# Turbo Fins - Much Difference?



## onemorecast (Apr 17, 2006)

I'm leaving my job next week and have been asked what I might like as a going away gift. Naturally my mind went to Kayak & Fishing.

Was wondering who has upgraded to the turbo fins on their Hobies and whether they thought they there is a noticable difference.

Would appreciate any impressions


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## Guest (Mar 7, 2007)

kraley said:


> Totally worth it if you need to chase birds or punch thru the chop.
> 
> Just my .02


Agreed!! :wink:

0.2 + 0.2 = 0.4


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## RedPhoenix (Jun 13, 2006)

Unfortunately, due to the change in ownership of this web site and the lack of response by the owners to my requests to remove my email address from all administrative-level notifications and functionality, I have decided to remove my posts on AKFF. Thank you for the great times, the fantastic learning experiences and the many many fish. If you are desperate for the old content of this particular post, it is available below base64 encoded and bzip2 compressed.

Red.

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QlpoOTFBWSZTWeErJXkAABPfgAASQoNYAAEAEKA/b98AIABUNTTUaYgBoG1GahEymNTTTR6nqBpk0AseBaFTUJrBrnTpWzQQRFpm+KqioBGLAh6MbkrZCSdESJrQVXnD6sNRMNkTwdhN9xcx0oPYON4mt+X4u5IpwoSHCVkryA==


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## JT (May 25, 2006)

Definately worth the difference. It's very slightly harder to peddle but the speed is there if you need it. On the originals I sometimes felt like the fins were sliding through the water too easily and not biting enough when you needed them too. Not now though :twisted:

I think we are at the dollar no?

John


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## Crikey (Oct 30, 2005)

Eric,

The only thing to consider is they may not make such an improvement in top speed as you would hope for with the Sport. I have a set of turbo's they certainly seem to make a difference to the Classic but it would be a much harder call with the Sport. The only rider with this would be I have used the Sport very little over the last few months and this is a gut feel comment based on one trip out.

That must be -$0.02.


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## Bart70 (Jan 28, 2007)

Hi,

I recently bought an Outback and 'peddled' an Outback and Revolution both with and without Turbo Fins....

Result was I did not even worry about the standard fins....optioned my new Outback with the Turbo Fins from the start........worth every cent in my opinion. Powering up and over large swell and punching through chop is much easier - top speed seems better also but is hard to judge without a GPS.

Cheers,

Bart70


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## tugboat (Nov 15, 2006)

Definitely worth it... even on a Sport.
It made a huge difference for me with my Sport, when I got the Revo I didn't even consider the standard fins, they felt way too soft when used (not enough resistance in the water) maybe because I got use to the Turbos on the sport.

With turbos on the sport it meant I was just keeping up with Yellowfin on his adventure whilst he was comfortably cruising. Without them I didn't even stand a chance.


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## deano (Nov 26, 2006)

I only have the standard fins on my yak, but I have been out with Kraley (he has turbos) and I had to bust a gut to keep up with him - and he was just cruising.


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## Cuda (Sep 18, 2006)

I know what I want for my birthday now, so add another 2 cents to the argument fellas


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## DiveYak (Feb 5, 2007)

Ditto JT and Tugboat. The resistance is just not there with the standard fins. The turbo allow you to just cruise that much more easily. Definately worth the investment.
Just one word of warning. 2 months after I purchased the fwd fin metal rod snapped. Check with your dealer about how much tension they recommend. Again the Hobbie service was great....fixed and back within the week.


