fins and daggerboards

Question
Hello , I just bought a Mistral Equipe and want a really decent fin on it. I haven't windsurfed in twenty years, and alot of things are different.  At the swap meet I found this awesome fin. It is a Fin Works Wing 380 Tuttle design.  Span 15'(38cm), area 49.9'(322cm).  It was $30 and the price on the internet is around $130.  It looked so good and for so cheap I bought it. Now, though I am wondering if it is to small.  It says on the fin for sail size between 6.0 and 7.2.  My sail is a 6.3, but this being a heavier course racing board it will go a little slower than a short board and need a litle more fin area, am I right? The fin is brand new and I don't want to sail it then find out it is to small then the fin is not brand new anymore. The fin and my board are us box. Is there some way to exchange fins, I like the one I have but one size up would make me feel a lot better, or do I have the correct one? I weigh 170 lb., so I am at about average weight.

Answer
Hey Louis,

That fin should work fairly well on that board. I use a 15" fin on a '91 Equipe with sails from 6.5-8.5 and it seems to work just fine. Sometimes it seems like a larger fin would work a bit better  with the 8.5 but my budget won't allow a new fin right now. With a bigger fin you may get the board to plane a little sooner but the fin you bought should still get the board on a plane as long as there is enough wind. For what you paid for the fin, it's worth using, even if doesn't perform quite as well as a larger fin. Being that you bought it at a swap meet, unless there was some agreement to exchange it, you are probably stuck with it anyway. With no exchange agreement, one of the options you have would be to ebay it and get your money back or maybe a bit more, and then shop around for a bigger fin. But, my suggestion is to just use it and see how well it works. It may take a few days on the water to determine if it is performing poorly or it may just suprise you with good performance. Sail to fin size recommendations are usually fairly good, but it usually means for newer style boards which are shorter and wider. With your long board it may work well and may not. All you can do at this point is try it.

Hope this helps.
Keep on sailing,
Windlover