Finterview: Mikey DeTemple MD3

The MD3 Longboard Fin was designed by our favorite Long Island logger, Mikey DeTemple, and is supposed to "bring your longboard to life." I opted for the full meal deal. Ten inches. Top to bottom. It's big, I know. But I was having trouble with the Blue Banana and thought a fin with less area would allow for some clean, drawn out turns. And I'll be damned if it didn't! On head high waves the MD3 digs deep. Like a big keel on the underside of a sailboat, the fins broad, flat surface creates sideways force by displacing water in the opposite direction that the board is trying to tip. Some serious surf science.

You'll know when it won't go, though. Put pressure on it's pivot point on knee high peelers and nothing happens. Straight as an arrow. Sometimes there's just not enough underneath. But on the biguns, when your flying down the face ready to make things right, er, left, the MD3 gets the job done. Oh, and did I mention it's fast, with tons of trim speed for controlled noserides - assuming you wander that far forward. So what more do you wanna know? It's not spectacular on the small stuff. Probably need a pivot fin for that. But when it gets big, or at least up to your ass, the MD3 is an excellent bit of equipment. Case closed.

This Finterview originally appeared on Stoke Harvester's blog