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Extreme Dolfinism
- Thread starterREVAN
- Start date
Thread Status: Hello
, There was no answer in this thread for more than 60 days.
It can take a long time to get an up-to-date response or contact with relevant users.
It can take a long time to get an up-to-date response or contact with relevant users.
Interesting. The X-18 is set up for cycling shoes? This gives me an idea: Why not make a pair of fiberglass plates that can be attached to a pair of conventional footpockets, and bolt cycling cleats to the bottom of the plates? Then, a diver can use their favorite footpockets on the DOL-fin via use of the plate and cleats. Since everyone seems to have a favorite footpocket, could that be a viable design? It could also preserve some of the slight flex that makes a monofin or freedive fin feel more like a part of the body rather than a rigid attachment to the body. Also the footpocket is probably more hydrodynamic than the cycling shoes. I bet it would also make a monofin easier to don in deep water-just click in.
Let me just tell You guys that Ron won Kona competition this month where I had pleasure to meet him and safety. He did 56m CWT, Junko Kitahama did 67m but with static etc, anyway, he won with 140 points.
In video below You can see Ron with Orca fin in action but this is just a little preview of what's coming soon.
We did separate video on his fins (two models) where he describes features, technology behind it and history of the fin progress.
I just got back from Big Island couple days ago and I had to make up lost time with my daughter, I did nothing but playing. Now I'll play with Final Cut, two videos I need to finish and then I'll edit Orca fin. To give You a little sneak preview let me just say that we were lucky to bring local mermaid onboard (HOT HOT HOT!) Anyway, see You in few....days
[ame="http://vimeo.com/32256236"]US Freediving Competition Hawaii 11-13 Nov 2011 on Vimeo[/ame]
In video below You can see Ron with Orca fin in action but this is just a little preview of what's coming soon.
We did separate video on his fins (two models) where he describes features, technology behind it and history of the fin progress.
I just got back from Big Island couple days ago and I had to make up lost time with my daughter, I did nothing but playing. Now I'll play with Final Cut, two videos I need to finish and then I'll edit Orca fin. To give You a little sneak preview let me just say that we were lucky to bring local mermaid onboard (HOT HOT HOT!) Anyway, see You in few....days
[ame="http://vimeo.com/32256236"]US Freediving Competition Hawaii 11-13 Nov 2011 on Vimeo[/ame]
Attachments
My dive in the video is a 56m CWT, and my technique off the bottom was rather poor in my opinion (too much knee bend). I was not as practiced as I'd like to have been having arrived somewhat late because of DEMA. I only got to practice one day before the competition started (Okinawa July 2010 was the last time I had any CWT experience). The second competition depth day was better for me and that was a 62m dive 
cool: and a PB by 1m). My 62m dive was the dive that counted in the final score for the competition.
Ron
PS - My dive with the DOL-Fin Orca is at 3:00 into the video above.
cool: and a PB by 1m). My 62m dive was the dive that counted in the final score for the competition. Ron
PS - My dive with the DOL-Fin Orca is at 3:00 into the video above.
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Thanks but that's not my video, I just made it to the closing credits (with wrong role however
Seeing Orca fin in action is really beautiful for the eyes, especially water entry where water is cut and it spins at the edges of the blade and tiny bubbles are spinning around
thanks for the video and pictures. great to see the X 18 also. did anyone there try it.
i just went to Brussels to attend a monofin swimming workshop given by Valter Mazzei.
mikemaric.com | Monofin Stage - Belgium
besides being a super sympathetic and funny Italian, Valter is the trainer of the Italian national finswimming team and coach of Stefano Figini, one of the worlds top finswimmers.
so, i guess these guys know their stuff when it comes to monofins.
i was talking to Valter about the Dolphin which he had seen only in pictures.
when asking him what he thought, he replied that it would be difficult to comment since he had never, nor anyone he knows tried it, but that he did not believe such a concept could yet rival a well built classic hyper fin.
obviously, that was not the answer i was fishing for, lol. he proceeded to tell me i would be much better off with a hyperfin from Rocketfin or Starfins which are according to him presently the best of the bunch, until something like the Orca had proven itself.
on the other hand i think that Ron is doing a pretty good job at proving his fins.
of course it would help if other big name divers, finswimmers started using them too...
i just went to Brussels to attend a monofin swimming workshop given by Valter Mazzei.
mikemaric.com | Monofin Stage - Belgium
besides being a super sympathetic and funny Italian, Valter is the trainer of the Italian national finswimming team and coach of Stefano Figini, one of the worlds top finswimmers.
so, i guess these guys know their stuff when it comes to monofins.
i was talking to Valter about the Dolphin which he had seen only in pictures.
when asking him what he thought, he replied that it would be difficult to comment since he had never, nor anyone he knows tried it, but that he did not believe such a concept could yet rival a well built classic hyper fin.
obviously, that was not the answer i was fishing for, lol. he proceeded to tell me i would be much better off with a hyperfin from Rocketfin or Starfins which are according to him presently the best of the bunch, until something like the Orca had proven itself.
on the other hand i think that Ron is doing a pretty good job at proving his fins.
of course it would help if other big name divers, finswimmers started using them too...
