Quad fins from Shapers

SQV1 quad fins

The dudes from Shapers sent us down a set of SQV1 quad fins to test out in my trusty 5’8 Valla fish. I’ve only ever used some standard FCS fins on this fish, so I was keen to see how these strange looking fins would perform.

My first surf on em was unreal!… the playground for the day had clean 3-foot righthanders. Straight away it felt quicker with less drag and the release off the top turns were much easier. It held in well on the steep parts of the wave and driving hard off a bottom felt nice and safe. This was all done on my forehand and I couldn’t really fault them. Later in the week I got to surf some lefts (my backhand) and they felt a little slippery if you pushed it too hard (but I sort like that feeling on the fish sometimes) coming off the bottom turn they held in okay and were quite responsive but there was as much control as I had on my forehand. The board I was surfing is quite wide with thick rails, so the loosening up on the top turns was a real winner, I also felt much less drag than the regular quad fins, if I was going to surf bigger lefthanders I would go back to the originals, but I tend to only surf the fish when its under head high anyway.

So if you have a quad setup that feels a little stiff, give these puppies a run…. I am going to leave mine in for sure!

Local coffs dudes

Shapers are an Australian company that is based on the Gold coast. The father Len Holloway and his two sons Daniel and Jake are originally from the Coffs coast, but have taken their business up to the surf capital and its been going great guns ever since. They have just won a Gold coast business award for “Excellences for the family business” category.

They produce everything from surfboard blanks to deck grips.. best way to see what they are all about is to check out their website click here to have a peep.

They have also begun to sponsor some Coffs coast shredders! Shaun Cansdell and Billy Kean have just joined the team and Fish/log rider Brett Caller also gets a helping hand from the lads from Shapers… their roots to the coffs coast are still strong

SHAPERS WEBSITE

LINK TO SQV1 QUAD FINS PAGE