After some board on board testing with the two 8'10" 's from Fanatic recently, I have decided that my quiver will consist of both! I have ridden both boards in a variety of conditions and they most definitely cover all bases.

2012 Fanatic AllWave 8'10"
I am 85 kgs on a good day. This board is so stable, when paddling it you start to think that there is no way this thing will shred on a wave cause it feels like your on 9'6"+ board. How surprised I was. Such a sweet rock, the board responds instantly to your foot positioning, and is amazing off the tail. At the last SPSC even some of the crew mentioned that I was surfing better on the AllWave than the ProWave, and it was definitely easier! In the conditions that finished the event this was definitely the case. Windy, choppy, hard to catch waves, the AllWave comes right out of it's shell. I've ridden up to about head high on this board and it has never felt a handful, I am interested to see it does as it is 31 wide. It is super loose and easy to get up into the lip. Carving is a dream, and it makes fun out of absolute mush. I could quite easily have this board as an only board, and it is most definitely suitable for the intermediate rider. Stepping forward a bit, you engage the mid rocker, allowing the board to be turned and steered, but also using that width for stability and lift to get you through those fat sections. Loose, responsive, fast, easy.

ProWave 8'10"
If your looking for the next level, this is it. I was lucky enough to have this board with me in Hawaii this year, and scored some awesome waves on the south shore. And this board amazed me, when juiced up she responds like she's glued to your feet. You can really smack the lip in ridiculous sections, and Fast doesn't begin to explain the board speed available on the wave. A really tight pulled in tail gives total control and awesome bottom turns at full speed. In conparison to the 2010 ProWave, this board is looser, faster, more controllable, lighter and way more smackable. The key thing with this board for me is getting that power behind you, I guess at my weight I am pushing water a little bit until shoulder height, but once you get that wave under you, OMG!! This board really is a Pro board.

All up, I am stoked to be lucky enough to have both boards in my quiver, but I do think I'll be riding the AllWave majority of the time unless we have an absolute cracker of a summer. I strongly suggest getting a demo organized at your local dealer because the bar has been lifted again this year.

JB

Must be quite difficult testing a 2012 board when its september 2011.
Surely you must be testing a 2011 board?

JB - I picked up my 8"10 Prowave on the weekend and had a mushy surf at Avalon.
Coming from the Fanatic 9.0 from last year, i found the 8'10 to have less paddlability,(i guess the improved nose rocker) but on the wave its looser, faster and takes drops and closeouts heaps better.

Looks good too. Just wish it was a little smaller in volume. I have a feeling the width is gonna be an issue in stuff over head high??? wait and see.

Just gotta get out in some decent waves now and try the carbon 12'6.

Be good to catchya for a surf soon to bro.

i managed to get mine off him before he left.
Ill try get up north and have a paddle with you two sunday if its looking good.

On the fin, side of things, im a big fan of mixing it up.

I found the stock thrusters to be ok, but i have a sweet set of kinetic quads that i wouldnt mind trying in it.

Cheers
Catchya

I was worried about the Prowave range not paddling mushy or small surf well.

I rode the 8"10 in 1-1.5ft onshore last night. There was a few bowly sections but pretty average.

The board flew. Bumps weren't to much of a problem either.
As a quad it climbs white water like a backpacker at bondi.

Thanks for the fin advice JB, changed the board heaps.

Cant wait for the 3-5ft onshores on the weekend.

yehooo

The 8'6" floats me pretty well, it's volume is really well positioned and stable. I'm 95kgs on a good day, and have no troubles in good conditions, when it get's choppy and windy it is a decent challenge, but manageable.

JB

Hey Wilanz,

Yes the Pro-wave is a beast! and you'll get that versatility in the 9'2".

I just rode my 8'10" yesterday in the SPSC event as a quad and really liked it. the first time I tried it wasn't so stoked, however I have some better fins this time and it really blew me away. I was running Gerry thrusters and some NKB tail quads probably about equivalent to a G-1000 but in a performance core. This board is just so adaptable, and slight fins changes really bring out different performance. I really urge to try all/any fin set up you can get yours on!

Enjoy.

JB

I rode the 8'6" today in 2 foot waves and the thing goes unreal im 90 kegs and knocking 50
Looking faward to riding the 8'10" this weekend !
JB is the 8'10" as loose as the 8'6' as it looks to have more outline curve ?
RIK

I had a demo on the 9'2" Prowave today in strong side shore conditions and a 2-3 foot swell. It is very well made and nice and light, I would say that I'm fairly competent to experienced, but at 6 ft and 100 kg struggled to stay upright once the wind picked up. I also had to stand in surfer stance most of the time to get the flotation right. I found it hard to paddle into waves and had to slip my foot forward on every wave I caught. It was very loose once on the wave but very energy sapping to keep paddling. I found the deck grip to be really slippery when I was kneeling and found it actually easier to stay on when I was standing up. Even though paddling out through the white water was quite good, stabilty was definitely an issue, at 53 and with a crook lower back it became really difficult after about an hour to stay up. I also chafed the skin off my toes, presumably due to the deck grip? I actually went down to RPS to demo the 8'10" Allwave or Widepoint but there was a mistake and they were both out. I'll demo the 9' 6" Allwave in two weeks and see how that goes. It's a bit longer than I wanted but hopefully will give me an idea of how the 9'2" or 8'10" will perform. I would say the Prowave is a great board for an experienced surfer up to 95kg, but I think most people will struggle with it in choppy conditions if used as a SUP.

Thanks for the review Leroy13.
I like to read you posts about different boards. I can kinda judge how I would like the board by your comments.
It's good to read reviews by somebody other than a nimble ripper (No offense).
I know you have the 10'2" PSH Hull Paddler. Have you ever tried out the 9'7"?
Keep up the good work and I want to hear about the 9'2' or 9'6" Allwave.

Yes Matt they were pretty average but you still caught a couple of nice ones!! And thanks Southwesterly for the encouragement. I have a laminectonmy coming up in Feb and a divison of assets coming up from a rather acrimonious seperation (Why do women have affairs with their bosses and then blame the husband?) But I digress. I want a lighter, shorter board as increasingly I find the Paddler very heavy to carry. It's rail to rail transferrance is not bad, but it really doesn't hold into the face very well on suckier waves, although I still find its ability to get vertical quicly amazing. I'll let you know how the 9'6" Allwave goes and hopefully how the 8'10" Widepoint and possibly even the 9'5" Widepoint goes. Hopefully my wife leaves me enough money for one decent board after the demoing!! Ill attach a picture that one of the local surf reports (Rasta-Eastward) took of me taking of at a local peak. about three seconds later I managed to hit that lip. Why didn't he take the photo then??