The Gladiator Elite race fin is ideally suited for ocean or choppy water conditions. Its length, template, and surface area really help stabilize the board, and hold course in rough waters. In addition, the Gladiator Elite is possibly the best tracking race fin on the market. (see below for customer feedback) In case you are not really sure why that matters, better tracking helps you in two ways: 1) The less time you have your paddle out of the water switching sides, the more stokes you can take, which translates into better overall speed. 2) Reducing the yaw of the board (zig zagging from side to side as you paddle) will result in a straighter course, which means less distance traveled. As you have probably heard in the past, the fastest way to get from one point to another is typically a straight line. So as common sense would dictate, if you can make your board go straighter and keep your paddle in the water longer, you will go faster over the course of a race. On top of its racing performance, this fin also sheds weeds really well. The Gladiator Elite is consistently one of the top selling race fins available.

Rating

Tracking: 10

Maneuverability: 7