SIC Bullet 14 is a planing hull vs the Fanatic semi-displacement hull. This is what they look like in photos. True?
Has anyone ridden both?
What's the Bullet like in flatwater?
What's the Flyrace like in 20 knots downwind?
Are they both surfable on fat wave or peaking swell?
Which is the stronger board?
If you raced them over a course with equal parts flat water and downwind which would win?
Great question but it's a big ask.. and I don't think you'll get an answer any time soon.. Maybe Jacko might know more.
I don't think anyone has even seen a 14' Bullet (it's not even listed on the SIC site yet) and there's only the odd 14' Fanatic in Oz.. and they are pre production boards.. I could be wrong but I'm thinking the 14' Bullet is more of a small persons 17'4" Bullet and a very different board to the 14' Fly.. IMO they are both planing hulls with the Fanatic using the Starboard principle by using volume in the nose to reduce pearling using the volume to float it up and out of the water and the deeper nose section will also help cutting through chop and small waves..
I've heard the Fanatic goes well in 20 knots as long as it's down wind because they can be a little difficult in side winds due to the volume in the nose.. It seems anything is surfable if you're good enough.. and because the Fanatics are pre production super light weight race boards I'd guess the Bullet is the stronger board.
DJ
Have ridden both in the flatwater only - so I can't comment on downwind performance.
In flatwater conditions the Fanatic 14 felt smoother and quicker and would definately be the choice of the two if you were planning to use it in these conditions. As Lacey said, the 14 bullet (although flatter than the f-16) still has a fair amount of nose rocker, so a much shorter waterline than the Fanatic. I also found that the location of the steering on the Bullet was right where i wanted to stand to paddle the board in the flatwater, which was a little annoying.
Having said that, the Bullet is designed as a pure downwind board and not for flatwater paddling, and even in the creek it felt like it wanted to pick up any small bumps so I'd love to give it a try on a downwinder and see how it goes.
In terms of the strength of both boards, from my understanding, both the boards i've tried were prototype/pre-production models, so the production models may come out stronger (but possibly slightly heavier too).
