So where do you go???
Looking at moving on from my Surftech JM to a new all round racer. Paddled the new Fanactics, 24.5 and 27.5, but not in bumpy stuff, and liked them, but then rode the ACE 23.5 in flat water last week, it felt super fast, as you would expect after pushing 29 inches around for the past 12 months. Can't seem to get my head around the canoe/cockpit style of board, but am I thinking too much of it? Does it make things harder moving your feet around?? Turning at the buoy was a challenge, but in the bumps or downwind how do they go??
I am just putting it out there if anyone else has thought the same thing, or not...

Go with what suits you best Cam. But make sure it is a 14' not 14".


ET.

Yep. Thanks ET, I'll keep it in mind.

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E T said..

Go with what suits you best Cam. But make sure it is a 14' not 14".


ET.

Bahahahaha!!!!

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Zeusman said..

E T said..

Go with what suits you best Cam. But make sure it is a 14' not 14".


ET.

Bahahahaha!!!!

I know where you live

Just trying to inject a little humour here gents.

ET.

Sounds like a perfect excuse to do some testing cam!!!
You should try and get your hands on a 27.5" or 25" Ace for the ocean series Saturday. You are also welcome to try my 27.25" fanatic some time.

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Kieranr said..

Sounds like a perfect excuse to do some testing cam!!!
You should try and get your hands on a 27.5" or 25" Ace for the ocean series Saturday. You are also welcome to try my 27.25" fanatic some time.

So which one you paddling Saturday???

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E T said..

Just trying to inject a little humour here gents.

ET.

Yeah cheers ET. I'm all for the humour mate. I figured ol zeusman would be trawling around the breeze.... He has the habit of appearing right on cue...

I'm definitely on the fanatic this weekend. Found the 25" Allstar a wee bit challenging at times during the lion island race. Hoping to be a bit more stable and competitive on the wider board.

Maybe a weird idea, but why don,t keep your JM for challenging conditions and a smaller faster more technical board for the easier conditions?
If you grow into it and you stop using the JM you can always sell it, but this way you have everything coverded

The Ace 14'x23.5" is a rocket - especially in small to medium bumps. I find it significantly faster than the 25" wide version. The sunken cockpit on the Ace makes it harder to do step back turns. Instead, I step back not as far as I normally would then use a cross-bow draw stroke which I then continue on the other side of the board. With practice, you can do a 180 degree buoy turn in 1 stroke using this approach.

The narrow Ace is tippy though so if the waves get too big, you'll be falling in more. And it's a bit tricky to climb back on board the Ace than a flatter board. I'd suggest trying it out in the conditions you expect to paddle in. If it's tricky but not too bad, then you'll be fine. There's a learning curve to the Ace and you'll get quite a bit more stable on it with practice. Taking the time to get used to the Ace makes a bigger difference than it does on other boards. I could only paddle it in flat water at first but now can handle 20mph downwinders on it with no problem.

The new Fanatics seem to be pretty sweet though. It reminds me of the Ace but without the high side walls. I suspect it'll be a little slower than the Ace but easier to surf and move your feet around on. If I were you, I'd try a 14x25 Ace side by side with a 14x24.75 Fanatic in mixed conditions to compare them.

Do yourself a favour and look at the NSP/DC 14 footers as well.

I think I'd be choosing the Fanatic out of those two.. Nothing against Starboard.. just not a big fan of the dug-out.. and I think Fanatic have done something special with the new Falcon.. In fact they've done quite a few special things with this new board besides make it look funny.. I like what they've done.. The Ace might win you more races in the conditions that it shines but it's not all about wining races.. Both great boards.

DJ

Im seriousley considering the Fanatic 14 , or a sup ATX. Both boards where very stable and had good speed and glide.Im a believer in pintails though and the fanatic has that , so leaning that way.I rode the ATX at the open race at the BOP and found it picked up bumps pretty good and with the 500 odd paddlers in the race found the wash was no problem and I think it was 24 wide , whereas if i went fanatic id probably go 27. Like some im not a fan of recessed decks despite the advantages they may offer.

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camharvey said..

Zeusman said..

E T said..

Go with what suits you best Cam. But make sure it is a 14' not 14".


ET.

Bahahahaha!!!!

I know where you live

If you're comparing Starboard and the new Fanatic Falcons, the better Starboard to compare with would likely be the All Star instead of the Ace. Both the All Star (2013 model) and the Fanatics are hybrid race/downwind boards designed to be fast in a wide variety of conditions. I'm know the All Star 14'x25" well and it's a great all round board. It goes upwind well, handles side wind well, downwinds pretty well but not quite as smoothly as I'd like. It's also pretty fast in flat water - here's a link to a flatwater speed test we organized that included the All Star, Ace, JP Race, and 3 Barks: supdownwind.blogspot.com/ The 14x25 All Star came out on top (or pretty much tied with the 14x25 Ace - we had a heavier tester that was faster on the more stable All Star so that tipped the final result in favour of the All Star).

The one area where I'd like to see the All Star do a little better is in downwind conditions. From early reports, it looks like that's where the Fanatic excels. If anyone has some more comparisons between the 14x25 All Star and the 14x24.75 Fanatic, let us know. That's in addition to the great comparison posted by Kieranr.