Just as with the bow of a ship, the traditional surfboard fin develops a wave as it displaces the water in its path. The resulting turbulence locations drag on the surfboard. The bulb of the Bullet Fin lowers this drag by creating a brand-new (primary) fin wave in front of the original (secondary) wave.
Winged fins are another kind of surfboard fin, the genesis of which was America's Cup sailboat style. The Starfin was created in the 1980s by the America's Cup luxury yacht designer, Ben Lexcen, who had designed the winged keel for the America's Cup boat, Australia II. The small thruster-sized fin, the Red, Pointer 3D is manufactured by FCS.
The purpose of winglets, as in airplane style, is to increase lift (horizontal turning force in the case of surfboard fins) while reducing drag, by reducing the fin-tip vortex. Fins with a camber have an unbalanced profile. In windsurfing camber is utilized to increase the lift to drag ratio of the fin and to minimise cavitation and the risk of spin-out.
As the camber is fixed to one side, performance when cruising in one instructions is enhanced but performance in the other way is weakened. Fins with self-adjusting camber provide the improved qualities in both port side and starboard side cruising directions. Spitfire fins are based upon the Wing setup utilized by Spitfire aeroplanes.
In 2004 Frank Fish introduced the world to Whale Bumps with their Tubercle Result. A number of fin manufacturers attempted making some fins at that time, after the article was discussed on Swaylock's design Online forum. The procedure of grinding bumps, which are properly foiled, into an existing fin is a strenuous, time consuming task.
Roy Stuart worked on wood prototypes for years before developing the very first polycarbonate, 3d printed, whale bumped surf board fins in 2013. https://ridzeal.com/longboard-deck-shapes-and-how-to-choose-a-longboard/ and Tri-fins [modify] The tri-fin's design tries to include the slide of a longboard and the efficiency of a shortboard into a single layout. The additional fins guarantee that even what riding down the line, 2, or a minimum of one, vertical control surface remains in black water (not unstable foam) enables riders much better turning abilities.