Wavesailing is all about style.  It is the blank canvas of windsurfing and the place where riders let their style do the talking, rather than their speed.  Every rider has their own style, whether that be mastering their first jump or charging for a World title. Our vision is to design waveboards that don’t force riders into a particular style.  Instead, they allow riders to unleash and develop their own unique style, setting them free to paint personalised pictures on the canvas of the oceans.  Wavesailing is the place where science becomes an art form.

We have hooked up with Fanatic wave R&D Manager and PWA pro Klaas Voget to find out more about the 2019 wave range!Can you give us a general overview on the Fanatic 2019 waveboard range?  Which board suits which rider? Last season we were able to reduce the wave range to just three models, the Grip, the Stubby TE and the crossover FreeWave STB.  The new shapes are so much more versatile that we simply didn’t need as many boards as before to cover everything.  It’s something we have been working hard to achieve.  The Grip is the most radical board in the range and is best suited to the ambitious wavesailor, who gets to sail in better/sideshore conditions more than just a few days a year.  We’ve also added a really small version of the Grip this year (the Grip XS Edition), to offer something radical for the new generation and lighter, smaller wavesailors.  The Stubby TE is a shape designed to maximize fun and performance in less than perfect conditions.  The Stubby TE fits best to the rider who gets to sail in cross-onshore breaks with up to 2m waves 90% of the time.  It makes your level rise instantly. The FreeWave STB is something special because the versatility of the shape has allowed genuine waveboard rivaling performance from an all-round freewave board.  The FreeWave STB is best suited to the rider who wants one board for everything – for flatwater, choppy seas and waves – this board can do it all and it’s fast and easy. All three shapes are known to cover a huge range of conditions; in some areas they overlap, but each one has a clear target group, depending on conditions, riding level and riding style.

Do the pro’s ever choose the Stubby TE over the Grip and if so, in what conditions? Yes they do.  Victor and Adam have used their Stubby TE boards in Tenerife and Sylt during the 2017 PWA tour.  Victor actually won in Sylt on his Stubby TE 82 production board.  In difficult conditions, with current and onshore winds, you can get a lot of performance out of this shape!  The board goes upwind better than anything and keeps its speed really well in slower, softer waves.  Everything is a bit easier on the Stubby TE when the conditions are difficult.  Once the conditions get better and the waves are bigger, most pros opt for the Grip.

New for this year, you have the Grip XS Edition. What’s the story behind this board and why not a Stubby XS? There are loads of young and upcoming juniors out there with a very good sailing level.  The Grip XS has been designed to provide them with a board that is proportional to their size.  This allows them to experience the same levels of manoeuvrability and control that a larger rider gets from the regular sizes.  It’s not just a junior board though.  There are plenty of smaller riders out there who can now choose a production board to suit their size. Choosing the Grip over the Stubby TE was a clear choice for us.  The extremely wide tail of the Stubby TE is harder to turn for very light riders.  Also, the extra hold and responsiveness of the Quad fin configuration of the Grip makes this style of board ideal for lighter riders.

Both the Stubby TE and Grip come with Choco fins as standard, while the FreeWave STB comes with a Thruster set from MFC.  Do these fins cover everything those boards are designed to do, or are there still benefits to getting an additional set of fins in either a different size or style? We’re not bound to specific fin brands.  We test as many different fins from different brands as we can and supply the boards with what we thinks works the best.  In the case of the Grip, the Choco Quad set works exceptionally as this fin set supports the turning of the board with a certain softness, allowing tight arcs with a very forgiving nature.  At the same time this fin set is fast and grippy.  The Stubby TE comes with a very controlled and manoeuvrable Choco Thruster set, adding extra wave potential to the shape and plenty of planing power by nature.  For the FreeWave STB we’re using a very fast and early planing Thruster set from MFC.  We haven’t found anything yet which supports the style of the board better than this fin set. Of course there is still tuning potential, which is why we choose to supply our boards with 13cm slot boxes over the 10cm versions or Mini Tuttle.  This means that you can change not only the style, but also the position of the fins.  The FreeWave STB comes with a Power Box and side Slot Boxes with cover, so you can close them and use the board with a classic freewave single fin for flatwater blasting.  Although the fins we supply offer a very good mix for the boards and the choice of fin boxes allows tuning through positioning, there is definitely still scope for more specific tuning with additional fins.

Thank you Klaas! For more info about our waveboards click here:https://bit.ly/2UeplGZ

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