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Jake Jensen and SURF FX look at the 2017 Fanatic F

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Created by SurfFX > 9 months ago, 2 Sep 2016
SurfFX
QLD, 479 posts
Site Sponsor
2 Sep 2016 11:23AM
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Fanatic team rider Jake Jensen stopped into SURF FX to go over the awesome new 2017 Fanatic Falcon



Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel for more sexy videos like this

Area10
1508 posts
9 Sep 2016 6:11PM
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Interesting. The various ocean/all round boards are starting to converge in their designs. In some ways this looks a bit like the 2016 Mistral Equinox, minus the dugout.

The finbox is an awfully long way forwards. That's probably going to make it hard to control in the surf.

Is presenting new products in the sponsorship contracts of these athletes? It seems to be an increasing trend this year.

Are the prices of the Falcon coming down for 2017 like the Starboard All Star prices are?

What is the construction? Falcons in the past, in my experience, have not been the most durable boards, especially in regard to the paintwork.

AndyR
QLD, 1344 posts
10 Sep 2016 8:02PM
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Area10 said...
Is presenting new products in the sponsorship contracts of these athletes? It seems to be an increasing trend this year.


I doubt it is but it bloody should be. I do a better job through different social media outlets at promoting certain brands in sup just as a weekend punter than majority of the sponsored paddlers.
I don't get it, in other sports like surfing You see athletes all over social media, making clips about boards. Brands, tips, surfing etc, yet in sup only a select couple like Kai do well with social media.

On the board topic. I'm a fanatic fan, but I'm not sold on the 2017 model. I keep saying to myself they have adjusted the 2016 model and made it "more user friendly" yeah that will sell more boards I'm sure as it will appeal to more punters but is the 2017 a better board performance wise than 2016 I am not convinced yet.
2016 is loose wild and fast in the ocean, and pretty good in the flat compared to other branded ocean boards.
2017 is wider further back, less pin, more stable yes but has more stability come at a cost of speed??

Construction wise it's good it's strong, I felt 2016 was strong on the rails and up top, 2017 is heavier due to construction it has to be their strongest most durable build to date.

Area10
1508 posts
10 Sep 2016 11:03PM
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Good points.

I'm really not sure about having the finbox of an ocean board so far forward.

AndyR
QLD, 1344 posts
11 Sep 2016 12:07PM
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It has to be further forward on a pintail design doesn't it???

I thought the theory of a pin tail falcon/ace, over for example the maliko is the maliko is more a get further back surfing style bump riding board (hence you want the fin far back, the falcon/ace is more of a paddling bump board. so when the tail lifts out of the water you still want your fin to be in the water doing what it is meant to do.

When my 2016 falcon lifts in the tail its 1 step back drive paddle and away I find the more central on the board I am the quicker I am, with volume in the front you are aiming to go over the bump in front or too the side you want the fin to be in contact, that allows the pin to drop into the back of the bump you are on with minimal resistance, no loss of speed. bit further of a step back and you are engaging that fin to start to turn on the bump with out getting to far back on the board.
When you step to far back on the falcon it does stall due to low volume in that area and slow you down, so stepping so far back is going against on the theory of the board design in my opinion.
step back deep on the maliko, it doesn't stall it lets you surf the bump.

both designs work in their own ways.
pin tails work great here in Moreton Bay. short sharp shallow quick bumps, More of a high tempo paddling down wind, over a relaxed get back surf stance down wind in other oceans.

2017 falcon I am yet to down wind, but the outlines of the rear end have me a little confused about what they want the board to actually do best. Maybe the width is just right for doing what a pin design is meant to do but gives you a little more volume to keep the speed up when you do actually get back deeper on the board in the big drops/ocean troughs.


NNSUP
NSW, 1263 posts
11 Sep 2016 10:56PM
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You're correct Andy. The fin needs to be in that position to work on the Falcon. It's been tested further back and it doesn't work as well.
The 2017 board is an evolution of last year's model. No huge changes. Just changes where they might be needed but keep the good aspects of the previous model.
As far as the new tail, it fits in with the overall new design of the board yet still keeps the sinking tail ability that you need on a thin tailed downwind board. The 2017 Falcon was required to be more stable than the previous model. This was done a number of ways. Firstly approx 30 litres of volume was added to both the 24.75 and 26.75. Some of this is in the nose area and some along the rails. The new board has a straighter rail outline than the curved rail outline of the previous model and this means that as the rail moves toward the stern it is wider than previously. This wider tail could also fix the stalling issue you've mentioned though I personally don't have an issue with it doing that.
While I haven't done any major downwinders on it yet the little bumps I have chased have shown the board to be much more stable than the previous model and equally as fast. Some of the guys who have ridden it say it is slightly faster but I can't comment on that yet. The extra speed could be due to the more stable platform giving the paddler a more positive and stronger stroke.
In the past I have had the 24.75 for small bumps and the wider 26.75 for those steep bumps or longer races. With the increased stability of the new model I may only need the one downwind board. Once I get paddling more I'll have a better idea.



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NNSUP
NSW, 1263 posts
12 Sep 2016 12:09AM
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[b]Area10 said...[/b
Is presenting new products in the sponsorship contracts of these athletes? It seems to be an increasing trend this year.
This vid is actually put together by a Fanatic retailer who has also produced videos on other brands they sell. Smart move to get Jake involved.
Andy made a comment about team riders needing to work harder. We're lucky at Fanatic to have a team who are all active on social media. Kai is excellent. He sends me photos on a regular basis and works hard on his videos.
This one in my mail box today.

Dyllan Constable, Paul Jones, Ke'ale Dorries and Timothy Cyprien all send me photos daily for our Instagram and Face Book pages . In fact, here in Oz the social media is completely run by a team rider. It certainly makes sense to get your passionate team riders involved in promoting the brand.

Are the prices of the Falcon coming down for 2017 like the Starboard All Star prices

Last year's Fanatic prices here in Australia were significantly lower than the Starbosrd prices. It's not a case of all prices going down but rather Starboard dropping there's to be comparable with the others

AndyR
QLD, 1344 posts
12 Sep 2016 1:28AM
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^^^^^^
I agree. Fanatic have a great team at local level doing a great job at promoting the brand. I think internationally the brand is let down at little.
fanatic far out ways the other brands social media status in australia.


Social media is where it is at with advertising and exposure these days. Gone of the day of being a brand and getting it covered in a magazine etc. Youtube facebook and instagram is at everyones finger tips,
It takes nothing for a pro sponsored paddler to pull his phone out or his Gopro take a few second clip and share it to social media promoting the sport and the brand yet hardly any of the pro paddlers are doing this on a regular basis.

back on the board topic. I can see why they wanted to make the narrower width a little more stable but the wider version was spot on for stability and its aggressive nature.
If I upgrade this season It would have to be to the narrower width to see an advantage from 2016 wider shape.



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"Jake Jensen and SURF FX look at the 2017 Fanatic F" started by SurfFX