“Story of the StingFish”
Back in the 70’s we found that twin fins turned quicker than single fins and we are hot on the design from the get go. Twin fin concept was two large rail fins that had a “tow” that pointed at the nose. This made for quicker turns but in some cases when going straight they would tend to drift a little because the board doesn’t know which fin to follow.
By experimenting, I found that if i shaped a double concave between the fins that it also created a keel with the stringer. These boards seemed to have much better directional control + the benefit of more power and acceleration from the combination.
Eventually, i extended the stringer past the tail of the board about an inch increasing the keel length. This reminded us of a sting ray so we called the desing the STING FISH. I then made a nice logo and it became one of our most popular designs of this era.
However in the late 70’s the three fin thruster set up was introduced and the world shifted. We forgot about the sting fish for 30 years. Now with the twin fin movement and more open minded approach to board designs, I happen to stumble upon these original “Sting Fish” logos when i was cleaning out my shaping space so decided to bring back this fabulous design!
When they hit the shop we were stoked that a few of the team guys were stoked and wated to ride them. We ended up selling out of the first run. Most have said “This is the best twin fin i have ever ridden” the power and accelleration of the double concaves is great and the positive feel of the keel just improves the twin fin performance.
We now do StingFish as a twin or quad fin. In the longboards we call is the double barrel SHOT GUN.
-Steve Boehne
