Hi Peeps,
The long awaited day finally came yesterday when our Flat Water race boards turned up (well one of them in any case) 
.
I've been looking forward to this board for months and couldn't resist the urge to get it wet this morning. I woke extra early (4am) so as to be on the water for 30 min before any one else showed up.
It was twilight conditions when I hit the water with what I now affectionately call "the Hatchet" (See pics of the bow). Conditions were near perfect, a light breeze from the east, temperature at 31 degrees at 5am, and a slight run out tide.
First thing I noticed was that the "Hatchet" is just a bit narrower than it's open ocean counterpart, and subsequently slightly more tippy but really nothing to be concerned about.
It's so weird when watching the water split around the Hatchet's nose (it doesn't "peel", it splits), it looks so smooth but doesn't give the feeling of speed until you look down at the GPS or the scenery gliding by at speed. Just amazing! With so little effort I was comfortably paddling along at 9km/h without raising a sweat and barely my heart rate either. Up the tempo of the paddle and apply a little pressure and the board accelerated to around 12km/h into the current. 
Man, this thing is so fast!
The real kicker is that it's not how fast it is in top speed, it's how fast it goes with so little effort. It's literally a medium cruising pace of paddling to maintain 9km/h, so effortless, I felt I could paddle like that all day. A new love affair has begun.
The board itself is light and has the brushed carbon look on the bottom surface (which is not my cup of tea but I'll overlook it for it's performance 
). The rocker is basically none in the forward half of the board, it's dead flat with a progressive rocker in the tail up to what looks to be about 3-4cm tail lift. She's only 27.5" wide and very flat on the deck with a raised bow.
Comes standard with the 26cm G10 Fly race fin which tracks it beautifully straight. The nose being vertical, I'm thinking, would be pretty effected by cross chop and side winds, although, the nose sits low in the water when evenly trimmed so not so much from wind but more the slap of wind and boat generated waves. I'm thinking upwind into the chop would be dead easy as there is little slowing of such a needle nose.
The Hatchet bow is so sharp and dramatically morphs into a very flat bottom. This is a stunning board and looks as fast as it goes. No idea how it goes on a downwinder, but am thinking it would be happier in the flat water. I didin't buy if for it's downwind prowess and am now starting to think I may not sell the others that arrive this week coming ...... at least not to fast paddlers
Very excited paddler!
Jeez what luck! Imagine always being the first to have a go at the latest SUP designs and to be able to pick and choose from the best!
The board looks like a flat water speed demon! It will be really interesting to see how this baord stacks up to the JM 14 Navigator, some how I think the Fanatic will end up being the ultimate flatwater board though, as I have not read anything about the Navigator being a pure flat water speed machine?
Perhaps BomberBrown can shed some light on his speed findings of the JM 14 Navigator?
Hey Darren,
You have got me thinking about this board. Due to the flatwater speeds you are saying the GPS was showing.
On the Hobie I seem to be able to sit on a comfortable pace of about 7kph over 5-10km, get to 8kph for when increasing intensity over about 500m-1km and absolutely flat out for about 100-250m at 9kph.
Looking at the speed times posted here: www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Stand-Up-Paddle/SUP/Flat-water-speeds/
To give a bit more of an idea these are the results from yesterdays Classic Paddle in Perth, All times over a 5km course:
1st - 29:34 = 10.23km/hr Fanatic 14
2nd - 29:55 = 10.14km/hr DC14
3rd - 29:56 = 10.14km/hr Fanatic 12'6 (wide)
4th - 30:06 = 9.98km/hr Hobie 14
5th - 30.34 = 9.88km/hr SIC F16
6th - 31:29 = 9.58km/hr Fanatic 14
It seems that if you are comfortably cruising at 9kph the new Fanatic 14 Flatwater you are maintaining near to race speed, and when pushing it to 12kph you are way up there with the elite!!
I would love to be getting an extra 2-3kph for the same physical exertion on my Hobie!!
How does the 14 flatwater stack up to the 12'6 narrow? Do they have the same rocker and nose etc? Can you post some comparable pics?
At 77-78kgs is the 14 too much float for me or would the 12'6 be better and give me the same speeds as that of the 14.
I really wasnt going to get a red board for the heat up here, but if it is going to improve my glide by 25% then I might go down this road rather than the JM 14 Navigator..
I'll call you to put in an order once you get back to me re-the above.
Hi Warren,
The 14 Flat Water is a scaled up 12'6" Narrow with a slightly different nose shape. The 14 is for big blokes, what the 12'6" is for lighter paddlers. I reckon the Red Rocket Narrow suits riders 75 kg or less, above these weights and the board sinks too deep in the water, pushes too much water on the bow and drops the tail too deep creating a lot of turbulence and drag, not to mention too much wetted surface area.
In theory, the 14 FW should be faster than the 12'6" as it will have a longer water line and sit higher in the water with a lighter weight on it. The 14FW is less manoeuvrable than the 12'6" but unless you're racing BOP, this should have little bearing on the decision.
The width of the 14'er at 27.5" is a 1/4" narrower than the narrow 12'6". Rocker is very similar in being dead flat from nose to centre of the board with 3-4 cm lift in the tail.
