When you get to be as good at surfing as John John Florence is, the tiniest tweaks to a surfboard make much larger differences. The rake of a fin, the overall shape of it, a liter shaved of here or there, a wide-point pushed forward or back an inch — it all factors in. Surfers like John John can feel those little tweaks more than the Average Joe can, which is why they work so closely with shapers. When a world title is on the line, everything matters.
But even the best surfers in the world have to surf smaller waves every now and then. Sure, they get to travel the world chasing the biggest and best waves possible, but Mother Nature doesn’t always feel like playing the game. Which is what made John John ask a question: “How can we go as fast as possible in small waves?”
Future Fins founder Vince Longo sat down with John to look at some old fin and foil designs from the early 2000s. Together, they tried a few new things, created from old things, in small to medium-sized surf. According to John John, the process you see in the video above changed his thinking when it comes to his daily drivers.
