After seeing sailquicks pic of Mal's Alpha fin on another thread, I got to thinking. Is the ideal alpha fin symmetric?
My two best alphas are with an asymmetric fin. I had credited this to the great conditions on those occasions, (and thinking I might have done even better with a symmetric fin).
But now thinking about it, it maybe due to the better acceleration coming out of the gybe with the fin on it's best tack.
The run in is on it's worst tack, but that doesn't matter as much, as there's plenty of time to get up to speed, especially if you use Stroppo's down wind run in technique.
I guess it's intuitive to think of the "U" as being symmetric, but the alpha isn't, there's a high speed run in and an accelerating run out.
So any thoughts????? Are my best alphas just coincidence or have I inadvertently discovered something.
I have never tried alphas with my assy speed fins where I run the first leg on the wrong tack. All my assy speed fins tend to get a bit sketchy over low 30's knots on the wrong side and they are not going to accelerate out as well on the wrong side either.
I think you definitely would have gone faster on a symmetrical fin. Your board will crab more on the wrong side with an asymmetrical and this is bound to slow you a bit..
Are you talking weed fins or upright fins? Some of my best Alphas were done at Lake George on my IS-50 with the Lessacher 22cm (double assy) duo rake 30. The same setup I used during my PB 1hr run. At Sandy Point, where weed is not an issue, my best runs have been with the TM-26 (Alpha) and Lessacher 25 Duo Rake 30 in my IS-87.
At Fangys, I remember I got a couple of good ones on my CA40 with symmetrical Vector 19cm (40 degrees) weed speed, in that lovely, super smooth weedy concoction you have. 
I was at Pt Grey, and was using my 17cm starboard asy 55deg. Very unusual conditions, mirror smooth like Fangys, but weed was well below the surface, more like LG.
It was the only time I've managed over 30kts going square, (and on the wrong tack of the asy fin). So it probably was the conditions.
I choose the side of my assy delta to increase the foil for exactly the same purpose. I figured that the time I really needed the lift on a bigger delta was coming out of a gybe on an alpha attempt here. I chose the bigger fin on the basis that I wouldn't be going for top speed, so early lift was more important than drag. So I think we can say that you are correct as soon as I rack up alphas like Grumpynuts and Stroppo.
(assuming that bolting the fin on the roof racks and doing 180's around the big roundabout coming into town counts)
