A little history of Cressi revolutions in the fins sector
Cressi has been since its foundation, 1946, the Creator diving equipment, and definitely of fins. The Italian Company has been able more and more times to revolutionize the fins sector, both in scuba diving and freediving/spearfishing. In 1953 Cressi launches the Rondine fins, inventing the model that has inspired all other manufacturers, the first floating model in the world, and the first one with an angle between the footpocket and the blade. In 1970 another amazing invention is realized thanks to the always growing unique know-how by Cressi. The Rondine L long fins are born! As world leader in molding rubber fins, Cressi develops the Rondine L long fins, which enable Jacques Mayol to go onto achieving his astonishing freediving records. In 1979 alongside the various rubber fin models, a futuristic model is presented with a reinforced nylon blade, called the Rondine Gara, a fin that thirty years down the line is still going strong, and has been adopted by world class freedivers and spearfishermen the world over. Among the key innovations, later followed by other manufacturers, is also the Gara footpocket with rigid heel area to better transmit the force generated by long blade fins. Today Cressi has more than 75 years of experience, with 8 branches around the world, sales in 100 countries worldwide, 11 World Spearfishing Titles, numerous freediving records and the amazing number of 100 patents.
The amazing Cressi fins line
Today the offer of fins by the Italian Company is unmatchable and quite amazing, and so is their know-how in such sector. Considering only the polymer blade fins line, Made in Italy, they count a huge number of different models unmatchable by any other competitor. Scuba diving, snorkeling, swimming, freediving and spearfishing are all sports where the Cressi fins offer is complete and leads in number of models, quality and performance. Only taking into account the sports we directly follow, spearfishing and freediving, the models of fins are more than 10, including two models with carbon fiber blades. The latter are deeply developed by Cressi International team of experts and athletes and with a specific contribution by Cressi Spain. But the polymer blades sector is the one where Cressi leads since years and that has brought to the launch, at the very beginning of 2021, of the Cressi Gara Modular Impulse fins. This model has revolutionized the market, with a never-seen before performance of a polymer blade, thanks to a new design, advanced materials and special solutions like the soft rubber co-stamped water-rails. A really revolutionary fin, the Gara Modular Impulse, from which competition has had to take ideas and solutions to be able to fill the enormous gap in performance. Today, many of the best products on the market in the segment of long polymer blade fins for freediving and spearfishing possess some of the best solutions anticipated by the Cressi Gara Modular Impulse 3 years ago.
The Cressi Modular & Turbo foot-pockets
The Cressi Modular footpocket is one of the key components by Cressi and mounted on many of its top of the line fins for freediving and spearfishing. The two hardness rubbers solution and the patented system in the central area on the foot instep, called Self-Adjust, permit maximum comfort, unmatchable on the market, still ensuring good power transmission to the blade. The instep in fact incorporates a 2 cm wide “Self adjusting” band in its center, which allows a slight dilation (from 2 to 4mm depending on the footpocket size) to adapt to people with high insteps or in case of using thick socks. The expansion has been meticulously calibrated so as not to negatively effect the transmission of energy. On the latest Cressi Turbo footpocket with short side rails, the tips of the rails are over-moulded with highly reactive material in the form of two clips. This new clasps permit easy and secure assembly. Should it be necessary to change a blade, all that is needed is a slight twist on the tips of the side rails to release the retaining teeth and free the blade. The comfort generated by the advanced design of the Cressi Gara Modular and Turbo footpockets would permit, eventually, to use them even without socks.
Available sizes of the Gara Modular and Turbo footpockets are: 36/37 – 38/39 – 40/41 – 42/43 – 44/45 – 46/47. A new insole for Gara Modular footpockets is recommended for use with thin socks in temperate waters, because it improves the kick performance. The semi-rigid material of the insole is completely recycled. The insoles are supplied as an asymmetrical pair (right and left foot) and can be cut into their shape in three different sizes according to pre-printed guidelines.
Cressi Polymer blade fins line
As we could really never present the entire Cressi Polymer blade fins line, we will focus on the extremely wide line for Spearfishing and Freediving. This includes one piece fins and dismountable ones. Let us start with the most affordable and simple solutions, which still have set the standards in their category along the years.