The top speeds I mentioned were for short burst and are not sustainable over any great distance. The 9km/hr is sustainable with not too much effort. So long as my shoulder is recovered by Saturday, I'll be putting the 14' FW through it's paces on our 10km flat track.
Our goal since we started paddling this course has been to do it in 1hr flat. The times have been being wittled down to a point where boards and equipment are making the biggest difference to speed and times now.
The fastest time thus far has been around 1hr 5min which is getting close to the 10km/hr pace average. I have the sneaking suspicion that the 14 Flat Water will go under 1hr 5min. The times you quoted in that race were downwind times, so slightly faster than normal windless times.
DM
Darren, don't keep us hanging with the results of the 10km time trial on the 14 Flatwater!
Hey mate,
Less than ideal conditions with head wind in parts and strong current in opposition. Add to this my shoulder was is still only 70% (since before the Doctor) and taking forever to heal. It was a fast run, but not a record. I haven't even analysed the data yet, been too busy at work.
I'm hoping the shoulder is better by next weekend. I'll post info when I have it worth sharing.
DM
Had mine for a while now and love it , fast in the flats and goes good in a downwind too.The nose goes under a lot in downwind but does not seeem to effect it to much at all.I used to have the 12,6 great fun to surf on but i found i was to heavy for it and bogged it down.
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Jeez what luck! Imagine always being the first to have a go at the latest SUP designs and to be able to pick and choose from the best!
The board looks like a flat water speed demon! It will be really interesting to see how this baord stacks up to the JM 14 Navigator, some how I think the Fanatic will end up being the ultimate flatwater board though, as I have not read anything about the Navigator being a pure flat water speed machine?
Perhaps BomberBrown can shed some light on his speed findings of the JM 14 Navigator?
I paddle with mr brownbomber on MY DC 14 i can say hes quick but not quick enough
hopefully he dosnt read this or im gonna have to up the training
Dem there are fightin words! Sounds like a BOP challenge is on as the gauntlet has been thrown down, quite publicly to, I might add. So which will it be the DC or the JM? Or is it more about the engine driving it?
Anyhow Bomber, give us some rundown on how that new JM goes, what are your impressions considering the considerable range of boards available now days.
we average around the 8 to 9km an hour over a 8 k distance
Hey Warren,
Had my shoulder worked on by Greg at Horizon Physiotherapy, bloody legend sorted my shoulder so I could paddle properly for the first time in a month. Thanks Greg, I owe you big time mate. Paddling without pain rocks!
Ran the 10km course this morning on the 14 Fanatic Flat Water. Fairly ideal conditions with no wind, very warm and humid and moderate run out tide.
The Normal Jetty, return to jetty run is about 9.78km. The "Hatchet" carried me around the course in 1hr 4min 58 seconds with an average speed of ~9.07 km/h over the 9.78km. Stoked!
I'm thinking the 1hr target is a very difficult challenge that may never be broken .... at least at this current level of training and fitness. I'm happy to be proven wrong. Is anyone else averaging 10km/hr or close to this?
DM
Great stuff Darren! 9kph over a 10km flat course is one solid hour of consistent strokes at a very frequent cadence too.
Do you stop at all during the hour or do any short burst sprints, or is just one continual paddle, sipping on the camel back as you go?
I find that up her in the 37-38 degrees even just before sunset, that I cant really handle having my camel back on as it just generates more heat on my body, so I just sit it on my deck and every 15 minutes I quickly pick it up, have a suck while I am still gliding, then put it down and continue. At the 5 km mark I stop for 2-3mintues (stop the clock) have a good drink then turn back for the last half. Oh and the last 2-3 k's are murder, trying to keep up the pace!
I am definately improving though, my first recorded 10km I averaged just 6.25kph and on my recent one I clocked just 7.8kph.
I would love to give your course a go at the end of the year to give it a run!
No Stopping over our 10km until you finish as if you do someone will overtake you. Darren was quick on Saturday, I managed to sit on his tail for the first 1.5km on my 12'6 Suplove Stingray and then he got 100-150m on me and that is where we finished. Just couldn't manage to close the gap.
Maybe try the bumbag style camelbak as that will allow your body to still breath and allow you to drink without stopping. I dare say you wuold actualy be quicker without stopping. With a 2-3 mintue rest it allows your heart rate to drop and you then have to start working through your energy systems again which means you have to go through oxygen deficit before your body starts to function at an aerobic level.
I did the paddle on the weekend without fluid and I was dripping with sweat and no doubt it affected my body.
Hi Warren,
As Cam said, no stopping. It's bad enough having to miss one paddle stroke to get the mouthpiece in for a sip. I usually take three quick mouthfulls on the run just to wet my mouth as I'm huffing and puffing. The heat was a factor on Saturday but it was not as hot as what you have, it was just really humid.
I find that I drop into a nice rhythm after about the 6km mark and that after that, it's not that hard until the last 500m which I try to sprint. 
The fixed 10km run is a great personal benchmark to measure your training and speed as it is usually pretty constant. It's also easy to measure yourself against others as we all paddle the same course.
I think we might have to make wash riding illegal [}:)], although I enjoyed a couple of minutes in Luke's wash before passing him after the island. 
I'm hoping to shave another minute off that last run with a bit more training and good conditions over the coming months. You'd be most welcome to join us on our Saturday run.
DM
