what we were looking for in moving the fin that far back was an elevated resistance to tip engagement. Making it harder to yaw tip into the water made tip engagement more consistent when scrambling (bludgeoning his way ;)) through his harder passes. I’d think most XTR skiers would find his final setup a little too much effort, and his fist setup more responsive. But this was a great demonstration of the available range of tuning. Thanks @skibug

@Krlee, I plugged a WhisperFin into an elite skier’s Revolution two days ago. We only had one rushed set so didn’t nail down a final setup. But we bracketed the sweet spot (too much smear then not enough) we’ll within the range of normal numbers, so no question it will work.

@skiinxs, Only one pass?! I envy your mental discipline

@""Fehlindra " The fins are now being hardened and the first batch will be in for ceramic coating on Monday. Shipping is still a couple of weeks out ... sigh .... @Wish, I'm not aware of anyone having changed their ZO settings yet, but it wouldn't surprise me if there's some of that as people get dialed in.

Hi @Ryota Normally, shipping to Japan costs about $22, because I subsidize overseas shipping by $10. But your money is no good here, Ryota, because of your contribution of this award-winning photo of Matteo Luzzeri, @Luzz, for the cover of Fin Whispering. Thank you again!

@musclefixer It depends on how you set it up. You can have more tip sensitivity than with the standard fin, or less, depending on how far forward and/or how deep you set it (both LE and FD affect tip sensitivity). The same goes for roll resistance with depth and fin-related stability with fin area. I had an elite skier say the WhisperFin made his NRG ski like his Vapor. I'm pretty sure what he meant was that he got more speed from the same amount of effort on his NRG and that it turned easier too. But one thing that won't change is the fundamental stability associated D3's deep ride. Changing to the Whisperfin won't have any effect on how deep a ski rides.

@musclefixer Are you asking for changes specific to those D3 models or behavioral changes in addition to being nimble and quick?

@jakecuz23 Binding location is highly personal for many reasons ranging from technique through height, weight and foot size. You didn't mention how heavy you are, and weight affects ski size and binding location more than height does. If you are a bit heavy for your ski, ski very forcefully and/or have a small-area fin setup, having your bindings way forward of stock could well be ideal. But the real answer to your question is another question. How is your ski turning? You're only too far forward if you have to struggle to get the ski to make tight turns or to finish turns with good cross-course angle. When the bindings move forward, the area of the ski's tail increases giving it more support. The fin also gets more leverage against smear the further away from your feet it is. If your ski is turning like a school bus, you may be too far forward (too much traction at the back). Moving your bindings back reduces tail area, reduces the fin's leverage (moment arm), and increases the surface area of the tip. And when the tip gets more grip and the tail gets less, the tail smears more delivering tighter turns. You've moved too far back when you start getting more than the occasional tip-grab or tail-slide. People tend to think too much in terms of how binding moves affect the ski's tip attitude. But binding moves have a far greater effect on tail support than on tip behavior. Think "tail support" when moving your bindings.

@BraceMaker Some of the more powerful test skiers were aware of the sheet metal prototypes flexing too much. And while .006 doesn't sound like much, it can be 8% of the Radar fin's thickness—that's a lot. And if you spec thicker sheet metal, the thick areas of the sheet won't move in Radar's tight fin blocks. Milling the parts from higher grade aluminum tightened up the thickness variations, and reduced flex significantly. @JAS This fin is no more immune to fin adjustments than any other fin. I'm making a big deal out of setup instructions that don't require calipers for the legions of skiers out there who don't have a caliper. It's pretty cool that anyone should be able to self-tune their way to a great setup with no special tools. For those of us with calipers, .003 still makes a difference.

@S1Pitts – As in the hot little one-hole aerobatic biplane? VERY cool if so ? As you can see below, there's no fully universal top profile, though I’ve designed the WhisperFin to fit nearly all of today's most popular skis. If it's listed on the website, I've had the fin in that ski. I know that at least one of the earlier Denali’s is completely off the beaten path. But if you send me a scan of your fin, I should be able to let you know if it will work. And if you get a fin that doesn’t fit, you can return it for a refund.

@CBR51 It would sure be interesting to know how Wayne arrived at his shape; if it was somewhat random or through a lot of testing. Steve Schnitz came up with a similar outline at one point too. I started with a clean sheet and tried every shape imaginable. A year-long process of elimination identified this profile as providing the most power, stability and roll-feedback for its size.

The WhisperFin would be cheaper to produce if cut from aluminum sheets where thickness can vary up to .006”. This interesting photo shows how fins are being precision-milled out of billet aluminum for maximum consistency, strength and durability.

@drew You betcha, eh :) @chris55 Yup, I'll ship anywhere

@sfriis I want to do a bit more testing on it before writing it up, and just haven’t been able to get to it. But I haven’t forgotten.

Good question @chris55. Working on your skills and technique will always return the most improvement. But it's better to work on your technique with a ski that's your dance partner than with a wrestling opponent. While this fin was initially designed to improve performance for shortline tournament skiers, a happy surprise was how much it helped novices. Of our 47 test skiers, the novices showed the most dramatic improvement with most of them setting personal bests within two sets. This is because the standard fin is actually too big and too stable. Even though this fin helps skis turns easier, nobody yet has made any reference to it being "unstable," and it's been tested in 37° to 95° water, by skiers of ALL levels, on nearly all brands of skis, and in calm and whitecapping water. If you are skiing in a course, a ski that turns easier and accelerates more quickly is going to help—regardless of the stage you are at.

@Zman The CG fin is a big step in the right direction for turnability in both directions, and it’s angled holes generate rolling and turning forces designed to favour turns in one direction over the other. The WhisperFin is a symmetrical design that is a bit more nimble again due to its smaller size and forward placement. But the most noticeable difference will be acceleration. The WhisperFin’s turbulation slots generate noticeably less drag than holes, enough to justify a significant investment in a full patent application. And enough that a pro recently commented that it makes his deep-riding turning ski accelerate like a speed-biased ski.