Recently purchased a Fanatic Hawk 93 which is the first board I have owned with inboard/outboard strap options and would like to hear opinions regarding pros and cons of the different positions, particularly from others who have sailed a similar size and type of board (245 x 58 freecarve) in similar conditions. Will be using 4.5 power wave, 5.3 no-cam freeride and 6.0 twin-cam freeride sails mainly for blasting with occasional bump & jump in open ocean (usually in 12-25 knot winds) as well as in sheltered harbour (mostly in winds above 20 knots).

i think it comes down to fin selection,

if you want to sail powered up with slalom fins then use the ourboard straps.

if you want to sail cruisey carvey stuff with wave or freewave fins use the inboard strap.

you can usually tell when you need to go outboard as your legs will start to feel the pressure from the rail as the board tries to rail up.

Hi, GazMan,

I use my JP 92 litre FSW in a similar manner to what you propose and have the front straps in the outboard position and a single rear strap in the centre position. This gives a balance for both slalom and wave conditions (up to about 1m in size).

I also vary the size of the fin from 32cm down to 27 cm (both slightly swept back) as I swap sail sizes from 6-ish, through two sizes of 5 down to 4.7.

Hope this helps.

Hi,
I bought a fanatic freewave 86 with pretty much the same width as yours. I have the straps on the inboard postion with the stock wave fin. I mainly use this board for ballistic coastal blasting conditions and having the straps inboard makes it easier to get into the straps and slows you down a bit and gives me more control when the seas are just messy and i am way overpowered. But then again i have a slalom board the same width with outbaord straps for when i want to go faster.
So if this is your only board this size you might end up moving the straps in and out as required between sessions. I dont like having the front straps in the outboard and the rear at the inboard position as mentioned above as it just feels wrong and messes around with my stance. This is just my own opinion but that may work for you and it will prob save you moving the straps all the time.
The inboard straps are mainly for carving on the face of a wave so you weight is more near the centre so if you are not doing any of that then maybe you should put them in the outer setting.
But as said above you will know when you need to be in the outer setting for standing on the rail.

"mainly for blasting with occasional bump & jump in open ocean"
Go outboard then I had a Naish Enduro same width but longer, with a freeride fin and for open ocean it was sweet with the straps out, it's done 30 knots in the Yorkeys chop.

If you were just looking to carve around in the waves or swell go inboard.

Cheers Bob.

An outboard will help you plane in light conditions... However, the fuel tank and prop are a bit of a drag when the wind picks up

I was pondering this last night too, having just picked up my 2010 Fanatic Freewave 95 . I went with single back strap, and inboard and forward front straps. I'll give it a go and adjust accordingly.
Biggest problem is adjusting the things for large feet in booties - making them big enough makes it really hard to pull the cover back over them. Yeah I know, HTFU and ditch booties, or move to Qld.

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easty said...

I was pondering this last night too, having just picked up my 2010 Fanatic Freewave 95 . I went with single back strap, and inboard and forward front straps. I'll give it a go and adjust accordingly.
Biggest problem is adjusting the things for large feet in booties - making them big enough makes it really hard to pull the cover back over them. Yeah I know, HTFU and ditch booties, or move to Qld.

nah heaps of the qld crew wear skirts booties as well.

btw, the new freewaves looks sweet without the twin tip tail they used to have.

I think it depends a lot on the shape of the deck too. My XTC is the first board I've had with outboard straps and that's all I use because the deck is too flat in the middle to be comfortable in the inboard straps. Might be good for freestyle when you want to keep all your weight over the baord but it's crap for normal sailing.

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easty said...

I was pondering this last night too, having just picked up my 2010 Fanatic Freewave 95 . I went with single back strap, and inboard and forward front straps. I'll give it a go and adjust accordingly.
Biggest problem is adjusting the things for large feet in booties - making them big enough makes it really hard to pull the cover back over them. Yeah I know, HTFU and ditch booties, or move to Qld.

I live on the south coast of WA and wear booties all year round not just because of the cold water but also due to usual launch sites having sharp objects on bottom! I've stuffed around a lot setting up the Fanatic straps, the std hole positions appear to be much too narrow for my wide feet with booties and I've had to fix the straps to the end holes for both front and rear straps using up all the range of adjustment for positioning.

I've sailed the board three times (with std 28cm freecarve fin), first with 5.3 in 15-20+ knots using inboard straps (with inboard double rear setup) and twice with 6.0 in 13-20 knots using outboard front straps (still with inboard double rear) and I haven't really felt that comfortable blasting along with either setup, though board may have performed slightly better with 5.3 and straps inboard. I suspect that I may need to use a larger fin with the 6.0 so will probably try that before moving straps inboard.

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pacman76 said...

Hi,
So if this is your only board this size you might end up moving the straps in and out as required between sessions. I dont like having the front straps in the outboard and the rear at the inboard position as mentioned above as it just feels wrong and messes around with my stance. This is just my own opinion but that may work for you and it will prob save you moving the straps all the time.
The inboard straps are mainly for carving on the face of a wave so you weight is more near the centre so if you are not doing any of that then maybe you should put them in the outer setting.
But as said above you will know when you need to be in the outer setting for standing on the rail.

Not really interested in moving the straps in and out so will probably stick with outboard position for now. I had planned to replace my one-and-only board, a trusty but ageing Mistral V85 Flow with the Hawk 93 which I have been told by many to be a very versatile freecarve/slalom board (not into wave riding at all) but may hang onto the Flow for a while until I can see whether the Hawk maxes out earlier than the Flow in testing conditions. First impressions of the Hawk when sailing in choppy water confirmed that it does ride a bit smoother than the Flow whilst being more lively and exciting to sail, though need more time on it to test limits.

My $0.05 worth.

Have a Fanatic Bee 104L with the great quick-lock foot straps they did back then. Really easy to change strap positions. I think the concept died as it didn't stand up to heavier people, but at 68kg it is still holding up after 9 years.

After some initial experiments I sailed this board with outboard straps one slot forward from the rear position for years.

The odd time I did try single back strap It just never felt right - messed up my stance and felt like I was always stretching the back leg to get in the rear strap. I think it is to do with the width and maybe the deck shape as mentioned elsewhere.

Got an 87L starboard free and sailed that for a while with double rear straps then switched to single rear and got very used to that after a little adjustment.

On the odd day for light wind waves I have since thrown the single rear in the fanatic and pushed the front straps right forward (as the slots go a little more inboard when forward. I think having got used to a single rear strap it was OK but perhaps only light wind not powered up.

I think the board design (mostly width) might influence strap position and the option is perhaps a marketing thing on some boards.

Off the track a bit..Ive got an old caveman waveboard that used to have the straps inboard but we switched them outboard so i could point better.I have a hell of a time trying to find the straps to get into them now which is dodgy as I usually use it in stronger winds & chop.It might be better for going upwind but I have a bigger board for lighter conditions now so i think I might put the straps back inboard so i can quickly get into them & be less likely to get out into trouble in overpowering winds.