sorey this is the only pic i have of them ive only riden the 9'0 so fare in tiney waves so to early to give much coment but it did feel good will give more of a review once i get more time on them bouth
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will let you knoww soon as we get some waves to try it on fingers crossed this weekend
Got the last of that nice swell on the Sydney coast this morning out at Palmy, and also the chance to give the new Fanatic FLY 9'0" a whirl.
As mentioned earlier...
First impressions before riding,
- Great tail lines, looks much sweeter in person than on pic.
- Full rails forward.
- Looks bigger than 9', but layed it down along an 8'4" Naish, and it's surprising.
- Very light!
- Fin set up needs attention, but I always change my fins, that's my thing.
- Looks a little straight through the nose in rocker, but I'll wait til I ride first.
After riding,
Conditions - 8 - 10 knot SW, Slightly choppy. Average waves around shoulder height, sets close to head high, and 1 bomb set over (which I was lucky to have scored). And cold, Paddled out about 6:45am. Very fast waves, most closing out. Very hollow, low tide beach break. Best rides were about 20m max, 1 hit and floater.
- First thing I noticed is that the board is smaller than it looks. If I was to estimate the volume, I would say about 110 ltrs. I had water lapping over about 75% of the deck. Weighed myself before session @ 95kg.
- Very comfortable to paddle. I found it easy punch out through whitewater and breaking waves. Paddles fast. VERY stable for a low volume board.
- First wave, this board is fast! Caught the wave early and with ease. Minimal yawing considering the size and volume. Great drive and fast on the face.
- First hits, this board is surprisingly loose. I found on my back hand she was snapping tight and powered, great recovery too. Forehand, I did manage to air the tail out on a big hit, however this may have also been due to a poor fin setup. Carves and Cutties were really sweet.
- The rocker, especially the nose. I was sus on the low nose rocker. But the waves were very hollow this morning and I had no issues at all. I floated some very hollow closeouts with no nose dives at all. It was easy to push the nose under while paddling for waves, but the board is fast I think I am used to paddling really far forward from the 8'4", and got more comfortable with a better stance towards the end.
- Deck grip is awesome, very grippy but not uncomfortable.
- The feel, I was expecting a more fishy/cruisy feel on this board. Like the 9'6" Naish or a semi shortboard SUP, but it was totally different. This board is light under your feet and responds fast to foot trimming. I think that sweet tail and lines have this baby styling as a performance shortboard. Same great feel the 8'4" gives me, and I think the low weight compensates for the extra length and width. The FLY feels lighter than the 8'4" (haven't weighed then though!).
All up I had an awesome session this morning in pretty crap conditions.
Pros - Fast, Loose, Easy, Light, Progressive, Good Grip
Cons - Poor stocko Fins, Even though I had absolutely no issue with the rocker it looks like it needs a touch more in the nose (I think it's in my mind and wouldn't change it for fear of effecting the ride)
I can't wait to get another session on it with good fins, anyone use futures? I only have FCS. I want to try some large trusters in the front, and I'll run my US box G1000 or M5 in the tail.
No pics unfortunately, but the misses is coming paddling tomorrow with me, so maybe get some then.
All up a high performance easy to ride board for advanced or light riders.
JB
i had my first proper session on the 9'0 as well this weekend again in similar poor condition in the uk. it was blowing about 16mph cross shore with some pretty horrible chop so not ideal for sup atall but was dieing to get on a few. as mentioned i swapped the centre fin for a small fcs g5 and put some plastic sides in as i personly prefure a softer fin in my sups which for mea i feel really helped a lot although i havnt had a huge amount of time on the stock fins (jb would be let me know your fin thoughts and i will forward them on to the fanatic guys and they look in some more options) again the board with its pinched in nose and tail did feel a lot smaller than the 9' im used to and amore like a 8'5 however the wind really wasnt helping the hole experience. paddling out was a breeze through the waves punching through super easy and again as mentioned this board is super fast paddling in, it surprised me a number of times when on my old starboard 9'0 i would have probable given up on a wave the fanatic just has a lot more glide and one or two extra strokes and you were on your way. on the face with the smaller centre the board came alive and once i had got used to the new shape it was super smooth giving some really nice flowing turns and cutbacks yet point it down the line and a few pumps and you would be flying and exiting waves with some nice little airs.every thing else i think has been covered well above so at the moment ill leave this here
in conclusion for a first proper session im really excited about this board whilst the weekend gave some prity horrible sup conditions the board defiantly performed well and really looking forward to getting more time on it in some cleaner conditions and also to try its bigger brother aswell.
charlie
ive just come back from doing a few miles on the flat on the 9'0 and the glide that i noticed paddling in translates very well when it comes to covering distance, it actually felt like i was on atleast a 10'5 board in the way it went, very pleasantly surprised and suddenly opens a hole new use for what you would think was a very surf orientated board
these two are pure sup boards the black thing you see in a vent plug not a mast track. but being a windsurfer aswell i cant but help wonder how these two would go with a sail.
You are saying two things here, You said its not for a mast then you mention it may be a good wind surfer.
These are heading out way and quite keen to have a go from what i hear
I would of thought with that pulled in tail it would be fairly unstable
Having the mast option opens up the target market for the companies. More people that you can sell the same product to.
Charlieuk was just saying that he windsurfs as well as SUP and was wondering how it would go if you could attach a mast.
Remember that several of the biggest names in sup are windsurfing companies like Naish, Starboard, and there are lots of others like Fanatic, JP, Hobie etc producing some great boards.
We have windsurf companies to thank for getting our sport off the ground and producing most of the first off the shelf boards available. Sure there are lots of options now but we havn't always been so lucky.
