TIMM-DANIEL KÖPKE: THE MAUI ULTRA FINS STORY
TIMM-DANIEL KÖPKE: THE MAUI ULTRA FINS STORY
TIMM-DANIEL KÖPKE: THE MAUI ULTRA FINS STORY
After a chance meeting on Maui back in 2006, Timm-Daniel Köpke crossed paths with aerodynamics expert Dietrich (Rick) Hanke and a simple conversation about fins turned into the start of something revolutionary. From an idea born in the surf to a brand now trusted by world champions, Maui Ultra Fins has become synonymous with innovation, precision, and performance.
We caught up with Timm-Daniel, now the owner and managing director, to hear how it all began, what makes a great fin design and their design and testing process!
WINDSURF: Tell us about the early days and how the brand got started?
Timm: “Well, it all started in summer 2006. Dorte, my wife, and I were on a sabbatical from teaching at a business college and met Dietrich (Rick) Hanke on Maui. We were both staying with Jutta Mueller, the windsurf legend who let us move in.
Rick had just retired from his official career as Head Flight Simulation at DLR in Braunschweig so was pretty much into the topic of wing design already. As he had been a passionate windsurfer for decades, he realized the potential in fin design, especially in wave fins. When we came back in June 2007, he had the design for the WAVE fin ready, a single fin. It was elliptic, completely new for wave fins. I was super sceptical but gave it a go…and got the second fin ever made as a birthday present on 19th June. What a change it made for all our lives! I helped him with translations, descriptions and business advice at the beginning, then took over the distribution in Germany in 2010. We sold 30 fins that year, basically through word of mouth, just one year later, it was already 1,000 fins. You can probably imagine what that meant as we quickly had to establish everything a proper business needs, printers, website, packaging etc. So, I have been involved from the very beginning and took over the overall responsibility a couple of years ago.”
WINDSURF: Where are the fins made, where is the HQ based and who is in charge of designs?
Timm: “We do work with several producers in Europe and Asia. The exact choice depends on what we need. Our headquarters are in Flensburg, Germany, right at the Danish boarder. That comes in handy for all kind of conditions as we have daily access to Flensburg Fjord for flat water testing and our place is close to wave spots at the German and Danish side of the Baltic Sea (Damp, Kaegnes etc.) and the North Sea (infamous Sylt and Römo) is also only around 300 km to Cold Hawaii (Klitmoeller, DK) but takes us about 4 hours with our old VW T3 van.
Rick is in charge of our designs, like the Style-Pro-03 (https://www.mauiultrafins.shop/Style-Pro-03_1) and the Style-Weed-Pro (https://www.mauiultrafins.shop/Style-Weed-Pro_1). But it is basically a team effort as we include our national and international team riders, so for example Sarah-Quita, Lennart Neubauer, the Nebelung brothers (Niclas and Lucas) and many more.”
WINDSURF: What is your role in the brand?
Timm: “I own the brand now and am the MD. As we are not a huge company, I organize events, initiate developments and keep an eye on the figures. That was quite a task in recent years as you can imagine…”
WINDSURF: Was there a pioneering fin that put the brand on the market?
Timm: “From a commercial perspective, the X-Twin (https://www.mauiultrafins.shop/X-Twin_1) was our first big seller. Philip Koester won 5 world championships on this very fin which matched his aggressive riding and need for speed so well. The Style-Taty was also the must-have fin for freestyling back in the days. A fin that sparked quite some discussion was the Delta fin, a shallow water fin that was inspired by airplane design as well. You can use a 24 cm long Delta-XT-50 (https://www.mauiultrafins.shop/Delta-XT-50_1) fin instead of a 40 – 44 cm straight fin. That saved quite some boards (and bones)…”
WINDSURF: How and why is using a decent / correct fin so important?
Timm: “Fins can actually be compared to tyres when it comes to performance. They provide stability and are crucial for speed, grip and agility. So, fins can alter the characteristics of your boards immensely. I have just done some testing of a new thruster centre fin on Maui and also tested the board with twinser and quad setups.
However, treating your fin well, is also of great importance. Always check that the leading edge has no dents or scratches and that the fin itself is positioned smoothly in the box.”
WINDSURF: What is the difference between a stiff / soft fin in the waves?
Timm: “That is one of the questions I am asked a lot. In general, stiff fins are faster, soft fins are more forgiving. The overall performance also is determined by the surface area, the outline and the profile (thickness etc.) which needs to match its requirements (turnability, speed potential…).”
WINDSURF: How much can a poor fin or wrong sized fin ruin as session or make a board an uncomfortable ride?
Timm: “Very often sailors use too big fins. That is often down to them using the stock fins which are often provided for a heavy rider in the worst (lightest) conditions as the board manufacturers want to get the rider planing, no matter what. That is no big issue when you know about it – then you can simply get a second fin that matches your individual requirements (and keep the stock fin for those very light days). Just keep in mind that a bigger fin has more surface and therefore more drag – you will be much slower and / or the board has too much lift and becomes uncontrollable.
The same is true for a design that does not match your discipline, like using a freeride fin in a slalom board. You will again have too much drag.”
WINDSURF: Where and how do you test out a new design?
