New Fanatic Race boards - video

Great overhead view in that vid showing DW surfing..

An excellent video!

No it's not just you.

I'm going to be fascinated to see one of these in the flesh.

Yes -really great overhead DW footage.

Just unboxed today.

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tightlines said..
I accompanied the owner of the Fanatic Falcon that surf4fun posted photo's of for his first downwinder on it today, judging by the sound of YEEEEWWW!!! as he paddled off into the distance I think we have one very happy owner.
Got to admit I love the look of the board as well, however if I was to go red it would be the wider version for me......it got me thinking but I do have plans for something else.

That's either a very narrow board or he has very long arms..

That nose does look very Maliko Jav'ish..

Wish I had skills to paddle a 24.75'' DW board.. It looks very good.

The narrow Strike has a recommended max rider weight of 80kgs and the wider one is 90kgs (just under 200lbs). So these aren't boards for big guys.

We seem to be in the strange position where the big brands are producing models that are the kind of extreme designs that you'd normally expect from a custom shaper who is designing to a very particular brief. In the case of the Strike it looks like a board designed for a pro rider who wants to do a flat water sprint on a millpond. I guess this is what happens if each year you feel the need to bring out a radically different design from the previous year in order to try to separate people from their money. I would much rather that the brands followed the "Volkswagon Golf" design evolution: start with a good basic design and then tweak it each year in a rolling development program that builds on each year's successes to mean that your design is seriously sorted.

The Falcon however seems to have gone the other way - they started with an extreme design and this year it looks a lot less extreme, and now is actually something I might be interested in owning. If the Falcon sells well (especially vs. the Strike), perhaps Fanatic will learn something about the perils and advantages of extreme specialist designs vs. continuous evolution.

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magillamelb said...
Well the back looks a bit like this...

and the front a bit like this...

Yeah, well the America's Cup sailing event came to the UK recently, at Portsmouth. They had problems racing one day because the wind barely reached 15 knots. Then the next day it was over 20 knots (as it often is) and the event was cancelled because the wind was too strong. So these massively expensive specialist boats can only work in about a 5 knot wind window...sheesh...I hope that SUP design doesn't go down a similar route.

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The Falcon however seems to have gone the other way - they started with an extreme design and this year it looks a lot less extreme, and now is actually something I might be interested in owning. If the Falcon sells well (especially vs. the Strike), perhaps Fanatic will learn something about the perils and advantages of extreme specialist designs vs. continuous evolution.

The Strike is certainly a more difficult board to ride than the Falcon but they are aimed at different markets. In the past, Fanatic tried to do one model in different sizes to make choice easier, however, there was always a demand (slight as it might be) for a specific flatwater race board. The Strike was produced for the small number of paddlers who wanted this type of board.

This year's Falcon is certainly going to be easier to ride, particularly downwind for the average paddler. With the new rounded rails it seems to follow the swells easier and doesn't track nearly as much as the boxier rails of the past. I paddled it on flatwater last night and it seems to glide well also, though obviously not as well as specific flatwater boards. It will be interesting to see how the two widths compare - 24 vs 26. I suspect the 26 is going to be the popular width.

The nose has been modelled on the Australian clubbie paddle boards and is actually quite different to the Maliko Jav DJ. I even jumped on the new yellow down wind board last week DJ and liked it alot....just don't tell JB.

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NNSUP said...

The Falcon however seems to have gone the other way - they started with an extreme design and this year it looks a lot less extreme, and now is actually something I might be interested in owning. If the Falcon sells well (especially vs. the Strike), perhaps Fanatic will learn something about the perils and advantages of extreme specialist designs vs. continuous evolution.

The Strike is certainly a more difficult board to ride than the Falcon but they are aimed at different markets. In the past, Fanatic tried to do one model in different sizes to make choice easier, however, there was always a demand (slight as it might be) for a specific flatwater race board. The Strike was produced for the small number of paddlers who wanted this type of board.

Of course. But this was not my point. My point is that Fanatic have had perfectly good flatwater boards in the past, and it might have been better to tweak those each year in a continuous evolution than to launch a completely different shape which is unlikely to have had sufficient development time to have all possible shortcomings ironed out.

But maybe then people would be less likely to update to the new board each year because making wild claims about how much better the new model is than the last would seem less plausible. That is what is really going on here IMO. Change for marketing's sake rather than real improvement.

As I say, however, the new Falcon seems more of an evolution and I suspect it will hit the sweet spot for more people this year as a consequence. What we need now is a 17ft version :)

I will try and make a short comparison between the 2014/2015 fanatic falcon flawater wich I have ridden a lot and the all new Strike. Both in the 14x 26 version .
The 2014/2015 version is very easy board to paddle stable, with lots of volume and performs well in a wide range of conditions, it even handles a moderate downwind conditions. The new board is a whole different story, it feels tippy when standing around but its ok after a short while, it feels fast and it track better than the old model. Despite the tippyness it goes ok around bouys. It can't see it performing at all in downwinders og in BOP conditions due to the nose configuration.
It is super ligth and weel built. It is a pure flatwater rocket- not something I would pick myself but I see a market for it....