SkiJay

The production fin pictured above ran 39 off the dock at 36 mph today, then ran three more 39s @ 36, back-to-back, then 3.5@41 in the same long set. This, the first time the skier tried it on a ski I had to guesstimate a rough setup for :)

@Stevie Boy The Radar fins are .080” and the price is $299. Answers to all figment, pricing, ordering, installation, tuning and tech questions questions can be found at www.finwhispering.com.

@Ed_Johnson It doesn’t come with a wing, but it does come with detailed installation instructions and a paint-by-numbers custom-tuning system that you can check out at: https://finwhispering.com/whisperfin-installation/

@JAS Most skiers notice two things immediately, easier turn initiation and quicker acceleration.

Wow. On one hand, I’d like a gallon of this stuff. On the other hand, there’s a hint of something a bit vampire-creepy about it. Things that make you go hmmmmm ....

Up until now, every WhisperFin in existence has been hand made by yours truly. This is a photo of the first fully manufactured fin to pass a long list of quality controls. Full production will start on Monday. It will take approximately two weeks for the first run to be complete, followed by shipping to Florida for packaging and at long last, distribution.

The first production test batch should be done on Monday. If the coatings and laser etching passes inspection, production will begin next week.

My elbows have been on fire for a year, regardless of curved handles, palm down starts, stretching, etc. Within one month of going to ML's optimized rope, my elbows are 90% healed. I know this is purely anecdotal, but I changed nothing else other than the rope. And for the record, I'm not sponsored by MasterLine and have to buy my ropes just like anyone else. So my observations are honest and voluntary. I was skeptical at first, but now believe this rope is a real breakthrough.

@igkya, my old rope was only 4 months old. I have three of them—barely used. If anyone reading this is skiing on a truly tight budget, PM me and I'll send one to you as a late Christmas present.

I went to the new rope and it was nice. After a month with it, I went back to my old rope half way through a set to see if I could feel any difference. I just about missed my first pass by getting yanked off the second wake, unexpected slack after the ball, and a harsh hookup that caught me not quite finished turning ... repeat. Then I missed the next pass. So I went back to the new rope and everything was easy again. The change was not subtle. In fact it was quite dramatic, even at -28 and -32.

@mbabiash & @Drago The one Bruce skied on was a prototype six generations back. The one on his glove is one generation back, and is the same one Drew, Neilly, and Mike were on at the PanAms. Bruce had the newer one (on his glove), but has never been inclined to leave a good time looking for a better one. The newer version has more power behind the boat—something Bruce has more than enough of already.

@mbabiash For decades, the standard fin has worked on any size or brand of ski because of its adjustability. The WhisperFin benefits from that same adjustable versatility. I had testers on the Vapor, evo and XTR, who all saw enough improvement with the WhisperFin that they chose to use it at the PanAms. All three podiumed (2 wins and a 3rd), and all three skiers are still using their WhisperFins.

All off of the website for now @jimski Happy holidays!

@MickeyThompson All but one of the shortline testers ended up with an unchanged wing setting, choosing to keep the improved width and space that came with more speed—presumably because when you're earlier, there's also more time to slow down. One is still playing with wing angles that are between ½° and 1° steeper, currently leaning towards +½°. Everyone else is running the same wing angle with no mention of too much speed at the ball.

@ski6jones That's a good question. Theoretically I'd say you'd end up with the same ski with either fin. However, that depends so heavily on how well you've set up all six combinations that in practice, it would be far from a certainty. That said, the ski you like best with the stock fin will likely set up to be at least as likeable or better with an easier skiing fin. @Dacon62 One of the benefits of an adjustable fin is that it can be made to work in pretty much any ski of any size. It's not unusual for a bigger ski to have it's fin set up with more fin area than a smaller ski, mostly to deal with the higher load of the big kahuna riding it.

@Skoot1123 You bring up a good point. If you've up-sized your ski and found your expensive new ski a bit too challenging, this fin will make it turn a easier. A money saver?

@FLeboeuf I actually spent a couple of months exploring surfboard shaped fin's on a ski. It was educational, but it was clear that they are two totally different tools designed for two totally different sets of roll and smear goals. We chose this trailing edge shape because it delivered the most consistent behavior at the finish of turns out of numerous trailing edge shapes.

@waterskicorey I don't know who your friend is, but I sure like that guy! The fins won't be shipping for about six weeks, or late in January.

No prob, and no price increase :)

@Brewski Essentially you are suggesting that innovators shouldn't waste their time with water skiing. You're probably right because to a great extent, they don't. While I do have thousands of hours and thousands of dollars in this project, I'm sensitive to your point. So I did a quick search that revealed a set of good quality figure skate blades (or speed skate blades) cost over $500 with the best blades approaching $1,000. They've invented nothing, taken zero risk and have a bigger market. Thanks for pointing out that I should probably raise my price ;)

@braindamage This fin helps skiers of all levels, though for different reasons. Most beginners are unable to turn any sharper than a school bus because they don't engage enough tip and the fin is WAY to big for their needs. Good skiers, say up to -32, benefit from easier turning, tighter turns and more speed (i.e. skiing earlier and wider). Shortline skiers benefit from all that too, but more importantly, the way this fin hooks up more progressively exiting turns reduces the likelihood of those tip pressure-relieving wheelies that often delay the cut at ≤-35. Reducing those shortline wheelies was the original goal, the rest was gravy.

@6balls & @jercrane This fin is very slightly less sensitive to adjustments than a standard fin, and a caliper can definitely be used. And yes, I'll have starting numbers for various skis based on testing and results gleaned from my video ski-tuning service. Note that this fin only needs a cheap 6" caliper from Walmart, and DFT has never been so easy to measure. Of course most Ballers already have a caliper. I'm just making the claim that casual skiers won't NEED a caliper because I've got a simple system for setting it up that requires no special tools beyond a tape measure (bindings), one of the free Allen wrenches most people got from IKEA, and the free paper wing gauges downloadable from Free Wing Gauges Here

@DangerBoy This fin is symmetrical, so no right/left foot versions. I'm going to post a really good way of achieving asymmetrical smear later on this winter. If you normally use a wing, you definitely need a wing on this fin—it's fast. Two of the holes at the back are for the wing. Here's a pic with the wing on;

You may or may not be surprised that I have all of these dimensions from all of the skis listed on my website. And because I've done this homework, I can say with confidence that the only ski that has a fin slot too wide for the .080" Radar version is the Connelly. Though the .095" is recommended, the .080" thin version should be fine in all of the other skis listed too if you prefer the feel of a thinner fin, or may use your fin in a Radar in the future.

@Horton Not yet on this fin, though I've done that in the past with standard fins. The real reason I'm offering two thicknesses has more to do with longevity than performance. With the exception of Goode, only the top tabs of the fin mount into the fin block, and the bottom edge of most fin blocks forms a sharp edge. If the ski's fin slot is much wider than the fin, the fin can flex side to side along the red line illustrated below until it cracks. It takes a long long time, but it happens. We don't want that.