I bought a secondhand 2014 12'6" x 24'75" 266L Fanatic Falcon (see www.fanatic.com/sup/composite-boards/race/falcon-carbon) a while ago. I had already owned a Starboard Element for a few years and was comfortable in small surf and in ocean cruising. I was keen for something faster to maybe try some racing and do some longer distance ocean cruises. I'm under 65kg.

After now playing round with it for a while and buying a new fin and keeping on waiting for it to get comfortable, I must say I'm kinda just disappointed with it. It just doesn't feel as much quicker or more efficient than the Element as I expected. Downwind and in the flat it's not fantastic but okay, but upwind or crosswind or in any joggle, it's really hard to get good momentum happening.

Is it me? Are these signs the board is simply beyond my skill level? Or am I expecting too much from the board?

Any advice greatly appreciated. Would especially love to hear from anyone with experience with these boards. Cheers.

You're only 2/3 my size but 24" seems pretty narrow to me. How wide was your previous board. My Jav is 26" wide and I need pretty good conditions or I am either swimming or simply not feeling comfortable enough to put everything into the paddle stroke.

Thank you! That's exactly how it feels - can't put everything into the paddle stroke or not getting everything out of the paddle stroke.

I also note that the new models don't seem to have the super high bow that the 2014 has. The below pic shows it a bit but it is even more pronounced than this in real.

Might be to narrow if you can't put everything into the paddle stroke. If you go 26 or wider you will see a massive improvement I would think.

Had one and hated it. That years 14 footer felt like a heaps better board than the 12.6

Awesome. Such great info. Thank you so much!!

I test paddle this model before I purchased another brand, I even posted my thoughts in this forum and they were similar to yours.
I think that if you are what I call an average day to day paddler this board has a few negatives. If you are a gun or very experienced you may not notice them. It was interesting to see how many of these boards were for sale a while ago or traded on other models.
I think comfort is needed in your board, by this I mean not having to struggle or relearn you stance or stroke position every time you get on the board some narrow and performance boards simply do not suit the average paddler.
ET.

Agree with what everyone has said, and at sub 65kg that might just be a bit too corky for you BUT just a bit of a thought from left field - how is your paddle length?

If you are using the same paddle length as you were on the element, you might need a bit more length for the Falcon (b/c you'll be standing a good couple of inches higher off the water than you do on the element, especially at less than 65kg). Compensating for a too-short paddle might be compromising your paddle stroke in a number of ways, limiting your power as well as throwing you off balance a bit. I'd suggest before throwing the baby out with the bathwater see if you can borrow/hire an adjustable paddle for a couple of sessions and play around with a bit more length.

Have limited experience with the 12'6, but the 14' in this model is quite a good board. You are correct though with crosswinds. That big boof nose really gets pushed around and this, IMO, is the main negative. The 2016 model fixes this issue.