Timm: “We usually start with a problem that can be anything from extreme weed, lack of speed, wish for more control / turnability / grip… in a certain setup. It is probably easier when I give a recent example. Our European freestylers (Niclas and Lucas Nebelung, Lennart Neubauer…) used our Style-Weed (https://www.mauiultrafins.shop/Style-Weed_1) freestyle fin in the past.
As it had a slightly thicker profile, it was great for early planing, one jump and sliding moves. However, it was not the ultimate choice for double moves as it lacked some speed. So, Rick narrowed it down to five prototypes with matching areas and we had them tested in very different conditions from tidal pools at the North Sea (Büsum, close to Sylt) to choppy conditions on the Baltic Sea. The whole process took 1.5 years as we only wanted to launch a product that really does the job. That very fin, the Style-Weed-Pro (https://www.mauiultrafins.shop/Style-Weed-Pro_1) has become the fin for advanced freestylers and pros in weedy conditions. The top 6 riders in the German Freestyle Battle on Fehmarn 2025 all used it, and they are not even all on our team… “
WINDSURF: Is it all work…or is the testing process also about enjoying the windsurfing?
Timm: “Let me be frank: It is quite work for the riders as they have to evaluate also smaller differences and as a team are responsible for what we launch. However, they seem to enjoy their work and benefit as they finally get what they like and need… I also did some testing on Maui and would not complain at all – but that might be down to sunshine and moderate but daily waves for four weeks.”
What difference would it make to a sailor by upgrading all of their fins on their whole quiver of boards?
Timm: “That can have a great impact, but I would advise for a slow approach. We offer free advice on setups, and you can start with one fin (set). We also explain which fin (set) makes sense. There is a reason why we have a very wide product range that has grown over the years. Some, like the X-Wave (https://www.mauiultrafins.shop/X-Wave_1), have remained unchanged for over a decade now so we do not update our range just to create FOMO. We are interested in long-term relationships, not a quick sale.”
WINDSURF: What riders do you have on the team these days and what input do they put into the designs?
Timm: “We do have current PWA wave and freestyle champion Sarah-Quita Offringa and last years freestyle champion Lennart Neubauer on our team but also a bunch of top windsurfers (Adrien Bosson, Maria Behrens, Anton Richter, Maaike Huvermann, Niclas and Lucas Nebelung, Roberto Hofmann and many more). It is often those guys who ask a question (“Would it be possible to have a faster freestyle fin???”) and start an R&D process for more extreme designs, like the Style-Pro-03, the Wave-DTL+ etc. They of course test our fins at a top level and in extreme conditions, but we also include other windsurfers and test them ourselves, for example Marcus Kleber (freestyle & wave) and Dominik Hofmann (freestyle & foilstyle). Marcus also was the driving force behind our harness lines (https://www.mauiultrafins.shop/Harness-lines) and Dominik got heavily involved in foilstyling (https://www.mauiultrafins.shop/Foiling_1)and pushes us here.”
WINDSURF: Tell us about your latest thruster set up you have been testing and what conclusions you have drawn from the sessions in Maui?
Timm: “It was actually pretty interesting. I already had a session on our local fjord back home to test the fin size and positioning, but was super eager to give it a go in proper waves. Maui in summer does not really have the biggest swells but just like in previous summers, we have waves every single day. As the waves were only up to 2 metres, I mainly sailed Upper Kanaha and Camp One (for jumping). With about 80 kg I sailed an 18 cm centre fin (139 cm2) on a 75 litre Mojo Tidal Pro. The board turned on a dime which really helped in smaller swell and wind waves in the afternoon. As the fin (“Tri+”) has limited area, substantial rake and is fairly soft, I could initiate quick front- and backside turn at ease. So, I would launch it when the other riders let me. Otherwise, I will keep it for myself…”
WINDSURF: What about the new freewave fin, and how important is it to get a bunch or riders of all abilities to try out a new design?
Timm: “That is still in progress, but we already had some good testing on lighter days – and the son of our US retailer managed his first ever jibe on the prototype. Max: “I love this fin!” We will get our pros on this fin but also many other riders with mixed abilities – as they will ride it.”
WINDSURF: How would you advise a rider to choose the correct size and stiffness fin for their needs?
Timm: “Well, that is fairly simple: Just quickly fill in a form and you get individual advice:” https://www.mauiultrafins.shop/advice
WINDSURF: Do you think fins have reached a state where there is only room for small improvements or could there be a revolutionary idea or concept still out there waiting to be discovered?
Timm: “Well, we are open-minded and receive constant impact from our teamriders and customers for new designs – with the ideal fin being one that changes shape while windsurfing… Anyway, the improvements have of course become a bit smaller but are still worth the work we put into it. The whole setup with board and rig has become more efficient and specialised, just have a look at the sail designs without cambers or with 1, 2, 3 and 4. That all aims at different speeds and angles, so our fins have to match those demands but still work in a wide range of conditions. So we actually develop and provide specialist fins (Delta-XT-50, https://www.mauiultrafins.shop/Delta-XT-50_1) and more general fins (X-Ride, https://www.mauiultrafins.shop/X-Ride_1).”
More info at:
Maui Ultra Fins Windsurfing SUP Kite MUF MUFins
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