I thought it would be obvious, but apparently no one has caught on. For those of you that are uninformed, the thruster fin setup is obsolete and inferior to a quad or 5 fin setup on a shortboard. Why do I say this? For my first example, look at Kelly Slater. He is the only one on tour who rides a quad setup, and ironically he wins every event and is an x11 world champion. Is this because of skill, or has Mr. Slater discovered the secret to high performance surfing? I suspect it's the latter. The day that real rippers like Josh Kerr discover Mr. Slater's secrets will be the day that the old man gets shown just how old he is; Mr. Slater has proven that the quad is superior to the thruster in every way possible, which leads me onto my second point.

My second point is that riding a quad allows you to generate more speed, more efficiently, without applying half of the effort. I would imagine that pro surfers who ride thrusters get tired out easier, allowing surfers like Mr. Slater to quickly get ahead. Quads also allow you to turn easier, allowing for more radical surfing. The extra fins also allow you to throw more spray, leading to the illusion that you're a power surfer. On top of all this, there are literally no downsides to riding a quad; they look better, go faster, turn easier and tighter, and ultimately lead to stylish, "new school" surfing.

I have reached the conclusion that thrusters are an outdated, failed experiment and should be treated as such. With so many designs out there, you have to ask yourself if thrusters are actually a "high performance" fin setup, or a clever marketing gimmick. Does "tech flex" or "honeycomb" actually impact your surfing? Probably not. All it does is get the kooks to spend $80 on a pair of fins when a $20 pair would be fine. Starting tomorrow, I will publicly denounce anyone riding a thruster shortboard and explain to them why it's inferior. I intend to email this in to the editor of Transworld Surf in hope that this message can reach a broader audience.

In closing, I recommend throwing out your thruster fins and buying a quad. Hopefully someone learned a thing or two from this post and is now properly informed.

Although you sound sligthy trollish, I'm going to respond in a legit fashion.  What's it matter? Why push for standardized equipment by over-praising any one surfboard/design?

Josh Kerr uses quads a lot, or at least he used to.  He probably feels more comfortable using thrusters in contests and Kelly feels more comfortable on quads.  I would say the secret there is not about how many fins are under a board, but who's most comfortable on top of the board.  Kelly wins (and not every contest...just watch this year...I think he's losing his contest edge unfortunately) b/c he's had more experience and he's comfortable being in a place where most others are nervous or hyped up or shitting themselves.

I surfed a quad in Jax for a year.  It was great in longer rolling waves, so fast with no effort.  The longest rides I've ever gotten were at matanzas on a quad.  I moved back down to south florida and it was horrible.  Short waves, short period swell, wind chop.  I appreciate the thruster more than ever.  Different designs for different waves.  And the different makes & models of fins do make a difference.  Try out some on the cheap with that Finatic program (free plug LOL).  It's worth it. 

+1 i endorse quads

josh kerr shreds on anything singles quads threes

i like four fins bc it gives the illusion of being a power surfer lol well put

Serf Therapy

Somebody pointed this out previously and I noticed it myself in one of the ads, but Kelly's quads are not real quads.  The spacing between the side fins and the trailers is huge.  It's almous like a thruster but with with two fins in the back instead of one.

Opinions are like:________

Ever seen Kelly ride a board with no fins? Ever seen Kelly golf? Ever seen Kelly play with Jack?

One fin, 2 fin, red fin, blue fin,

One, two, three, four, five....Kelly can count.

Ride what you want, the fins don't make the surfer.

Troll or no troll? I'll take the under.

oops..did I fill this out correctly?

Yes Kooklando....Its a 5 fin set up for many options. Pierown i dont know what your angle is, but your posts suck! Pointless!  Thanks MartinA

Single fin!!!

How many of Kellys world title wins are on a tri and how many were on a five fin? Yeah, thats what I thought. Kelly can ride and old door. Thrusters arent going anywhere quick.

u guys you think your hot shit.  I have 8 fins on mine  8 

Hahaha

it does sound like a name for a woman toy lol

Dude what?

pierownage = waterturky?

No, I am not 90lbwaterturkey. I honestly don't know why people think that.

No, but a single fin shortboard (with side bites) is not a viable fin setup.