More photos and ride review coming soon. Christmas came early. Woo hoo!

Some pics of the bottom.
Nose starts off rounded. A little more than I thought. Still definately no V. Working back the round flattens out. The mid section is flat, and I mean flat. Maybe a slight angle off near the edge at the after half at the middle. Then working into a V into the tail. Again the V is flat sided. No double concave. The rails are rounded the whole way along but where the bottom and rail meet is a sharp edge.
There is a lowered standing area, not recessed. The bow is raised but flat as well.
So a few questions.
What are the pros and cons of the rounded rail in the tail. Apart from more stability with square tail.
Why did they not put a recessed standing area? Is there one on the Blitz,the new Facon is a dugout. I will talk about that in the ride report.
The board weighs 9.8 kgs with no fin. The build quality seems good. Gave it a few smacks with the paddle on my first paddle and no marks.
There is no pic of the fin but calling it a carbon fin is a bit much. It is a fin with 1 layer of carbon near the base.

I was going to take the Fwd handles off but the screws are like wood screws not machine thread. I vased eveything and put them back. They weigh 85g with the screws. Not going to slow me down.
First time I've had a board with a manual decompression screw. Does it have to come out all the time when not in use. Again checked the O-ring and some vaseline.

I will start buy saying I am 44 , 1.79m and 83kgs. I paddle quite a bit but this is my first shall we call it peformance board. I do this paddle a bit. Leave from Palm beach and out between the Islands off Cannes and back. About 10 K. Which way you go depends on the conditions.
So great conditions for the test. Took off in an onshore breeze and paddle with chop and wind on the side. First impression,glad I didn't go narrower. Turned slightly and the board just wanted to go on any little bump. Turned downwind and the board really speeds up with anything. Back on course for the headland. Still a bit wobbly. The water splashing under the bow is new and a little annoying at first. Move back a little and the board really changes. Less stable and the slapping is worse. Move a little fwd and much more stable and less slapping.
Get to the first headland and there are some reasonable waves,not the pic.I would say waist to shoulder on the better sets.Play around a bit and wipe out a couple of times and decide to move on. Around the headland and between the islands now so sheltered from wind but there is still swell. Decide to paddle hard for a bit. Wow, when you go hard this thing goes. The slapping under the nose becomes more chattering and get the sensation you are planing(I am not)! Again any little bump and it goes. You have to keep the power on though. That lasts about 10 mins and I come to this little wave,in the pics. Wipe out on the first one because I didn't move back quick enough. Catch a couple and loving that nose now. When a little slow getting back it doesn't nose dive. Head off again and get to the end of the island where you get sloppy conditions,first pic. Different direction swell and wind. I have now figured out the board has great secondary stability(the rounded rails I guess) and where you stand,just fwd or just behind the handle makes a big difference. If you keep your stance narrower it is more stable, again the rounded rails, why didn't they put a recess that would help stability and stop you putting your feet close to the rail? Put the power down again and its fine. Back off and its wobbly. Get around the headland and its 45? with the swell but 90 to the wind. Do some zig zagging to get some runs with the swell,knee height. The wind died quickly here.This is where the board is great. The smaller waves I was getting quite a few strokes on. Then on a slightly bigger swell I took off and stood there not paddling. Yes!!! With a decent breeze behind me and knee to waist swell I think this board will be great. Its stable and easy to turn. Is this the good point off the rounded rail in the tail?
The limits are obviously my fitness and I can't surf. As I said this board needs to be paddled hard in the flat and chop to get the best out of it. Its almost like a second gear.
Put some little pieces of paper towel in my camera casing, a go pro rip off. No Fogging!!!

I feel the need for a supthecreek Kook hat cam. Not something you say everyday.

Just a couple of quick answers. Being a 12'6" this is aimed at being a BOP board. The rounded rails, particularly in the tail make it more forgiving and easier to foot steer. When downwinding or on waves it doesn't track, but slides into troughs.

With regard to a recessed deck - being a BOP board you don't want a dug out. You want to be able to move around on it more. This is the 2017/18 model board. The new Blitz , which is an extension of the old Falcon, is only slightly recessed, however, I'd call it raised rails rather than a recessed deck.

You mentioned the lower deck compared to the nose. Much of the design for the 2016 and 2017 model was designed in Australia. We took the nose design off the surf club paddle boards and tested about 5 different noses. We decided we neeeded much more volume up front, hence the extra volume or "raised nose"

You mentioned a couple of times initially and in your report that the raised deck wasn't incorporated. Being an earlier model board it was something not done in 2015/16 when this board began it's development. It's on the new boards but in my opinion doesn't really need to be there, though some people like it as a reference point for their feet.

Lots of people have kept this board because it's so much fun in the surf. Have fun.

Thanks. I wanted to post a few pics as I really found it hard to find many good pics of the bottom before buying this board.
When I said recessed deck I did just mean a little, not dug out.
I have paddled the board a few more times and am liking it more each time. I have not paddled a huge amount of boards to compare it too. I just don't see many of the big brands that people talk a lot about around here.
I really find foot position makes a big difference. Even small movements change the feel quite a bit.
The bow seems to splash a bit but doesn't slow you down.
Will post more pics soon.
I did 9.2 ks in 1hr 17 in calm conditions. On strava, no idea how accurate it is. Thats my time to work on this winter and learn to dw and be able to play around in the small surf we get here.

The old and the new.

Select to expand quote

tarquin1 said..
The old and the new.

Whats the old ? Looks nice ! The fanatic def looks more surfy !

I designed and built it myself years ago. I find it lacks a bit of stability on the bumpy days and want to start downwinding. Hence the new board.

Great fun today. Lots to learn still!!!!
It was pretty windy but because its blowing across the bay the swell didn't really build. Short wind chop. I need to get better at footwork to move back and forward quickly.
I fell a lot but quite a few times when I thought i was going in I didn't. I also burried the nose a few times and it popped back out,a few times it didn't!
I took a couple of vids and I can really see how bad my technique is in these conditions. Like I said lots to learn but I love it.