John Simon Quad Type I
John Simon's Type I quad — an upright template with blunt tips, drawn to tighten the arc on longer boards.
The Fin
John Simon's Type I quad — an upright template with blunt tips, drawn to tighten the arc on longer boards.
Simon shapes in Ventura, and the Type I is the first of the two quad templates he drew for True Ames. The fins stand relatively upright and the tips are narrow and blunted, which puts the bite near the centre of the turn rather than out at the tip.
What it is for
Simon drew these with longer quad eggs in mind — boards in the 7' range that want to turn shorter than their length suggests. They also work on shorter, flatter, wider-tailed boards, where the same geometry reads as control in a pocketed wave rather than as tightness.
Type I or Type II
The Type I is the upright, blunt-tipped one: control in curvy, compact surf. The Type II narrows the base and adds extended hatchet tips to tighten the radius while keeping a standard quad's total area.
Specifications
What people say
They really help make my longer quad fin eggs, which tend to be in the 7'+ range, surf like they are shorter boards because of the tight turning radius and sensitivity they promote.
They also work on shorter, flatter, wider-tailed boards, balancing punchy flickiness in the lip with control in pockety waves.
Put it on a quad egg, especially a longer one, or a wide-tailed shorter board, when your waves are small, tight and bowly and you want quick turns and sensitivity. If you ride bigger, more powerful surf and want stability and drive instead, the Danny Hess Noriega Quad is the more composed choice.
Futures-compatible quad set in solid fiberglass designed by shaper John Simon and made by True Ames. The templates are relatively upright with narrow, blunted tips, pairing larger front fins with noticeably smaller rears. It is intended for quad eggs in the 7-foot-plus range and for shorter, flatter, wide-tailed boards, and was designed for smaller, tighter, compact and bowly waves.
Mentioned in the review — Danny Hess Noriega Quad — not something we carry.