Sport Diver's Gear Editor Daryl Carson felt the new Cressi Gara Professional Fins were a new product we'd like to know more about, so Sport Diver got together with Cressi U.S.A.'s Marketing Coordinator Bill Steinfeld this week for a special, web-only inside story on these innovative new fins.

_SD- Fins are an important purchase for any diver. What was the main reason Cressi decided to move forward with the development of this fin design?_BS- We wanted to strike a balance between performance, value and ease of production. Cressi as a company prides itself on its manufacturing quality and capabilities and we used a revolutionary new material called Compoflex to make these fins. They perform at the same level as carbon fiber fins, yet are more durable, less expensive and can be manufactured easily on a large scale.

_SD- How does the process of designing a new product begin?_BS- The process started with some advice from the Cressi Spearfishing Team in Italy. They wanted to improve on our Gara 2000 and 3000 fins that we have had for years. The old Garas are still extremely popular and are superb fins in their own right, but the team knew that with the production expertise of Cressi, we could come up with something better... and we did. The team spent time testing competitors' fins, setting benchmarks we would like to achieve, and giving the production team advice. The Cressi Spearfishing Team won the 2007 World Spearfishing Championships, so their opinions are held in high regard.

_SD- Once you have a prototype, what happens then?_BS- The spearfishing team performed test upon test of the prototypes and gave feedback . The prototypes were continually improved upon, and of course, as he does with all new products, Antonio Cressi himself tried out the fins a few times.

_SD- How many versions of this fin were tested/designed?_BS- More than 20.

SD- Who tests new designs and where? For how long? BS- The team tested the fins for a little over a year under different conditions, temperatures, on the surface and at many different depths.

_SD- Can you give us an example of what some of the comments were in the testing phase and how the design was adapted to address comments?_BS- At the beginning, we were advised to make the foot pocket more comfortable, which we absolutely did. Different blade lengths were also suggested and tried

_SD- How long was the new fin in development? Is this typical for any new product?_BS- The fins were in development for three years, and yes that does include the testing page. The whole process took about three years from initial ideas to the product arriving in our warehouse. This time frame is typical for a new/high tech item. Obviously a regulator will take much longer than a snorkel!

SD- What do you hope this new fin will accomplish for the diving community … who will it help? BS- This fin will be an extremely welcome addition to the free-diving and spearfishing community. It will offer them an opportunity to achieve superior levels of performance in the water while spending much less than carbon fins. Cressi has been manufacturing professional quality spearfish gear since our inception, and we have a tremendous following and level of support in the community. These are fins for the serious free diver or spearfisherman.

_SD- Any funny or interesting story you'd like to share with us that happened during the development of this new fin?_BS- Yes, when Mr. Cressi was finally about ready to send these into production, he wanted to give them one last test himself. However, the weather in Italy was horrible for a period of a few weeks. This caused Mr. Cressi to hold off on diving for almost a month, which in turn delayed production by the same amount of time.

We'd like to express our thanks to Cressi U.S.A. and Bill Steinfeld for their help in putting together this informative web-only question-and-answer special. For more about Cressi U.S.A. products go to www.sportdiver.com/cressisubusa or Cressi's website at www.cressisubusa.com.