Signed Carbon Fiber Fin Just $49

bsmith

For quite some time now, someone in Leander, Texas has been trying to sell on ebay a carbon fiber fin that appears to be signed by J. T. Horton. The seller only wants $49 for it. Seems like a good deal to me. Just wondering if @Horton can confirm that this fin is genuine and that the signature is in fact his. The ebay link is this https://www.ebay.com/itm/Carbon-Fiber-Water-Ski-Fin-/264959121697

Since that link will die in 6 days (although it has been relisted about 6 times now), I have provided a screen shot of the ebay listing as well.

The_MS

That’s his sig. is it a 106?

MISkier

Note that the $49 is the starting bid. No "Buy It Now" price. Reserve for that item is probably quite high, I would imagine. Hence, the re-listing that is occurring.

Bruce_Butterfield

$49 is a little steep for a target, but does add a lot to the personal satisfaction.

https://www.ballofspray.com/forum#/discussion/14688/carbon-fins-are-awesome

buoyboy1

I have a 116 blade on SIA 55046 under slalom that is also autographed in case someone wants to go old school.

Martin

Need more browser tabs 😂

bsmith

@MISkier If I am remembering correctly, that fin keeps getting relisted because no one will even offer the starting bid price. I think a bid of $49 will get that fin.

Horton

that is a really early fin. Likely a 98. 98s are probably the best fin I ever made. I had to change material suppliers at one point and I never could get back to that exact layup. if you've ever wanted to try a CarbonFin and you don't mind the thickness being just under .1 that's the fin. 106 and 116 models were an attempt to recreate this fin.

ral

@bsmith , after @Horton 's comment, you might get competing bids from fellow ballers...

BraceMaker

Savage number of browser tabs

bsmith

@ral I have watched that ebay listing for a number of weeks and could have won it several times before. Since @Horton left the fin business so many years ago, I figured that it likely wasn't considered as good as current production fins so I left it alone. Now that Horton has mentioned the special status of this fin, I am thinking again about it, but it would seem that Horton would want it back in his collection if he doesn't already still have an example from that early best generation of his fin.

Horton

oh my God no please. no. I don't need more fins.

Dirt

I was going to offer 49 cents shipped. I am waiting for Hortons airfoil shaped balsa wood topped jumpers to go on sale.
Oh wait, they exploded off the second wake. My bad.

Horton

says a helicopter pilot who once ran into power lines

ForrestGump

Dave, did you really hit the power lines with your chopper??? For chopper pilots, that's like backing into your neighbors mailbox isn't it?

Bruce_Butterfield

I thought a chopper pilot hitting power lines was more like driving your wife's new car into the neighbor's swimming pool after a night of tequilla shots at the topless bar?

Dirt

Hard to see wires on goggles

Horton

Beer Goggles?

david_ski

Seeing the listing reminded me that I had one on the shelf. Maybe I need to try it again

BlueSki

@Horton, why were you signing your fins? I really want @Dirt and others to answer because those responses are likely funnier than the real story.

Horton

@BlueSki honestly I don't remember how it got started and just became a thing.

Dirt

He signed them so when he died testing his defective products there would be a forensic trail

Horton

or whar @dirt said

Jody_Seal

I got you a dollar!!

kurtis500

Soooooo.... what was the issue with these fins? Didnt work or..??

Horton

@kurtis500 they were actually very popular for a few years. I sold about 1,000 of them before the sales dried up. The flex of the fins compensated for "some deficit" in the skis of that era. It was a time when skis were first becoming all carbon with CNC cut PVC cores. As the factories got a better handle on longitudinal and torsional flex the additional flex of the CarbonFins became unnecessary.

Horton

@david_ski That fin was my own shape. It should make a ski feel more stable to apex on both side and carve back a little more slowly but hold more angle through centerline. It will also make a ski slightly slower - you can just run a little less wing or less depth/length.

david_ski

@Horton More stable at the Apex is what I remember. I was using it on an HO-Monza at the time. The Monza (at least mine) had a really touchy sweet spot but it was really quick when you were on it just right. The Carbon Fin mellowed out the narrow sweet spot and helped me at the apex. I then went to D3-RCX and never used it since.

kurtis500

@horton if I read that correctly, the carbon fin was more flexible than aluminum? And now an aluminum fin is fine?

Horton

@kurtis500
the CarbonFins were not much softer than the standard aluminum fins. The impact was subtle. At the peak of the sport tiny tweaks can make a big difference. A lot has changed since then. Boats, ski design, technique....

kurtis500

@horton were they designed to be softer than the aluminum counterpart? Generally carbon composites will be stiffer than an aluminum part of similar shape and size. Just curious