Who is Donald Takayama

When Donald Takayama passed away in 2012, surfing lost one of its most beloved athletes, innovators, designers, and personalities. Wave riders and shapers around the world paid tribute to one of the greats, but the impact of Takayama’s influence actually started decades before his death and will last many generations into the future.

Donald shaped his first board at the age of nine while growing up on Oahu and learning to surf at Waikiki. After being promised a job by Dale Velzy if he ever made it to the mainland, Donald saved up and bought himself a ticket at the age of 12, and immediately began working at Velzy/Jacobs, which was far and away from the leader of the surfboard industry at that time. Takayama worked as an apprentice and team rider for the label, and is considered by many to have been the original child surfing prodigy and the first “professional surfer.”

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The Halo Advantage

While Donald Takayama’s contribution to surfing and surfboard design runs the gamut from longboards to short, and even includes a storied career as a professional competitor, perhaps his most futuristic and visionary invention is the Halo Fin.

Drawing on the theory behind the pivot fin, Takayama sought to create a fin system that allowed larger wave riding vehicles such as longboards, SUPs, and shorter hybrids to turn with ease and efficiency. And when he finally nailed the science and perfected the design, it was quintessential Takayama to give it the simplest name possible—Halo, which means “fin” in Hawaiian. There are two major notes of interest when it comes to the Halo Fin.

How to choose a Longboard Fin

With so many options available to you, choosing the right longboard can be a confusing and complicated matter. And to make things even more confusing, you have to choose the right fin, too.

Depending on the board you are riding and the style of longboarding you do, you could be using anything from a high-performance quad setup or a 2+1 setup to any number of different styles of single fins, such as pivot fins, hatchet fins, flex fins, and traditional D fins. And then, just when you think you have things figured out, you also have to decide on what size of fins you need for your board!

Reviews from our Customers

I first got the Halo for my 10' board and could notice the difference right away. When I got my new 9' I had it set up as a 2+1 and got the Halo center fin along with the side bites....the combo is great when I want a little more movement. The last set I bought was for my wifes SUP. She is a beginer, but she said she noticed it was easier to handle for her. I have not tried the set up on her SUP yet, but I could tell from watching her she was doing better.
I have also suggested it to everyone who has looked at them on my boards.

REVIEW BY: TONY L.

I used the halo quad set demo fins on my new 7'0" at Silva channels the other day and it worked good. I was able to take some late drops with no problem and turn hard at the bottom. The drive was there, but I noticed that I could snap the board at places on the wave that I couldn't with the regular fins. 

It really has the snappiness of the pivot fin but also the drive with the wide base. I thoroughly enjoyed the session and went to Dave and purchased a set.

Mahalo South Shore for turning me on to the halo fins!

REVIEW BY: RON
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