Fanatic Falcon 2012 - Team Sailor Vid

Here is a nice vid of the Fanatic Slalom Team trying out their new tools...

A Close Shave Speedsailing - Lake George

At my last session at Lake George I had a Close Shave with my SA Speeed Demons team mate Choco.  As you can see from the footage I thought I was aware of all the sailors in my vicinity!  I started off a few hundread meters from another sailor and followed.  I passed them over the top and scanned back and forth for other sailors.  You can see a slight haze in my luff pocket at 1:43 and then Choco appears.  The nose of his board clipped the foot of my sail and if I had been a second later who knows what might have happened.  There was no reason to stop and I was on a NM so I finished the run and caught up with Choco later.

I have never had such a close shave and I think the conditions were a contributor.  You could sail fast on all tacks at a constant speed so 2 sailors could converge on a point from a long distance away being blissfully unaware of each other.  Choco was hidden by my luff pocket and I was in his blind spot upwind.

Fanatic Falcon 113 2012 Preview

 

Here are some quick observations of the 113(2012) Vs the 111(2011) 

• The rails are boxier in the tail and the straps are closer to the rail meaning a more committed stance. 
• The tail around behind the back straps is more bulbous flowing into a flatter and slightly thinner working area between the front straps. 
• With a quick check of the bottom with a ruler it looks like there is a little more vee(than 2011) under the back foot as well as some tail rocker(2011 had none). 
• There are still the double concave in the nose but this washes out into a vee right up the front instead of a flat like the 2011 model. 
• The track recess appears much deeper but I think this is partly due to more volume in the shoulder of the rail. 
• The track recess also extends right to the nose reducing volume and lift and increasing stiffness.

Fanatic Falcon 2012 Sizes

The board bags on the 2012 Fanatic site show the sizing of the upcoming and yet to be released 2012 Fanatic Falcon range of slalom boards...

XS (245 x 57)
NewWave 69 / 76 / 83, FreeWave 75, NewWave Twin 72 / 79, Quad 75 / 81, all Falcon Speeds

S (247 x 62)
NewWave 91, NewWave Twin 86 / 93, Quad 87 / 94, FreeWave 85 / 95, Hawk 100, Falcon Slalom 89, Ray 100, Skate 89

M (249 x 66)
FreeWave 105 / 115, Skate 99 / 109, Shark 105, Hawk 110, Falcon Slalom 99

L (258 x 70)
Shark 120, Ripper 102, Ray 115, Falcon 113, Hawk 120, Ripper 120

XL (268 x 85)
Shark 135 / 150 / 165, Falcon 125 / 140 / 165, Ray 130 / 145, Hawk 135

Looks like;
>the 85 is now 89
>the 102 is now 99
>the 111 is now 113
>the 122 is now 125
>the 134 and 148 have been replaced by a 140.

Widths are anyones guess but based on the popularity of the 2011 shapes I am sure there will only be slight tweaks rather than wholesale changes.

Fanatic Falcon 111 Gybe - Boom Tail GoPro

On my recent trip to Lake George(near Beachport, South Australia) I captured a bunch of footage and tried some new(for me) mounting positions for my GoPro camera.  I got plenty of the usual head cam footage as well as boom mounted near the mast.  I had not tried the rear of the boom due to the need to change mounts in the water(and possibly lose a $330 camera) and the inconvenience with pressing record.
 
Lake george is waist deep in middle lake and reasonably flat so I had less chance of loosing the camera in a stack and had flatter water to gybe at the end of each run.  This was the perfect opportunity to try mounting the camera on the tail of the boom.  What really stood out was how much slower and less reactive the rig was in the gybe with the camera mounted at the rear.  The camera is only a few hundread grams but it slowed down the rig flip remarkably as well as oversheeting on the entry to the gybe and trimming the sail when sailing a straight course.  I was happy with the view as it showns the foot and hand work required as well as timing variations.  I will mix the other footage together in a clip but for now here is the gybe with boom tail cam.

Falcon Speed 45 & 51

The new Fanatic Falcon speeds are online and look like they have some very nice go-fast features.  There is a 51cm wide (65L - 230cm) and 45cm wide(54L - 228cm) board to complement the 85 which can be used as a light wind speed board.

Falcon Speed 45 (courtesy of the Fanatic Website)

Other features include...

- Extra Deep Deck Recess for Rig Stability
- S-Shape Volume Flow
- All New Feet Grab Rail Shape for Max Foot Comfort
- 70° Pintail for Clean Water Release/Reduced Drag Area
- V into Double Concave Speed Control Bottom
- Slight Tail Rocker for Maximum Free Speed Experience
- CAD Designed Speed Curves
- Straight Outlines

Check it out on the Fanatic Website HERE

Dakhla Festival 2011

New Toys - Fanatic Falcon 111 & 134

After many years of building my own boards I bought 2 Fanatic Falcons in 2006 - the 91 & 111.  I found that the mono-concave tail didn't suit my weight and/or technique. The boards would spinout without warning and I moved on thinking that I was too heavy or powerful for the design.  I really liked the lively feel and early planing of the boards and have always admired Fanatics commitment to quality in construction and design innovation. I have since had Starboards('07 121 & 94 iSonics) and JP's(Slalom IV 72, 104 & 134, Slalom V 92, Slalom VI 92 & 112).
With other brands now using cheaper construction methods without reducing their prices I am keen to have another go.  After many hours on the Fanatic Forum I decided on a pair of Falcons, the l21 and 101.  When I did a ring around I found that all of the stock in Australia was pretty much sold so with a wait until June on those sizes I went for my second option of a few demo boards, the 134 & 111.

Looking at all my session stats for the last few years my most used combos are a 68-69cm & 58-61cm boards and sails 6.7 to 7.8m.  Combine this with my reduced TOW at the moment and my main abjective is to get out and sail in almost anything when I get a few hours to myself.  The 134 seems to be pretty fast for its size but still an early planer so this will get a lot of use in the gusty winter winds.  I wouldn't mind having a crack at my Big Board PB on an 84cm JP of 34.13.  The 111 will be used with 7.8 & 6.2 Evo III's.  I am trying a minimum quiver/ maximum range concept this year and hope that this is successful.

I hope to take a lot more measurements and do my own personal review of the 134 and 111(and any other falcons I might get ;).

Fanatic Falcon 134 & 111

 

Fanatic Falcon 111

Fanatic Falcon 134

 

New Toy - Fanatic Freewave 115

I have just received my new B & J board, the 115 Freewave.  The build quality is out of this world and as a result I will be a little cautious whe trying new moves.  As well as the standard 29cm G10 fin I have purchased a Select 33 B & J for use with the bigger sail and for more POP! I will start with the straps outboard until I am able to do more aerial tricks, then move em in for more control.