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Forums > Stand Up Paddle   Board Talk & Reviews

Fanatic 12'6 or 14

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Created by marcus > 9 months ago, 28 Nov 2011
marcus
WA, 219 posts
28 Nov 2011 10:35PM
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Hi, I'm interested in doing the doctor coming up and wondering what u would suggest is the better board for me. I'm 65kg. the nose of the smaller seems to look a bit more flatwaterish to me. Any help would be great. Cheers.

AKSonline
WA, 925 posts
Site Sponsor
29 Nov 2011 12:37AM
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Hi Marcus,

The 12'6" (Narrow) Fanatic and 14' Fanatic Carbon racers are two very different beasts. At just 65 kg, I'd say the 12'6 would be better for you but would be a bit more unstable than the 14. If you spend most of the time swimming, you won't be very fast. The wide 12'6" may be an option depending upon your balance, skill and experience.

surf4fun is doing it on the 12'6" narrow and I'm doing it on the 14. body weight plays a big part in it as does balance. Being light and having a lower CG you have an advantage over bigger riders when considering this board.

You are welcome to come on down and demo all three race boards with us if you like.

DM

JBFletch
QLD, 1287 posts
29 Nov 2011 9:11AM
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Hi marcus,

I was in the same predicament a few months ago.

Im 80kg and do predominately downwind races.

I found the 12'6 X 27 to be far better allrounder.

If your doing big long downwinders, go the 14ft downwinder if you want to do a bit of everything (well) go the 12'6.

The unbalance problem will be over come quickly.
(the fanatic 12'6 X 30 is miuch slower then the 12'6 X 27 carbon)

as always tho.
try as many as you can.

redmanxboy
SA, 7 posts
29 Nov 2011 10:26AM
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Hi Marcus,

I have all three of the Fanatic boards mentioned, for you Id chose the narrow 12,6 carbon.

For your weight and size, it would be a fantastic race, surf and fitness board. Id aim to get on it early so the balance isnt a issue. But to agree with the previous post the wide 12,6 would be a bit slower, but it does give the benefit of better stability.

The 14 is a great down winder but could be a handful for round the cans and surf stuff, compared to the narrow 12,6 carbon Fanatic.

Cheers and good luck at the Doc

JBFletch
QLD, 1287 posts
29 Nov 2011 12:14PM
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Nice rack!!!

riverider
TAS, 1108 posts
29 Nov 2011 3:05PM
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if you look at the test the vic guys did on the 12'6" boards there isn't really alot between the fanatic 12'6" x 27" or the X 30", if you don't have to worry about falling in you may be able to paddle a bit faster, their results show the 27" to be 17 seconds faster after 20 minutes of paddling, might worry you if you were up the front, but not if you are only middle of the road.

Ali Cat
QLD, 1205 posts
29 Nov 2011 6:38PM
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riverider said...

if you look at the test the vic guys did on the 12'6" boards there isn't really alot between the fanatic 12'6" x 27" or the X 30", if you don't have to worry about falling in you may be able to paddle a bit faster, their results show the 27" to be 17 seconds faster after 20 minutes of paddling, might worry you if you were up the front, but not if you are only middle of the road.


I've spent a fair amount of time training on both the wide and narrow 12'6's and despite the results of the tests the melbourne guys did I found the narrow one is significantly faster and easier to paddle in pretty much all conditions. Yes, I had the slightly heavier wood version of the wide one which might be a little slower than the wide carbon one, but the red board is a lot quicker. At 65kg you shouldn't have any trouble at all with the stability of the narrow one (plenty of crew here are paddling it at 80-90kg) and the wide version would be a lot of board for you.

The 14' carbon is great straight downwind and picks up runners with ease, but it's a bit harder to paddle in crosswinds due to the thicker nose and it's not as much of an allrounder as the 12'6". It will be quicker in downwind conditions, if that's all you're using it for, but if you want a board to use in all conditions, not just for one race, then the narrow 12'6 is probably a better option.

marcus
WA, 219 posts
29 Nov 2011 5:29PM
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sounds like the 12'6 is it then. thanks everyone for your help. really appreciate it.

redmanxboy
SA, 7 posts
29 Nov 2011 8:45PM
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Think you will love it
Good luck with it.

JBFletch
QLD, 1287 posts
30 Nov 2011 9:30AM
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just on the fanatic 12'6 carbon race.

did a downwinder last night in a solid 30+ knots, with shoulder high runners
a mate was on another, very popular model 14fter.