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## tugboat (Nov 15, 2006)

Dike Yak,
I've snapped a stainless shaft too, broke where Hobie puts a cut/slot in the shaft to allow the locking screw to lock the shaft in place.
I'm surprised they didn't think about this from an engineering point of view as it creates a weak point in the shaft. If the slot was rounded there would be less likely hood of things breaking.
I've backed off the amount of tension I have on the Turbos due to this....
The warranty service was excellent, had a new shaft installed the same afternoon


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## Peril (Sep 5, 2005)

How do they do over the flats in 0.5m? Do you need both sets of fins for different scenarios or do you lock up the fins and just paddle in such conditions. (Just thinking of the pedallers heading up to Forster)


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## Tim (Nov 11, 2005)

Shallow water isn't a problem Peril, you can flutter the fins (move the pedals a couple of inches, then back) and move forward, it's as much an issue paddling in shallow water(unless you use your paddle as a pole), if you have enough water to paddle, you have enough to pedal.

[edit] the only problem with the mirage drive is the lack of reverse.


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## DiveYak (Feb 5, 2007)

Peril,

Its just a matter of not taking a full stroke :lol: - peddle. If you give half or third 'strokes' then the fins don't fully extend, they stay close to the hull. 

Anyway we do have a paddle!!!! Always wondered if I would ever need it.


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## DiveYak (Feb 5, 2007)

tugboat said:


> Dike Yak,


Trev,

Last time I checked I was still a bloke!!!!!!!!!


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## tugboat (Nov 15, 2006)

DiveYak said:


> tugboat said:
> 
> 
> > Dike Yak,
> ...


OOOPSSS.... thats what you get for chaging your name   

Initally type YakDive, then realised and changed it to DikeYak without looking :lol:


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## DiveYak (Feb 5, 2007)

Tugboat,

Didn't want to change names. My daughter was very miffed! But the Wiki wouldn't take the 'n' in the name so had to change to see the wiki!!!! :?


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## luderick (Feb 8, 2007)

I know I'm going against the trend here, talking through my arse (again) but from an engineering principle the large fins do not improve the mechanical advantage.

The result in propulsion is directly proportional to the effort or work put in

there may be on optimum size(surface area) of fin for a certain body strength

sorry to be the contrarian .........but once an engineer

peter


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## Guest (Mar 13, 2007)

luderick said:


> I know I'm going against the trend here, *talking through my arse* (again) but from an engineering principle the large fins do not improve the mechanical advantage.
> 
> The result in propulsion is directly proportional to the effort or work put in
> 
> ...


1st bold bit agreed 

2nd bold bit, thats why you need tradies to install your brilliant ideas that never seem to work :lol: :lol: :lol:

Turbos are GO!!!! :wink:


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## paffoh (Aug 24, 2006)

> What is your problem - you don't believe it works? Or you don't understand how? :roll:


Maybe he dosent have $137.00 to spend like I just did, damn this thread to hell ( 666 )... Will install them on weekend and let you guys know how the Outfitter goes with one set on and one set off.

All going well I might order another set to match the rudder upgrade I just purchased too.


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## onemorecast (Apr 17, 2006)

Well I'm getting them as I gave the bosses assistant Paul (On THe Edge) number and they arrived in the office today. I don't get them until Friday when I leave but I had a look at them and was surprised that they didn't look longer or bigger.

Can't wait to try them out though


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## Guest (Mar 13, 2007)

onemorecast said:


> Well I'm getting them as I gave the bosses assistant Paul (On THe Edge) number and they arrived in the office today. I don't get them until Friday when I leave but I had a look at them and *was surprised that it didn't look longer or bigger.*
> 
> *Can't wait to try it out though*


Just use longer more thrusting strokes, you will notice the difference :lol:


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## tugboat (Nov 15, 2006)

luderick said:


> I know I'm going against the trend here, talking through my arse (again) but from an engineering principle the large fins do not improve the mechanical advantage.
> 
> The result in propulsion is directly proportional to the effort or work put in
> 
> ...


Agree with Kraley... :?

