Monofin blade lamination

[salibandy]

Hi all. I've been thinking about monofins recently, and was wondering about how the lamination differs between manufacturers and how the lamination could affect performance.

The lamination of my fin is interesting. The trailing edge is wave-like, unlike any other fin I've seen. I mean, there are other fins with wave-like lamination, but they all end with a straight trailing edge. Anyway, this wave-like lamination of the blade seems to be a good design, because my fin does not show any v-bend. My fin features a soft blade by the way.

I would like to hear about your fin's lamination and performance. It would be interesting to see how the fin's lamination and stiffness affects v-bend. Of course there are bound to be other factors like different types of fibreglass and how the user kicks his fin, but let us ignore that and discuss the lamination for now.

Here's a picture of my fin's lamination:

 

[bite ya]

Salibandy, i have nothing to contribute to this thread except that is one awsome looking fin my friend!!

Where did you get it?

 

[salibandy]

Hey Chris, I believe it's been posted here a couple of times. But for your benefit, here ya go: http://www.finswimming.net/

The guy's name is Maksym Moroz. He's a real nice guy to deal with.

Here are 2 pictures of the new fins from Triton:

[URL="http://img137.imageshack.us/my.php?image=p1030349wg5.jpg"][/URL]

 

[DivingDane]

as discussed in previous threads i also have one of these fins and although laminations are totally different to Salibandies fin i am VERy happy with the performance and glide length this fin offers for a guy like me with pretty VERY average technique i am still able to reduce my number of kicks for 50m down to 7-8 per lap (50m pool) anyway.

i'm not completely sure that a wavey shaped trailing edge does much if anythinf for or against performance but the lamination style will surely make a difference in how force is distributed through the blade and where load is focused. my fin (very soft) only shows slight V-bend when exerting very large force, but seeing as the fin is designed more for soft slow undulations there is NO noticable v bending.


DD

 

[bite ya]

Thanks for that, i bought my monofin from leader (sports carbon) it was the first fin i ever ordered and didn't know much about them at the time and ordered a medium flex but after a while due to the load exerted on the center it snapped and is now held together and patched with fibre glass...

I will definatly look at one of these next time, may help with my glide!

 

[serafino]

The trailing edge shape is imperative in the efficiency of the design. You get a whole lot of vortexes at the back of the fin it can either benefit you greatly or create a lot of drag. Vortexes form off to the side on the edge of the fin which create resistance which is why dolphins, whales, even sharks, have a lobe on the end(s) of their fin to disrupt the vortex and improve efficiency.

 

[salibandy]

The fin provides me great propulsion, not any less than any other monofin. If it's supposed to cause me drag, I haven't noticed it.

I'm afraid I don't quite understand the logic. Could you provide some literature? I would like to read about this, it seems interesting.

 

[serafino]

Here let me try to explain it a little better. Well every fin no matter what the shape is going to have drag. What I was merely saying is that shape can make a difference when it comes to efficiency. Not that this fin is good or bad. Hope that clears this up.