Why do surfboards have fins?

Is it safe to surf without fins on your surf board?

Beginners’ guide to surfing

Read Time: 5 Minutes

Now it’s time to explore the hidden piece of equipment which is as vital to surfing as the board itself – the fins. Like a boat without a rudder, a surfboard without fins is aimless, and you might as well be surfing a table top. Fins are what give you control over the direction of your board, and just how much difference the various types of fins and fin set-ups can make comes as a big surprise to many newbies. 

Virtually every surfer you see out in the water has fins on their board – be it one, two, three, four, or sometimes even five. Very occasionally you might see someone out there on a board which looks to be a little out of control on smaller waves – there’s every chance this is an example of a finless board, but I guarantee you that the guy or girl standing on top of it is pretty talented, because it takes a lot of ability to control them. 

It’s safe to say that if you’re beginning you’re a long way off being able to do this, and even those who do get to an advanced stage won’t often go finless – it’s only necessary for a pretty particular style of surfing and for most people the pros of fins far outweigh the cons.

So which fins do you need? When you’re researching them you’ll likely come across a lot of terms which mean very little to you – words like thruster, twin, quad. Some of these are self-explanatory – a twin-fin set-up involves, unsurprisingly, two fins, while a quad set-up uses four. You’ll also hear ‘single fin’ used a lot – we’ll assume you can figure out what that means. Thruster refers to a set-up with three fins, and this is the most common variation that you’ll find. 

So – what’s the difference? As mentioned, three fins are what you’ll see the most out in the water, and few boards don’t have at the very least the option to use three fins. This set-up was popularised in the 1980s and are suitable in virtually all conditions for surfers of all ability – hence the popularity! This set-up has one fin at the back in the centre, and two further forward closer to the rails.

Take that centre one out and you’ve got a twin fin, while a board with two back fins is a quad. These each have their benefits and drawbacks – the most notable benefit is that the lack of a centre fin reduces drag, but it can also mean you sacrifice a little control so you won’t see many beginners surfing this set-up. 

Three fins is what you’ll probably see most beginners using, but if you’re going to deviate from that at all it’s probably best to do it with a single fin. Single fins are generally found on longboards and can be suitable for beginners because the major drawback is that they don’t allow you to perform manoeuvres with the same aggression – not a huge problem for most beginner surfers! With just one fin there’s pretty minimal drag, and but you’ll retain plenty of control.

There are a few further variations of fin set-ups, but those mentioned above are the ones you’re likely to come across the most. But – good news – the learning doesn’t stop there! Now you know about the different set-ups, but that doesn’t cover it all – the actual type of fin you use can vary as well. 

Fins, of course, can vary in size. Often boards using a single fin set-up will have a large fin, but you’ll also see some people with one big fin and two smaller ones on their boards. To put it simply, the smaller the fin the looser the board will feel on a wave – that’s why single fins can be an appropriate choice for a learner.

You’ve also got various levels of flexibility across different fins. A stiffer fin will tend to provide a little more stability and be more appropriate for beginners, while very flexible ones feel a little more similar to a skateboard. It gets a little more complicated than that and certain fins can have different levels of flex within different parts of the fins, but we won’t overwhelm you with all that – bet you didn’t think there was this much to learn about fins!

When you’re on the hunt for fins, you’ll notice plenty of different brand names. There are lots of brands – the likes of Ocean and Earth and Softlite to name a couple – which offer fins that are suitable exclusively for softboards and are often more suitable for beginners. These won’t necessarily provide the durability or performance of more commonly used brands like FCS and Futures (who we’ll cover in a little more detail below), but they are comparatively very cheap and considering many beginners won’t notice much of a difference, can be a great option as your first fin purchase. 

The aforementioned FCS and Futures fins are by far the most popular – they are suitable for all hard boards and some softboards, so even if you opt to start out with something a little cheaper like those mentioned above, you’ll likely come across these as you progress as a surfer.

FCS is the most commonly used type of fin – the original version of this inserts into the fin box with two tabs and a few screws, but they’ve since advanced to FCSii which uses a notched front table and a ball to hold the fin in place. The original FCS first appeared around 25 years ago and is typically very reliable and easy to find, though a disadvantage is that because of the way they attach to your board they can sometimes damage it if you whack your fins on something. In contrast, Futures fins slide in with a single tab – the base of them is a little heavier which some surfers don’t like, but they are less likely to damage your board if they get hit. These are popular in various parts of the world and some shapers swear by them.

And that just about covers it. Fins are a massively important part of your set-up and will have an even bigger influence on your surfing as you develop your skills, so it’s important to understand how they work, and hopefully this piece has helped you to do just that. Next up is wax – we’ll take a deep dive into what it is, why you need it, and which type you should be buying.