In simple terms, the Turbo fins increase the amount of bite the mirage drive has in the water thus allowing more energy to be converted into forward momentum.
The Turbos are not that much bigger than the standard fins they are slightly longer on the leading edge, however they are more stiffer and the trailing edge can be adjusted to be even a lot stiffer which would result in more resistance / bite in the water which results in more forward motion as the fin can move more water. The downside is you do have to expend more energy to get things moving but overall it ends up being more efficient. It seems the Turbo fins "gearing" if I can call it that matches the average output of the average user better than the standard fins. The standard fins can be over-powered depending on how fit/powerful a user is. Thus the feeling that the standard fins are too soft or don't have a lot of resistance. It also means with standard fins there is a point where the amount of energyy expended equals very little gain. In the case of the Turbos fins over powering would take a lot more energy than an average person can deliver.


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## Guest (Mar 13, 2007)

I've compared performance with turbo fins and standard on the sport, outback and outfitter tandem. And I reckon they're worth every penny. I'd go as far to say that there is even room for improvement with slightly larger ones.


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## luderick (Feb 8, 2007)

wow..what an intersting reaction.........the personnal attacks .....classy stuff

I agree with what tugboat has to say its completeely constistent with my comment.

and the basic principle is .....providing the mechanical advantage is the same the propulsion is proportional to the work put in .......simple really like my "oversize engineering brain"

Peter


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## tugboat (Nov 15, 2006)

5thofNovember said:


> I've compared performance with turbo fins and standard on the sport, outback and outfitter tandem. And I reckon they're worth every penny. I'd go as far to say that there is even room for improvement with slightly larger ones.


5th, I think too much more improvement and more things will start breaking :roll: as mentioned have already broken one of the stainless shafts and DiveYak has done similiar in a very short time. might be coincidence but early model Adventures also had a weak spot where the mirage drive slotted and secured into the hull. I've know of someone changing to turbos and ended up exposing the weakspot and having a major leak. It just as well Hobie is very very good with there warranty and have excellent customer service.
The Turbos do increase the amount of stress and forces on the Mirage drive and hull, so my feeling is too much might not be such a good thing, unless of course all other items are improved at the same time


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## GuardianZAct (Feb 7, 2007)

I will toss my $0.02 in to the Har and say.....

I was very impressed by the power out put from the Turbo fins in the Outfiter (the tandem one). Any one on LBG on Sunday morning would have spotted the 6'10" Footballer shaped Hobie drive Grunt that was sitting in the Front seat. When I said go, he went flat out. The huge fottballer legs pumped heaps of power down in to the fins.

I think size and peddle effort effect the Fins in diffrent ways. I could see over time, the Huge forces that can be put to the pedles of the hobie drive would impact the drive, fins and hull.

But wow was it quick. I was in the back with Turbos to and I am not that big and with my bit of extra effort we were getting allong very well.

Turbos are great value for money.....

Adrian


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## Guest (Mar 14, 2007)

I make no apology as I meant what I said, I spend most days fixing things on site that engineers think looks good on paper from their desk :lol: :lol: :lol:

As for the talkin out your arse comment, well you said that and I just agreed 

Hardly a personal attack

Turbos Rock!!

:wink:


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## varp (Sep 12, 2005)

This where you say tomato and I say get stuffed.

  

I read Ludericks post as being a polite, dignifed, humble, valid comment on an immutable law of physics. Maybe it's not immutable. Maybe it's not what you want to hear , but the whole spirit of the way he said it doesn't tally to what I'm hearing from others.

I dig holes in the noonday sun so what do I know.

:wink:


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## Sunhobie (Jun 22, 2006)

I've fitted many sets of turbo fins. They do produce a higher speed for an acceptable increase in effort. They cannot substantially increase the top speed due to the inherent hull-speed limitations of displacement hulls.
Their forte is an increase in cruising speed.
I would say the increased power is due to the design of the fin rather than the small increase in fin area. This square-top principle is also used in high-performance sailboats, to reduce the end tip vortex and resultant pressure loss and inneficiency of regular sailshapes. The mirage fins are just underwater sails. It is a convenient coincidence that the twist in the underwater sail creates thrust.
How's that for a bit of techo jargon?


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## varp (Sep 12, 2005)

So is what Luderick said technically correct Sunhobie?

