McCallum Keel
Jeff McCallum's modern keel: a traditional keel base length with added rake and less area, in solid fiberglass on Futures bases.A pair in solid fiberglass, in charcoal, 5.0" deep on a 5.9" base with a flat inside foil.
The Fin
Jeff McCallum's modern keel: a traditional keel base length with added rake and less area, in solid fiberglass on Futures bases.
A pair in solid fiberglass, in charcoal, 5.0" deep on a 5.9" base with a flat inside foil. McCallum kept the base length of a classic keel, which is where a keel's drive comes from, then added rake and took area out of the body and the tip. What is left still runs down the line like a keel but does not have to be pushed all the way through an arc to get round it.
How that reads
A long base drives the board forward and gives it a settled, fast trim. The added rake and the narrower tip cut wetted surface, so the fin releases at the end of a turn instead of tracking on, and it will change direction without a big committed arc. Against a full traditional keel it gives up some straight-line hold in exchange for release and a shorter turn.
Who it suits
Wide-tailed boards and fish shapes — the craft a keel is normally cut for — ridden by someone who wants more turn out of them than a classic keel allows. Twin fin surfers after keel drive without the tracking that usually comes with it.
Specifications
An upright template with a modest rake and enough base to hold a line, set up to keep a wider-tailed board from washing out in the turn, so the board redirects off the back foot instead of arcing around.
This is the twin you reach for when you want a fish that surfs with rail authority rather than drifting down the line: it tightens the turning radius and gives you a real top turn instead of a long carve. If you want speed and hold over pivot on a wide keel tail, the McCallum Keel pulls harder.
Upright performance twin set designed by San Diego shaper Jeff McCallum and made by True Ames in Futures-compatible solid fiberglass, sold as a pair. The template carries modest rake with enough base to hold a line. It is built for swallowtails, fish and round pins with pulled-in to medium tails.
Mentioned in the review — McCallum Keel · Gephart 70/30 Keels — not something we carry.