Gara Professional LD
They are the base price of the freediving and spearfishing line by the Italian Company. Blade and footpocket are moulded together for a simpler use and less expensive solution. The blade is made with a special elastomeric polypropylene that allows for a more fluid, softer, and less tiring kick that can be maintained over time. The footpocket is a concentrate of high end technical solutions. Two materials are used with different hardness. A light coloured harder elastomer constitutes the base of the foot-pocket for better transmission of the power from the foot to the blade. An especially soft black elastomer makes the footpocket even more comfortable. The soft elastomer wraps the instep and constitutes all the upper part. The design is very unique, with the footpocket made to be located below the blade. This characteristic, combined with a perfect union of footpocket and blade, helps reduce as much as possible both propulsive effort and loss of energy during the finning action.
Gara HF 2000
The Cressi Gara 2000 HF represent one of the many revolutions brought to market by Cressi in its long history in the fins sector. It is in fact the first fin in the industry to be manufactured using a three material molding process, two for the footpocket and one for the blade. The footpocket and blade are one piece. The Gara 2000 has the stiffest blade in the Cressi line and permits deeper dives with greater performance, but more effort, than the Gara Professional LD. Still, the footpocket is extremely comfortable. It is made in two different hardness compounds, black harder and grey softer, to optimize force transmission and at the same time increase comfort. The footpocket is matched with long firm blades with built in stringers and runners to effectively direct water flow down the blade increasing the efficiency of every kick.
Gara 3000 LD
Gara 3000 LD is Cressi’s entry-level long blade fin designed with softer blades, which make these fins a perfect choice for the beginning diver or those not familiar using long blade fins. The Gara 3000 LD are constructed with long soft plastic blades that can effectively transfer power with minimum effort, which make these fin very comfortable and easy on the legs for the beginner. Long thin nerves act as water rails and slightly stiffen specific areas of the blade. The Gara 3000 LD is a full footpocket style fin and, as the Gara HF 2000, is constructed using Cressi’s unique three material molding process, where different compounds are bonded together to provide flexibility in the foot area while being able to deliver power through the blade.
Gara Modular Grey and Modular Gara LD
Moving up with the price and the performance in the Cressi spearfishing and freediving line, we have the first dismountable solution fins, the Gara Modular Grey and Gara Modular LD. The footpocket, the already presented Gara Modular , and blade are two separated parts. These fins are definitely a good affordable price solution to be able to make good dives also in deeper waters, still with maximum comfort. The modular design lets the diver change blades as his skills increase. Any carbon fiber long blade will interchange in minutes without any modifications to blade or footpocket. The Gara Modular footpocket with the patented self adjusting system is used. The new version blade is made of a high modulus polypropylene (2500 MPa) with high reactivity, a new design with decreasing thickness (from 4 mm to 2 mm) and a new distribution of reinforcements. This makes the arching very progressive and eliminates the tendency to skid, since the first half of the blade is more rigid and the final half is more flexible.
Gara Modular Impulse & Turbo
The Gara Modular Impulse & Gara Modular Turbo are the top of the line polymer blade fins by the “Creator of fins”, Cressi. They represent, since their launch a few years ago, the biggest revolution in recent decades in the field of freediving and spearfishing fins, and have been taken as reference also by many companies who have in the last two years launched they high quality polymer blade fins. The nerves of the Gara Modular foot pocket, recalibrated based on thousands of hours of tests by the Cressi Team in order to define the ideal angulation and hardness, together with the new blade designed with engineering systems to calculate the ideal levels of curvature, angulation and thickness at each point of the blade, have led many to speak of benefits that reach carbon blade fins.
The Gara Impulse and Gara Turbo fins differ in the footpocket, the Impulse with the traditional long lateral rails, while the Turbo follows the new trend of shorter lateral rails to let all the work be done by the blade.