The fanatic flew ahead.

he then had a paddle on my board and was blown away buy its speed and versatility.
(he's getting one now"

we both weigh 78kg +.

easy choice

stimo
WA, 874 posts
6 Dec 2011 9:38PM
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Looks like you made the right choice head down for a run with the guys from stand up paddle Sunday port to swanie

surf4fun
WA, 1313 posts
7 Dec 2011 2:20PM
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Like DM said I have just got the 12'6 narrow as an all round board. For me at just over 70kg the 14 is too much board. Don't get me wrong it flies in DW'ers but when I paddle it on the flat the boys were saying the other day that I had over an inch of both tail and nose out of the water which isn't getting the most out of the board.

In the BOP race we had the other week I was on the 12'6 and Darren was on the 14, over the flat we were keeping the same pace but around the bouys I would put a board or two length on him.

I have also had the 12'6 out on a couple of DW's and after the initial inevitable falls I was away. I have stepped down from a 14 and one thing I like about the 12'6 is the 'sweet' spot of the board is smaller and therefore you don't have to run around on the board as much. This helps when doing long runs as the first thing I find goes when I am starting to fatigue is my footwork.

JBFletch
QLD, 1287 posts
7 Dec 2011 4:35PM
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surf4fun said...

Like DM said I have just got the 12'6 narrow as an all round board. For me at just over 70kg the 14 is too much board. Don't get me wrong it flies in DW'ers but when I paddle it on the flat the boys were saying the other day that I had over an inch of both tail and nose out of the water which isn't getting the most out of the board.

In the BOP race we had the other week I was on the 12'6 and Darren was on the 14, over the flat we were keeping the same pace but around the bouys I would put a board or two length on him.

I have also had the 12'6 out on a couple of DW's and after the initial inevitable falls I was away. I have stepped down from a 14 and one thing I like about the 12'6 is the 'sweet' spot of the board is smaller and therefore you don't have to run around on the board as much. This helps when doing long runs as the first thing I find goes when I am starting to fatigue is my footwork.


perfectly said

Goochi
WA, 846 posts
20 Dec 2011 5:44PM
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If anyone is looking for a large stocking filler this Christmas - I'm selling my beloved Fanatic 12'6 x 30.5 to fund another project.

PM me if intersted - will put in buy and sell tonight with photo.

Merry Christmas
Gooch

Tony
WA, 67 posts
17 Jan 2012 4:33PM
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Not many people talking about other boards like the Starboard 12.6 and Naish Glide etc. Why is this? Is there such a big gap between them?
The SB 12.6 looks like it has a great shape and is only 25.5 wide.
Any comments on these boards as opposed to the Fanatic?

PTWoody
VIC, 3982 posts
17 Jan 2012 9:53PM
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Tony said...

Not many people talking about other boards like the Starboard 12.6 and Naish Glide etc. Why is this? Is there such a big gap between them?
The SB 12.6 looks like it has a great shape and is only 25.5 wide.
Any comments on these boards as opposed to the Fanatic?


Which SB 12'6" board are you referring to? The Ace, the Race, Ace Pro or the Race BOP? The latter two are not due here for at least a month.

In our Vic tests, there was just a few seconds between the Fanatic red, the SB Race 27.5" and the Naish Javelin 28". The Naish Glide 30" was a bit slower again.

In my opinion, and for my weight and ability, the Fanatic is a very quick board that caters to most situations very well. It's a great all round race board. However, I think the SB Race handles BOP style surf races slightly better and the SB Ace handles flat water races slightly better. Conversely, these SB boards are slightly slower than the Fanatic when they are in their respective unfavourable conditions.

PTWoody
VIC, 3982 posts
17 Jan 2012 10:01PM
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riverider said...

if you look at the test the vic guys did on the 12'6" boards there isn't really alot between the fanatic 12'6" x 27" or the X 30", if you don't have to worry about falling in you may be able to paddle a bit faster, their results show the 27" to be 17 seconds faster after 20 minutes of paddling, might worry you if you were up the front, but not if you are only middle of the road.


In looking at those test results, you really should consider separately the results of the paddlers closest to your weight. The interesting thing in comparing the 27" and 30" Fanatics is that one rider in those tests actually skewed the results. It's no coincidence that rider was the heaviest at 89kg. He managed to complete the 500m course 7 seconds faster on the wider board, and was the only rider in the test to prefer the white board. On the other hand, I was the lightest paddler and the closest to the OP's weight and I managed to set a time 8 seconds faster on the red board. If you extrapolate that difference out to a typical race distance, it does start to become significant as Ali also found.



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"Fanatic 12'6 or 14" started by marcus