Do not expect any endorsement of the hydrofoil fin from finswimmers, especially not from those who train for many years the technique with the classical monofin, and even less from those who teach the technique. They are necessarily rather conservative, and might have big problems switching to the different technique the DOLfin requires even if they decided to try it. But most importantly, current CMAS finswimming rules would not permit DOLfin, so even if a finnswimmer tried and liked it, he could not use it in a competition, so it is rather unlikely any finswimmer will start training with it seriously unless the CMAS changes the rules and ratifies the fin.
Hi Noa,
Finswimmer criteria of what a good fin is (to provide extreme speed) differs from what freedivers want to see (most meters traveled per energy used). Often freediving hyper/glide vins are softer with more footpocket angle. A finswimmer would really really hate our monos.
Apart from that I think the dimensions of a finswimmer fin may only have some maximum size. Ron's fin is I think to wide to be allowed in finswimmers competitions.
Finswimmer criteria of what a good fin is (to provide extreme speed) differs from what freedivers want to see (most meters traveled per energy used). Often freediving hyper/glide vins are softer with more footpocket angle. A finswimmer would really really hate our monos.
Apart from that I think the dimensions of a finswimmer fin may only have some maximum size. Ron's fin is I think to wide to be allowed in finswimmers competitions.
We almost had Martin Stepanek try it but schedules were very tight and besides Kona Camp he was teaching Level 2, Instructors etc. Then Ron had to go so it didn't work this time. For the video of first experience with Orca-fin we used experienced freediver but not the strongest monofinner, he liked it a lot however. Next Feb/March will be another chance for Martin to try it
In monofin competitions they really trash on the fin with the turns slamming the blade on the wall. I don´t think I would like to do those kind of turns with a 1200,- fin. But Maybe Ron has tried a few classical monofin turns and can comment on it from a stand point of theory and experience?
DOL-Fins were developed with freediving in mind. To a fin-swimmer, they would not be preferable over a hyperfin for many reasons.
Regarding turns; In Okinawa I made my turns utilizing a 1/2 barrel roll combined with a 1/2 loop and used the fin to push off the wall. This worked well, but was only an option because the pool was fairly deep at both ends (I think 1.5 meters). Other pool events I've been at had shallower turns and I've been using a simple axis spin to turn around, the same as Natalia did with the Orca in Okinawa. This turn is more easy to learn and execute, and although slower, the simple axis spin is more relaxing and I have not seen a noticeable performance change for not doing the other maneuver and utilizing the wall for thrust. I think the fin's thrust efficiency is so high, there is just not much overall benefit to using the wall push and I do just as well to remain more relaxed instead.
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thanks to everyone for the input. i did not clarify, when i was talking with the finswimming guys, it was neither regarding pool finswimming nor freediving.
it was regarding openwater distance finswimming.
there are such competitions in finswimming that go up to around 20km and i was discussing the Dolphin vs Hyper for this type of application. i would be very interested to see what the future shows us in this regard.
on a different note, how much does the technique needed for a Dolphin differ to the one used for a hyper. i would suspect that the basic body ondulations and of course hydrodynamic position would be the same.
it was regarding openwater distance finswimming.
there are such competitions in finswimming that go up to around 20km and i was discussing the Dolphin vs Hyper for this type of application. i would be very interested to see what the future shows us in this regard.
on a different note, how much does the technique needed for a Dolphin differ to the one used for a hyper. i would suspect that the basic body ondulations and of course hydrodynamic position would be the same.
Thanks Ron.
Though I don't have the money I would like to feel how your fin is to swim. Maybe interview a few freedivers and showing them in a youtube vid as they comment how your product feels?
I think the swimming sensation for me is very important, more so than the efficiency part. My current Hyperfin carries a blade that is 'medium', 30 angle, and soft footpocket rubbers rendering the fin feeling very smooth transitioning from the up to downstroke and vice versa. Swimming there for feels very smooth, of a grown smooth elegant feminine character.
How would you characterise your fin?
Could one replace the bending medium to change the fin's character?
Though I don't have the money I would like to feel how your fin is to swim. Maybe interview a few freedivers and showing them in a youtube vid as they comment how your product feels?
I think the swimming sensation for me is very important, more so than the efficiency part. My current Hyperfin carries a blade that is 'medium', 30 angle, and soft footpocket rubbers rendering the fin feeling very smooth transitioning from the up to downstroke and vice versa. Swimming there for feels very smooth, of a grown smooth elegant feminine character.
How would you characterise your fin?
Could one replace the bending medium to change the fin's character?
Hi Trux,
thanks for the CMAS info. i do not however plan to join any comps and like many others am just looking for a good fin to go out on longer swims in open waters.
and THAT is my wholy grail, much more than freediving.
i am a great believer in the Dolphin design such as the X18 or even the Orca, for this application. the hyper however has been tried and tested to perform well in many different scenarios. hence the dillema...
thanks for the CMAS info. i do not however plan to join any comps and like many others am just looking for a good fin to go out on longer swims in open waters.
and THAT is my wholy grail, much more than freediving.
i am a great believer in the Dolphin design such as the X18 or even the Orca, for this application. the hyper however has been tried and tested to perform well in many different scenarios. hence the dillema...
noa, looking at what has evolved in nature suggests that the DOL-fin has the better potential. The fish that have tails like hyperfins tend to be reef dwellers whereas the fast pelagic long distance swimming fish, such as tuna or swordfish, have a tail profile like the DOL-fin. It may take time for the optimum technique to be developed, just like with conventional monofins. I look forward to that, as I'm sure you do too!