Keel Fins
Long base, shallow depth. Twin keels for fish.
Keel or upright twin?
A keel has a long base and shallow depth and lives on drive: speed and trim down the line, with turns that draw out long rather than pivot. It is the right fin for a fish on a pointbreak or a long wall.
An upright twin is taller and narrower, closer to a thruster side fin. It gives up some drive to turn off the tail in the pocket. The Lovelace Piggyback Keel sits between the two — a keel base under a more upright outline, drawn for boards somewhere between a fish and a shortboard.
Most keels are drawn for fish. The Hobie Fish, Gephart #2 and Channel Islands AMK keels also suit mid-lengths and twin shortboards.
Our picks
3 fins we recommend. Scroll to explore.
Mackie Sidecut Fish Keel
The most extreme keel True Ames makes.
Mick Mackie's sidecut keels: 8" of base under 4.7" of depth, swept back hard, with a pronounced sidecut in the trailing edge. Speed and projection down the line while the board sits low in the water.
- +Fish surfed down the line
- +Long walls and pointbreaks
- +Trim and speed over pocket turns
Lovelace Piggyback Keel
A keel base under an upright outline.
Ryan Lovelace's hybrid keel sits between a wide-based traditional keel and an upright performance twin: drive from the base, with more willingness to change direction than a full-area keel.
- +Boards between a fish and a shortboard
- +Performance hybrid twins
- +Surfers stepping up from standard keels
Tyler Warren Swept Keel
Drives like a keel, comes round when asked.
Tyler Warren's keel keeps the wide base and adds rake, so the tip sits behind the base and releases progressively at the end of a turn. An 80/20 foil, solid fiberglass, Futures compatible.
- +Fish that feel stuck on the rail with a straight keel
- +Keel speed with a tail that releases
Keel Fins: How They Work and Which Set to Buy
Keels look like the one fin design that never changed. The sets on this wall disagree with each other more than any other twin category we stock.
Read the article ›Still not sure?
We carry the full keel fins selection at 4051 Judah St in the Outer Sunset. Bring your board.
Get in touch ›Keel fins are twin surfboard fins with a wide base and a short height. The base is where the drive comes from, so a keel makes speed and projection on a fish or retro twin while sitting the board low in the water. Every keel here is sold as a pair in solid fiberglass or Volan, for FCS or Futures boxes, from True Ames and Wild Things Gallery.