This is the original Guy Takayama signature center fin with his trademarked squared tip. The unique cutaway base delivers looseness and maneuverability while using the displaced area further up the trailing edge to provide more surface area and drive. Precision flex in the last third of the tip of the fin gives you more speed and projection out of your turns. The GT Manta fin will give new life to any board and can be ridden as a single fin or in 2+1 configuration.
Posted by Glenn on 26th Sep 2016
I absolutely Love my 9'5 GT- Aki'i board. It rips! I've ridden it this past week in solid overhead clean waves here in Montauk,NY.
I tried it with the 8" Manta and carbon side bites and even with the fin forward in chest high waves it was too stiff. So I took the side bites out and tried again. Still too stiff.
I've been surfing 53 years and love high performance longboards. I love the board but when it comes to throwing those wrapping arc top turns/cutbacks or feeling the total maneuverability of the board I just didn't find the fin loose enough for that redirection ability of the board.
Perhaps in a much larger wave I would enjoy some of that stiffness as the fin did have good drive off the bottom.
Reason I could sense such a difference in the fin was because originally I used a 9 1/4" Andreini Flex fin that really was loose and I could still draw deep off the bottom turn with spring and drive. I decided to order the Manta and carbon sidebites to see if perhaps it was even better.
Sorry to say it just didn't have the loose feel I was looking for.
But/and....So many people have asked me about the GT. I'm really pleased!