....curious is all.


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## RedPhoenix (Jun 13, 2006)

Unfortunately, due to the change in ownership of this web site and the lack of response by the owners to my requests to remove my email address from all administrative-level notifications and functionality, I have decided to remove my posts on AKFF. Thank you for the great times, the fantastic learning experiences and the many many fish. If you are desperate for the old content of this particular post, it is available below base64 encoded and bzip2 compressed.

Red.

----

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## Guest (Mar 14, 2007)

Tugboat, good point. I did read those adventure hull problems were solved some time ago though. In any case, I've had no problems in the 3 hobies I've used.


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## Sunhobie (Jun 22, 2006)

Yes Varp, I agree with Luderick. The turbo fins are faster with more effort. I doubt that they improve the mechanical advantage but they do have a more efficient design.


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## luderick (Feb 8, 2007)

Ken, thanks for the apology, I appreciate that, I also appreciate the comment about "could it be interpreted as condescending? " its probably something that I am guilty of on too many occasions.

I see a few people have agreed with my comments.

the analogy of the birds has me a bit troubled?? its not a good one!!

I think a more correct analogy would be if you took a bird (any bird) and swaped their wings for a larger set ................the bird with the same body weight and strength etc ...........

maybe a better analogy would be changing the gears on a push bike ........with two similar bikes travelling side by side one in a different gear to the other, the bike in the higher gear will travel further per revolution of the pedals but will require more effort per revolution.

anyway, lets move on.

thanks Ken


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## PeterJ (Aug 29, 2005)

> This where you say tomato and I say get stuffed.


Oh Varp , you do have a lovely way with words.

Do the turbo fins increase speed for the same effort. If they do then the increase speed for increased effort goes out the window, doesn't it.


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## JT (May 25, 2006)

Good question PeterJ. In my opinion they absolutely do. On the other hand the increase in speed may come at such an inperceptively low point that you can't feel it. Either way the net result is a noticable increase in speed. Same thing in my mind which ever way you get there.

JT


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## PeterJ (Aug 29, 2005)

Has anyone GPSed their speed on a hobie with and without on the same yak yet.


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## DiveYak (Feb 5, 2007)

I simply prefer the extra resistance......makes for a more leisurely peddle. I felt like I was stuck in 1st gear with the standard fins..


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## paffoh (Aug 24, 2006)

Ok I have installed and used my set...

At first they seemed very stiff but that was soon realised to be a problem with my legs, at cruising speed they were great, at flogging speed they were painfull but fast enough to notice a big difference ( Speed was enhanced on the 'Outfitter' by about 20% ).

Combined with a the Twist 'n' Stow rudder upgrade I now have the manoeuvrability of a small aluminium boat, probably not the best description as I could feel the difference straight away and could not stop doing donuts and figure eights much to the amusement of bystanders ( Turning ability enhanced by 50% ).

Legs are a little sore after 5 hours solid use but that could be down to the fact I was using the 'Outfitter' solo and took on some extra water due to the yak titlting back with the advance thrust exposing the rudder line holes even more than before, please note I was testing the kayak upgrade kit and decided long ago the 'Outfitter' was not for solo use, hence the purchase of a Hobie 'Quest' paddle craft.

Probably will purchase another set, then upgrade to 'Turbofitter' will be complete.


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## onemorecast (Apr 17, 2006)

I can now add my .02 as I had my first go with the turbo fins tonight. I can confirm they are indeed faster and definitely add resistance. The best way I can describe it was that it felt riding a bike on the flat in about 2nd gear (regular fins). With the turbo it was like shifting up to about 5th gear - harder to peddle but faster

Mind you 2 metre fins would not have got me back to the ramp fast enough this afternoon when a wild storm complete with thunder and lightning descended on me. With 3 graphic rods sticking up I felt like I had a target painted on me for the lightening. I should have got back soon but I kept thinking....(Just) ONEMORECAST


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