Which type of twin fin is best for you? Eight styles explained
Updated 2026-09-19
A twin fin fish suits soft to medium waves and a rider who wants fun over performance. A rounded pin twin covers the widest range, from ankle high to well overhead. A performance twin suits someone coming off a thruster who wants more speed without giving up control. Here is how I sort the eight shapes I actually ride.
The retro fish: swallowtail and keels for small to medium waves
This is the original Lis fish shape, named after San Diego kneeboarder Steve Lis, who put a swallowtail and keel fins under a standing surfer in the 1960s. It has a beaky nose, plenty of thickness, and is usually short and wide. It flies down the line in soft waves and handles big turns, but it is hard on the knees and back over a long session, and it tops out around five to seven feet unless you are an exceptional surfer. Anything one to three feet, this shape is a genuinely different, more playful feel than a standard shortboard.
The stinger: a pulled-in swallowtail with a following
Mark Richards took the Lis fish further in the late 1970s and early 1980s, adding a stinger, a step in the outline that pulls a wide point back into a narrower swallowtail. His original boards had glassed-in fins; modern versions carry an extra fin slot and are often ridden with a small trailer fin at the back, which moves the shape away from a pure twin. This stinger family covers everything from an old-style board with a hint of vee through to modern single-into-double concave versions, and it has a huge wave range, working in bigger, steeper waves and beach breaks.
The rounded pin twin: my pick for an all rounder
Take the stinger shape and swap the swallowtail for a rounded pin and you get the version I reach for most. It keeps the wide point for speed and a narrower tail for control, and it holds from one or two feet through to seven or eight feet. My own example is a locally shaped double stringer twin pin around 6'6 by 21 3/8 by 2 7/8. It is flat rockered with a mild concave, and on a trip to the Maldives it ranked third for top speed of every board I have measured. Flat rocker, a flyer ahead of the pin, and a double stringer for strength make it my choice for a single travel board.
The performance twin: modern construction, diamond tail
The Campbell Designed Binary Twin is built with Exo Flex construction, so it has no wood stringer but carries a carbon strip on the deck and bottom, plus a single subtle acceleration channel. It has a diamond tail rather than a swallowtail, which trades some pivot area for a more pulled-in outline, and it carries noticeably more rocker and less weight than the retro shapes. It has taken cyclone swells and hollow, barrelling shorebreak without breaking, and it travels well. Anyone moving from a thruster to a twin for the first time will feel the extra speed off the bottom turn immediately on a board like this.
The collector's twin: shaped by a world champion
A Mark Richards Mega Twin carries nose rocker and a narrower nose than his earlier boards, aimed at a more performance-oriented rider. It runs three fin slots, so it is usually ridden with a small trailer fin, which takes it slightly outside a pure twin fin brief, but the single to double concave underneath is a genuinely modern shape. Beyond the surfing, a board shaped by a four time world champion is worth having in a quiver for what it represents in twin fin history.
The easy mid twin: for anyone coming off a high-volume board
A Channel Islands Mid Twin at 7'1 is a simple, no-fuss board built for anyone with mobility limits, a beginner to intermediate skill level, or a rider coming off a longer board. At 100 kilograms and 6'2, I can ride mine in small or big conditions without drama, and it takes Channel Islands BMT twins or almost any comparable fin without fuss. It is also one of the more widely stocked shapes, so it is easy to find secondhand or order new.
The mid-length twin: built to last
A 7'6 channel bottom mid-length twin, shaped locally, has a fairly wide nose, thick forgiving rails, and a bottom that runs single into double concave into vee channels. It costs more than an off the rack board and takes longer to build, but it covers everything from groveling at the beach to a cyclone swell at the points. This is the shape Torren Martyn made popular again, and it earns its price by working in nearly every condition you will actually surf.
The performance mid-length: EPS speed without extra bulk
The Campbell Designed Mid Mod is 6'9 and 48.5 litres, built in EPS with Exo Flex construction and a single acceleration channel at the tail. It needs less volume than a PU board of the same size because of the lighter EPS build, has a mild flat-to-vee bottom that turns sharply and handles steep takeoffs, and has traveled overseas without damage. It suits an intermediate to advanced surfer who wants more rocker and a more pulled-in nose than a standard longboard, in a shorter package.
The long twin: for a longboarder who wants to try a twin
The Campbell Designed Middle Toe is 8'8, 22 inches wide and 3 inches thick, built in EPS with Exo Flex, and it sets its fins further back than most twins for extra control on a board this size. On the biggest, fattest waves at my local point it produced a 400-plus metre ride, clocking 38.7 km/h (24.0 mph), and it paddles well enough to compete with any 9'6 to 12 foot glider in the lineup.
The specialty twin: the fastest board I have measured
An Album Moonstone in diamond tail, the largest one built for me, has a very flat rocker and channels running from about two feet off the tail. It is more pulled in than the swallowtail version I also own, does not like super hollow waves because you cannot ride too close to the nose, and it is the fastest board I have ever surfed at 41.7 km/h (25.9 mph) over a 400 metre wave.
The salvage twin: what a discarded board can become
Sometimes the right twin fin is one nobody else wanted. A locally shaped board with a pulled-in swallowtail, flat rocker and a contemporary single to double concave into vee turned up secondhand after its original glassed-on fins were destroyed in a motorcycle accident. Refitted with Futures boxes so different fins could be tried, it now works in almost every condition. Checking with local shapers for boards nobody wants is a legitimate way to find a twin fin that suits your local wave type.
Questions people ask
What is the most versatile twin fin shape to own?
A rounded pin twin, ideally 6'6 to 6'8, holds the widest wave range of any shape here, from one or two feet through to seven or eight feet, with or without a flyer or channels.
Which twin fin is easiest for a beginner or bigger rider?
A mid twin around 7'1, like a Channel Islands Mid Twin, is the most forgiving. It paddles well, has no tricky bottom contour and works at any skill level.
Do I need a trailer fin on a twin fin board?
Only if the board is drilled for three fins, like some Mark Richards models. A true twin fin runs two fins and does not need a trailer to feel stable.
Is a performance twin a big jump from a thruster?
It is a change, not a compromise. Boards like the Campbell Designed Binary Twin add noticeable speed off the bottom turn while still handling a full range of wave sizes.
Are channel bottom twins worth the extra build cost?
For a mid-length that has to work everywhere, from small beach days to a cyclone swell, yes. See how much difference the channels themselves make in do surfboard channels even work.
Fin choice changes every one of these boards more than the shape does. I cover which twin fins to run on your board in how to choose fins for your twin fin surfboard and go deeper on hybrid options in 8 hybrid fins for your twin fin surfboard. For the fin shapes themselves, start at twin fin fins explained. The full current lineup, including several of the boards above, sits on my current quiver, and boards like the Album Moonstone and A Mano twin pin that have since moved on are logged on boards I have sold. If you are deciding between fin setups altogether, twin, quad or thruster is the wider decision.