A great board comparo would be between the Fanatic and the Surftech Bark 12'6, they look a lot alike...Bark is the one on the left and in some good company. Will get better pics of nose, etc.

We've had some great runs on the Fly 12'6" lately in mixed downwind conditions and came away impressed. The rougher and nastier the water got the more fun it was.

Feels very alive and fast underfoot with plenty of easy speed. Cross compared with a board a few feet longer and it was the faster paddler who came out in front.

Nice board for all conditions. Stable, easy and fast.

Sam.

Hi Phil

we did a trial on this board compared to a 14' Glide. Both great board. On the river in glassy water this board matched and even pulled ahead. The paddlers swaped boards to see if it was the engine and not the board and we had the same result.

Cheers
Swanie

Just came back from a really short down wind session on the Barwon with revvin Kevin (1.2k ish) really didnt even have to paddle which for me is exactly what i needed, time on the water with a close mate.

We had 35kn+ wind behind us and no idea really what was gonna happen.
I actually caught 2 x 6 - 9 inch runners 30m+ long almost without paddling (My wide ass makes a huge sail).

I have always found down winders before to be just hard slog with water lapping my ankles and fighting to stay shiney side up the whole way.

On 7 previous occasions I have fallen of 30 -50 plus times on 10kms runs without exageration and really had a miserable time but enjoyed the excersize and the friends around me.

I have never experienced the fun I had this morning and have to say turned me into a frothing grom hooting and freaking out.

Watching water spray off the bow of this beast is a pure delight, looks like a destroyer punching out through the ocean.

When the bow goes under you think sh1t thats it we are gonna broach but it just pops straight up accelerates and keeps going straight woo hoo.

Revin Kevin and I really had a hoot.

Things to think about

Word to the wise watch this board in the wind it will fly off down the road even in a small wind gust. Always get it on the grass and secure it down in some way.

The dihedral in the nose needs a block of foam to be mounted on the pack rack so it does not damage the board and it sits flat.

You must get back on the tail and release the forward rail before it will turn, be nimble on the board to catch the runners cross stepping is a major advatage and the odd drop knee turn is required.

I can see now how a rudder is a major advantage in side wind for sure

I dont care if it its this board or another that does it for you if you find the right one you will finally get to understand what David DJ Perterson has been frothing over for the past 18 months.

As a dedicated surfer who really thought DW was a bit of a wank , I can honestly say after today I have the DOWN WIND BUG for sure.

Taking Kristi and Rich out later STOKED OFF MY HEAD and it isnt prescription drugs this time woooooooooooooo hoooooooooooooooo.

Phill

Love ya work Phil, great insight into the board!

I had my first real DW the other week and can now see what the fuss is about so will be looking myself for one eventually.

Yes, in the near future we should get the chance for a triple test, with the Catalina, Jav, and Fanatic. I can't get my hands on a borrowed 12'6 Bark, so can't test that one at the moment.

Anyone tried the fanatic in serious down wind conditions? Especially a lighter paddler (approx 80kg) in open ocean and anywhere from 15 to 30 knotts.

laceys lane said...

dtm said...

great to see you out on the water Phill
Yeah down winders are super fun but like you said as long as you get the right board i got a 12'6" Lauhi kai hollowed moulded that i dont rate that highly i should have checked this one out first
I was just worried at 30inchs wide it be a beast for my light arse but i do keep hearing good reveiws from the Fanatic

hi dtm, i guy your size wouldn't need to go to the fly. don't get me wrong- the fly is a good board for the bigger guys, no real other option for them imo.it's reasonably quick, however, the nose is not super suited for bop paddle outs and the surfing in, but i've been told it does quite well in medium dw er's with the wide square tail getting a nice push along. try casso's 'deep', dales 12'6's, new lh square tails. the bark 12'6's look good, carbon, a bit narrower, less volume and are a similar shape to the fly. i believe naish are working on something too.
tbh, no 12'6 is really going to give you the true dw feeling.i have a very nice 14' er that is doing everything i want it too, but it's a non brand
cheers
cheers

I thought you were gone.......

Tryfan said...

A great board comparo would be between the Fanatic and the Surftech Bark 12'6, they look a lot alike...Bark is the one on the left and in some good company. Will get better pics of nose, etc.

Woo up there a second - is that a al merrick sup ? (yeah I know off the topic a bit but I gotta know)

Nice said...

Tryfan said...

A great board comparo would be between the Fanatic and the Surftech Bark 12'6, they look a lot alike...Bark is the one on the left and in some good company. Will get better pics of nose, etc.

Woo up there a second - is that a al merrick sup ? (yeah I know off the topic a bit but I gotta know)

yes, yes it is...by surftech, 3 models I believe...along with the new Jerry's

aus301 said...

Nice said...

Tryfan said...

A great board comparo would be between the Fanatic and the Surftech Bark 12'6, they look a lot alike...Bark is the one on the left and in some good company. Will get better pics of nose, etc.

Woo up there a second - is that a al merrick sup ? (yeah I know off the topic a bit but I gotta know)

I spotted an Al Merrick SUP at the Rip Curl shop at Cooly this afternoon, this one didn't look like a surftech, however I could be wrong.

those ones are FREAKIN huge, I mean If King Kong needed a sup, they have him covered..... As far as im aware they are not Surftech at all. The one in Scotty's(tryfan) pic, which is the Greenline shop, is a surftech model.

Sorry Phil, didn't mean to hijack your post on race/downwinders but only had the one pic of the Bark as it got damaged by transport co and is in getting fixed so can be demo'd next week.

Have posted separately some pics of the Merrick sups to get this post back on topic.

Scotty

akhawk said...

Anyone tried the fanatic in serious down wind conditions? Especially a lighter paddler (approx 80kg) in open ocean and anywhere from 15 to 30 knotts.

HeyAkHawk, Kristi paddled the fly in 25 - 45knts + today and it picks up runners really easily and links them and it stays on them. She did push the nose under once and it behaved itself and came up but did not buck her off.

Kristi was able to stay with Simon for quite a while until the weather got extreme and she simply did not have the power to keep up paddling on as time went by.

The fly 12.6 certainly did not link runners like Simon on the 17 naish who caught some 200 - 300m runs but Kristi does not have Simons experience on how to do this yet either. I also wouldnt expect the 12'6 to match a 17 in those conditions,

I agree with lacey its probably more aimed at the bigger or less experienced paddler that wants stability or a lighter paddler that wants a more stable boaty board.

Phill

boylos said...


Pleased to here your back on the water (how did your back pull up?) and great pics/review

Will be interested to here your views on the Fanatic vs the other boards especially the C4 Vortice XP .

Boylos

Hi Craig,

was only on water for very short time but so much fun. The fanatic is much easier to stay shiney side up on thats for sure, but they are very different boards.

If you lean on the rail of the Vortice mid board it actually imo act like a rudder and you can steer it to a degree mid board angle off to the cross wind and I love that.

The fly I found was hard to paddle in a cross wind and I needed to constantly drop knee to turn the board and keep it in the direction I wanted to go. This means cross stepping back and forward and for some this might be a problem.

I have not paddled either in open ocean so could not compare but I will ask Kristi to post her thoughs as she has done the 6.5 km Corio run on both in similar conditions.

Phill

The two are pretty close in looks all round, specs are close, but different with the Fanatic a bit wider.
Here's a short vid of the Bark. Looks like a proto, so some minor differences to the one we get here.