FENN Swordfish rudder

Has anyone tried an elliptical rudder (instead of the standard FENN dolphin fin rudder) on the Swordfish yet...?
Wondering if it would make the ski even more responsive?
Any thoughts...?

We have fitted elliptical rudders to our swordfishes as well as our elites and it dramatically improves the low speed responsiveness of the ski as well as directional changes on the wave. The rudder stalls much less too. I suspect top level paddlers don't need elliptical rudders as they invariably have the boat speed to avoid rudder stall and activate the rudder. Mere mortals have lower boat speed and as a result the elliptical rudder offers a real performance benefit. We got ours from Hein van Rooyen at Carbonology.

Hi kmac, is there much of a loss in stability with fitting the elliptical to the Elite.

I know Rob has advised there is a difference but would be interested to hear your thoughts as well.

Have an elliptical rudder fitted to my Mako 6, and major benefits! No loss of stability. The Mako 6 is fairly similar to the Elite, so I imagine results would be too.

Thanks Gary,

I'm at (and sometimes beyond) my limits in the bigger stuff on the elite so didn't want to lose too much stability, but like the sound of improved response with the elliptical.

The bigger rudder can only add to your stability.
It might tip the boat more when you hit the pedals, but having a larger fin only serves to stabilise the boat when it is not being turned.
When I fit a small rudder to my boat, it definitely looses stability compared to the large surf rudder.

I think the current fin is fine? I couldn't imagine how it could be improved with a change.

A mate and I paddled on Sydney harbor last night when that change hit. It was wild but we could paddle only 3 foot apart and talking to each other, well shouting, the whole way. We never had a moment where we'd hit as the swordfish is such a steerable boat! We had a blast running in close formation and paddling very aggressively to milk the wild conditions.

The more i paddle my swordfish the more I can't believe what a great boat it is! I can find absolutely no fault with it, NONE!

Bring on the doctor event!

The more I go out lately, the more I want a longer rudder, not necessarily bigger, just longer so it stays in the bloody water.

I've  had a Swordfish S now for almost two years. I thought of changing rudders but was told that the Orka Elliptical (looks like it is 2-3 cm longer) messes with stability and to me stability is everything. 

Anyway, decided that I just don't steer nicely in down wind conditions and coming from a SUP downwind background, always felt I had more ability to steer on a SUP (which has a fin not a rudder) where I wanted to go. 

First Downwind on the rudder is absolutely amazing - previously I could not steer nicely on the crest of the swell, so I would always go down the swell a bit then try steer but rudder now doesn't work as well at speed. 
Now I can link runs and wherever I want the ski to go I can steer it - very direct feel and finally I can say I can link runs like I can on a SUP. On poor conditions, and not trying just off my best millers is another tell tale.

When turning, the ski now leans into the direction of the turn, but does not feel unstable, if anything, feels really surfy. I can't believe I mucked around for two seasons on the standard rudder. 

Interestingly in the SUP downwind there was a trend for smaller fin's and I have now gone back to a large fin which is an absolute pleasure for downwinding, and the difference on replacing the fins on the swordfish S was massive - clearly better.

Downsides is if hitting a piece of seaweed/kelp, you feel it. Stability is the same, just the shift left or right when steering. Maybe I would not notice if I did not downwind but for downwinding, feels like a gamechanger.

Had the same experience with my Swordfish S. Got a DK 9" rudder and the boat turns on waves like it's on rails. Amazing difference.