As for the Gara Grey and Gara LD, but with improved materials, technology and water rails design, the blade has a high modulus, highly reactive polypropylene material, a new design with decreasing thickness (from 4 mm to 2 mm) a new distribution of the reinforcements, which makes the arching very progressive, eliminating the tendency to skid, since the first half of the set is more rigid and the final half is more flexible.
The blade has an angle of 29º against the traditional 21 to 23º. This angulation allows kicking with the foot in a completely relaxed position and makes kicking soft and comfortable, but highly effective both for moving on the surface and for overcoming situations of great resistance to progress such as ascent from the bottom, strong seas or the start of the descent with adjusted ballast.
The design of the end of the blade has a slight taper and two integrated flaps in soft thermoplastic rubber. This characteristic, together with the calculated progression of the blade’s bending arc, makes Impulse fins kicking stability perfect.
Gara Turbo Carbon Camo
The Gara Turbo Carbon Camo are the new offer by Cressi. With a great effort by the Spanish site of the Italian Company, these new fins have managed to reach amazing performance obtaining to be among the finalists of the Best Choice prize in the Carbon fiber blade fins category.
The footpocket is once again the extremely comfortable Modular Turbo. The blades of the Gara Turbo Carbon Camo are made with an ultra-performing carbon fiber of incredible strength and flexibility. Pure carbon laminated with top quality resin and an 100% industrial construction using vacuum infusion and high temperature to eliminate any possibility of microbubbles in the structure and obtain a very compact and reactive blade. Average carbon fiber used for fin blades in the industry has 3.000 fibers per thread. The carbon used by Cressi for these blades has 12.000 fibers per thread, four times as much. This, according to the Italian company, means four times the resistance, the flexibility and the reactivity. The response of the blade to every kick is extremely superior to many other carbon blades on the market. Each thread of the used carbon fiber is extremely thin, so much so that the total density of the blade is an incredible, and unmatched, 20.000 fibers per square millimeter.
The angle of the blade is a 29º progressive (10 cm of arc), studied so that the position of the blade is an extension of the tibia without the need to force the instep. This feature relaxes various muscles of the leg and foot during the kick with a notable increase in comfort and a reduction in fatigue and lactate accumulation.
The offer by Cressi of the Gara Turbo Carbon Camo is also very complete with three different stiffnesses:
XLD – High flexibility blade dedicated to those divers who prefer a very soft and smooth fin. The blade requires 1.463 kg of load to be completely bent. It is indicated if your fishing sessions are often extremely long and if you cover long distances with surface transfers.
MD – Medium flexibility blade perfect if you spearfish using a boat to move from spot to spot, using a constant weight. The blade requires 1.733 kg of load to be completely bent.
HF– Stiff blade ideal for strong, powerful athletes with a higher bodyweight. The blade requires 1.842 kg of load to be completely bent. It is also useful in waters with strong currents and when fishing in rougher sea conditions.
Gara Turbo Carbon
Starting from the revolutionary Gara Impulse project Cressi has successfully transferred the same design parameters for s-shaped undulating deformation to the innovative Gara Turbo Carbon. This particular movement permits a notable accumulation of elastic potential energy in the blade, which is released in the return kick, transforming into thrust. The result has been achieved using a finite elements programme that enables the performance offered by carbon fiber to be exploited to the full. The blade is 100% carbon fiber with an angle of 29°. The fiber is imported from Japan, manufactured by Mitsubishi to strict qualitative protocols. The shaped and processed sheet is then produced in a specialist plant in Turkey. The blade is subsequently finished with an industrial co-moulding process of the rubber water rails on the carbon fiber blade at Cressi’s Genoa plant. The elevated chemical bonding achieved between blade and rail, effectively creating a single piece, has permitted the elimination of the rigid glue that prevented the carbon fibre blade from flexing naturally. The thermoplastic rubber used for the water rails is extremely flexible and soft so as not to undermine the intrinsic characteristics of the carbon fiber. The blade is therefore less fragile and more protected by the rubber. The end result is a very light fin, with every square millimetre exploiting the flexibility of the carbon fibre to the full.
For the full presentation of the Cressi Gara Turbo Carbon fins you can refer to our X-Rays article.