Jack Robinson's Fin Setup: The Rake Template Behind Surfing's Best Barrels

Paris 2024. Teahupo'o is doing its thing, heaving slabs of Pacific over a reef that has hospitalized better surfers than you. Jack Robinson swings on a bomb behind the peak, stalls into a cavern most people would paddle away from, and vanishes. A few seconds later he gets spat out the end for a 9.87 and an Olympic silver.

Watch the replay and forget the drop for a second. Watch how the board holds the wall.

That hold isn't luck. It's the fins. Jack Robinson's fin setup is built around one job, and it isn't airs.

It's drive and hold, the two things that keep a board glued to a vertical face while the lip tries to throw you off the back. He's the best barrel rider on tour, and his gear reflects exactly that.

What Jack Robinson Rides

Jack rides the Futures Jack Robinson Signature thruster, a fin in the Rake template family. Futures makes it in two constructions, Honeycomb and Techflex, in small, medium, and large. Like most performance thrusters, the center fin is a touch smaller than the two side fins, which frees up the tail for tighter turns without killing the drive off the front foot.

Under his feet it's mostly Sharp Eye surfboards shaped by Marcio Zouvi, with Eric Arakawa guns when the waves get genuinely life-threatening. He recently jumped to JS Industries too. Different boards, same fin philosophy. The fin is the constant.

Here's the thing people miss. Jack isn't chasing the loosest, skatiest setup on the planet. He grew up surfing The Box and other Western Australia slabs near Margaret River, waves that punish a board that breaks loose at the wrong moment. His fins are tuned to never let go.

The Rake Template Is the Whole Story

Rake is the angle a fin sweeps back from its base. More rake means a longer, more curved outline and a turn that draws out instead of snapping tight. The Jack Robinson template sits on the high-rake end on purpose.

The payoff is lift. A raked fin spreads water pressure more evenly across the foil, and Futures pegs that at as much as a 12% lift increase over an upright template. That extra lift is what you feel as drive. You set your rail at the bottom of a six-foot wall, and the board doesn't just turn, it accelerates through the arc and shoots you up into the lip with speed you didn't have to pump for.

Hold is the other half. On a steep, fast face the raked outline keeps the tail anchored when an upright fin would skip out. It's the difference between trusting your board through a Teahupo'o bottom turn and getting bucked. We broke this down in our guide to fin rake if you want the full geometry.

Now flip it. An upright, low-rake template like the ones the air crew favor pivots tight and releases easy. That's Italo Ferreira's world, where the goal is to snap the tail free and rotate.

Jack's setup is the opposite instinct. He wants the board to stay connected and carry speed, because at Teahupo'o or J-Bay the wave does the work and your only job is to not fall off.

Honeycomb vs Techflex: Two Fins for Two Days

The two constructions aren't just colorways. They flex differently, and Jack swaps based on conditions.

Honeycomb: the everyday fin

The Honeycomb version has a balanced flex pattern, lively at the tip but stable at the base. It's the fin Futures says he developed for surfing above and below the lip, which is a polite way of saying it does everything. It springs back off a turn with a little pop, so the board feels alive without ever feeling nervous. This is the one most of us would actually want.

Techflex: the heavy-day weapon

Techflex is stiffer and more controlled. It's Jack's pick when the waves are pumping and he wants the fin to hold a line instead of flexing under load. On a big day a softer fin can feel vague at speed, like the tail is slightly behind your decisions.

The stiff Techflex large kills that lag. Drop into something fast and meaty and the board does exactly what you ask, right now, no negotiation.

Two fins, two feelings, one template philosophy. Lively when it's fun, locked when it's serious.

Should You Ride Jack Robinson's Fins?

Real talk: most of us don't surf Teahupo'o. So no, you probably don't need the large Techflex. That fin is built for power surfing on serious waves, and bolting it into a groveler for waist-high beach break is like putting rally tires on a grocery run. You'll get drive you can't use and lose the quick release that makes small waves fun.

But the Rake template itself? Legit for a huge range of surfers. If you ride points, reefs, or any open wall where flow and speed matter more than skate, a raked thruster will make your surfing feel better immediately.

The Honeycomb medium in particular is one of the more forgiving high-performance fins out there. Pick your size by your weight, not by your ego, and check our step-up fin guide before you load out for a bigger swell.

If you're a beach-break surfer who lives for airs and pocket snaps, be honest with yourself. You probably want something more upright. We laid out why the wave dictates the fin in our beach break vs reef break breakdown.

Jack's gear is a barrel-and-power kit. Buying it because he's your favorite surfer won't make you surf like him.

Size Beats Signature Every Time

Here's the part the marketing won't tell you. The template gets the headlines, but the size is what makes or breaks the feel. Jack runs a large because he's a powerful adult surfing serious waves. Drop that same large under a 140-pound surfer and the fins feel stiff and stuck, like the board is dragging an anchor it doesn't need.

Futures sizes its fins by rider weight for a reason. Too big and you lose all the snap and the board feels like work. Too small and the tail washes out the moment you load it up.

Get it right and the board disappears under your feet, which is the whole point. Our fin basics guide and the sizing guide spell out the weight ranges so you don't have to guess.

Key Takeaways

• Jack Robinson rides the Futures Jack Robinson Signature thruster, a high-rake template, in Honeycomb for everyday surf and stiffer Techflex when it's pumping.
• Rake is the entire point. The drawn-out outline adds up to 12% more lift than an upright fin, which is what you feel as drive and hold on a steep face.
• His setup is the opposite of an air-focused, skatey configuration. It's tuned to stay connected and carry speed through barrels and big walls.
• The Honeycomb medium suits a wide range of surfers on quality waves. The Techflex large is overkill for small beach break.
• Match the template to where you surf and your weight, not to the name on the fin.

If you've been staring at a wall of signature fins wondering which template fits the waves you actually ride, that's the exact problem our fin recommender solves in about a minute. Tell it your board, your weight, and your home break, and it'll point you at the right rake instead of the prettiest sticker. Want to understand the trade-offs first? Our fin setups guide walks through how drive, hold, and release change with every template choice.