Tappy 1 Volan Fin — Longboard
Tappy Yoshikawa's reading of the classic upright pivot fin, made in volan, in 9.75" and 10.0" — a log fin that turns tight and still holds up front.Volan fiberglass for a standard longboard box, in two sizes.
The Fin
Tappy Yoshikawa's reading of the classic upright pivot fin, made in volan, in 9.75" and 10.0" — a log fin that turns tight and still holds up front.
Volan fiberglass for a standard longboard box, in two sizes. The outline is upright with a medium base and a full tip: upright for quick direction changes when your foot is over the fin area, full up top for hold in the wave face when you move to the nose. Yoshikawa started surfing at 12 and shaped his first board at 17, returned to shaping at 30 after a decade away, and counts watching Skip Frye work as the formative experience.
How that reads
Upright templates pivot. Weight the tail and the board turns tight around the fin rather than arcing away from it, which is what makes a heavy log workable in the pocket. Walk forward and the tip area takes over, holding the tail into the face while the nose is loaded. True Ames builds its volan around flex as much as outline, and the flex here comes from the body of the fin rather than only the tip, so it loads through a turn and gives it back as projection.
Who it suits
Traditional logs where you want both halves of the ride — time on the tip and a real turn off the tail. The 10.0" for more hold on a longer or heavier board, the 9.75" for a slightly freer tail. Multi-dimensional is the claim, and it is the right one: this is not a single-purpose noseriding fin.
Specifications
The upright shape allows for quick directional changes when your foot is over the fin area, and hold in the face of the wave when you move to the nose.
Put it in a single-box log you noseride, especially one with built-in glide that doesn't need the fin to be the engine — it holds while you walk and pivots tight when you step back over it. If you want maximum planted hold for long hang sessions, the Velzy Noserider gives you more area.
The Tappy 1 is an upright pivot fin from Japanese shaper Takuya "Tappy" Yoshikawa, made by True Ames in volan for a longboard single box. The outline is tall and upright with little rake, and the denser volan glass flexes through the body of the fin rather than only the tip. It comes in 9.75" and 10.0" sizes and is built for noseriding and planted-tail trim on traditional logs.
Mentioned in the review — Velzy Noserider · Troy Elmore Pivot — not something we carry.