by T. Barkitzis owner of Stonero windsurf shop and resort

.. the slalom fins stupid weather(either too light or too strong) have dettered me from using them for a very long time but i have now tried them two times and feel i have a good picture of what is going on in order to give you a better idea i will report on both days since the spots were different and the testing proved itself not only with gps readings but also against serious racers. the first time i tried the fins was in our local spot in lake Volvi with a strong thermal of around 18-24 knots my <normal > fins for my rrd x fire 112 (2010model) are a 41 and a 35 select so 9 elite on that day i was using the 41 in the beginning with my 8,3 loft blade (2010) and was clocking around 30-31 knots on the small wave choppy sea state of the lake (side-side onshore conditions) after switching to my 7,0 loft blade(2011) and the 35 select my speed increased to around 31,8-32,5 but was stalling in the jibes in the lulls then

 I switched to the Makani black fin it was as fast but the jibes and the acceleration was much better control was great and although 34 I even tried it with the 8,3 for a spin clocking 32 knots on it...then I tried the <green g10> one and what a shock everything was perfect clocked 33,9 a knot and a half faster than the select feeling I could go faster 

on more wind all was perfect but did not try it with the 8,3 ... 13and 14 of april was very promising for speed in the Patras area (500 km away) and i with two good and fast friends amde the trip ....unfortunately for us the forecast was not so accurate but we still managed to surf a bit on the Drepano beach (13/4)and tsimari beach 14/4 the first day after 5 1/2 hours drive (i drove) we arrived on the beach only to find 15 to 20 knots of wind the forecast was promising for thhe afternoon so we rigged 7,0 and wnet in for a little slalom i started with the 35 select and the rrd 112 ...the spot is theoretically a decent slalom spot with some chances for speed but on that day the conditions were more onshore thus not good for speed runs i was clocking 31-32 and on e of the locals (top five in speed sailing in greece)was clocking 33 (was on 95 lt and 7,0 and 75 kilo)the moment I put on the makani green I clocked 33,5 so easy he could not believe it ...a bit later the number one speed racer(top speed 44 +) who is also a local came too (he is on loft too and fanatic)he rigged 7,0 with a falcon 111 (2011) and a talon 38 and said he was perfect for fin size ... so we started drag racing and i could easily keep up with him both upwind and downwind and believe i had more speed in the reaches... then the wind switched for about 5-10 minutes giving us two runs each ....his max speed was 35,76 and his average speed 32,89 (average of top 5 x10 secs) i got a top speed of 34,4 but my average was 33,32 which actually was the first time since a very long time anyone got a better average session than my friend.   

I then gave him my set and he came back praising how smooth everything was but could not believe his eyes when he saw his 10 sec speed (it was a knot faster than his speed from othe runs though the wind was the same....)

On the 14 after a long wait the wind came with a puff in tsimari the best speed spot in greece but only for a couple of runs with smaller stuff (i was on a 90 prototipe rrd from 2012 (hahahah) and a 32 goldwing and my 7,0 and actually kjust found out i clocked the best time of the day with 34,3 but it was like pumping all the way to keep planning the point is I later gave my slalom set rrd 112 and makani to a friend from another area to test the fin (he has the same board) and he wants to steal or buy it !!!!! I am very very happy with the way everything performed but I am not giving the green one back to anyone this is my fin charge me for it !!!and arrange the full line ........ I really think you are on to something here I wish I will have smaller and bigger ones to try a 38 a 32 a 30
April 15 , 2010