Despite all the problems it's funny that the Hyper fin still seems to be the most efficient fin for dynamic (quite good for constant too). I wonder if most of it isn't just from the footpocket angle ?
For constant weight the fancy hydrodynamic footpockets really does nothing. For most of the dive the foam is compressed, past 20-30m it's really just squished flat.
When I tried a kicking/gliding style with waterway the gliding was very difficult, need a very large knee bend to avoid putting the brakes on. Even with a classic finswimming technique I think the increased footpocket angle, therefore decreased blade angle is actually decreasing drag a lot. (When it's not bending thru the footpocket
)
I wonder how a waterway LD1 would perform if you give it a 30 degree angle ?
Might be a good DIY project. Get a LD1 fin, order the footpocket separate. Make a 30 degree wedge out of very high density foam, like from a kick board. Then glue the wedge in between the footpocket and blade. I think I might have seen an old thread where someone has actually done that.
