Hobie MD180 turbo fins and aftermarket fins

I have a 2022 hobie compass with mirage drive 180. I want to get upgraded turbo fins. The hobie brand seems pretty expensive, but I now they will work. Is there an equally good aftermarket version of the turbo fins?

You gotta pay to play with the newer drives. The older ones have aftermarket versions of the turbofins. I think one even lets you use the standard mast so it's great to save money there.

Other than that. The best place to get fins IMO is outdoorplay. They usually have 20% off coupons during holidays but they always have a 15% off for first orders when you sign up to their mailing list.

https://www.outdoorplay.com/pages/coupon

https://www.outdoorplay.com/products/hobie-md-180-turbo-fin-kit

The official Hobie rubber fins are insanely expensive, IMHO.

I'm making my own turbo fins for several sets of GT and V2 drives that I'm assembling from various parts that I've collected. I use poured urethane rubber, and I'm sure it's essentially the same material that Hobie uses. It's not that expensive, and it does not take much of it to make a fin, so I can't see how Hobie justifies the high prices...

Thanks both!

How is your fin manufacturing going?

How is your fin manufacturing going?

I've made a 3-part aluminum mold, and poured a couple of experiments. I think I've got it figured out, and will try making a few next week...

NWM, I gotta say you're always making something cool AND useful.  Looking forward to see how those turn out!

Just curious,  how much are the total weight?

Just curious,  how much are the total weight?

If you mean the fins, they are clones of Hobie Turbo fins. The one in this picture had a few issues, so I didn't bother cleaning it up. The only trick is that the Hobie fins use 2 different hardnesses of rubber (the black and gray parts), and I get a similar effect by embedding a piece of hard (but flexible) plastic in the middle. I think I've got that part figured out, and also how to (hopefully) eliminate the bubbles.

It turns out that I probably won't get back to this project for a couple of weeks, as I need to order more pourable urethane, and that'll take longer to ship than I expected...

You think any type of heat treatment after the pour or maybe even slight torching could help reduce some bubbles?  I know some people do that with epoxy pours to get rid of bubbles, not sure how that would work with this material. 

You think any type of heat treatment after the pour or maybe even slight torching could help reduce some bubbles?  I know some people do that with epoxy pours to get rid of bubbles, not sure how that would work with this material.

A hair dryer is sufficient to get rid of most bubbles—I just got a little bit lazy with the one in the picture. In any case, I’ll be using a different formulation for the next batch, as I found some poured urethane that is supposed to be even tougher when cured. It’s also supposed to be more watery when mixed, which should further help reduce bubbles.

I do have a vacuum chamber, but the working time is probably too short to use it. If bubbles turn out to be an issue, I’ll use a pressure pot…