Mackie Mini Keel Thruster
Mick Mackie’s Mini Keel Thruster is a three-fin set built from keels: wide bases, shallow depth, and the drive that comes with both.
The Fin
Mick Mackie’s Mini Keel Thruster is a three-fin set built from keels: wide bases, shallow depth, and the drive that comes with both.
A thruster that borrows its templates from twin-fin keels. The front pair run a 7.39" base at only 4" of depth; the rear is shorter in base and less raked to loosen the tail. Solid fiberglass, flat inside foil on the fronts, 50/50 on the rear.
How that reads
Base length is where drive comes from and depth is where drag comes from, so a long, shallow fin holds a line and makes speed down the face without the resistance of a tall upright. The trade is pivot: this set wants to be surfed in long arcs off the rail rather than snapped off the tail, which is why Mackie cut the rear’s base and rake back a touch — so the tail still comes around.
Who it suits
Wide-tailed boards — fish, hybrids and stubbies with three plugs — in surf with enough push to make the drive worth having. If you ride a Mackie Big Twin or Sidecut Keel and want the same feel as a thruster, this is the one.
If this is not the one
Want keel drive as a twin rather than a thruster? The Mackie Sidecut Fish Keel. Want a conventional thruster? The True Ames Thruster or the Timmy Patterson Tri.
Specifications
The wide-based, shallow-depth keels are built to provide maximum drive and projection, with plenty of hold and serious spring off the bottom for wide tail surf craft.
Run this on a wide-tailed fish, hybrid, or groveler with thruster boxes when you want keel speed and drive with more hold than a twin -- it is a thruster that still feels like a keel. If you want a conventional high-performance tri feel, or a two-fin keel's long drawn-out arcs, look elsewhere.
The Mackie Mini Keel Thruster is a three-fin set designed by Mick Mackie and made by True Ames in solid fiberglass, here in the FCS-compatible version. The two side fins are wide-based, shallow-depth keel templates with flat inside foils, and the rear trailer is a slightly smaller version with less rake and a shorter base. The set is intended for wide-tailed fishes, hybrids, and grovelers set up with three boxes.
Mentioned in the review — Mackie Sidecut Fish Keel · Channel Islands Tri — not something we carry.