I know this has been reviewed here before but it was done by a light weight. I thought I'd add my experience from the point of view of a heavier rider (aka someone with 100 kgs, aka someone "fat").

Firstly, I used to ride a 99 JP Thruster and loved that board for it's mix of speed and wave ability. I also have a 93 2011 Fanatic Quad. On a recent trip to Maui I took both boards but ended up sailing the JP most of the time because it was simply more fun. I guess the extra float always helps in place where the wind is fluky on the inside.

Most of the sailing I do is on the East Coast so it's either very little wind or it's howling. Most of the breaks seem to have a pretty sketchy area close to shore with almost no wind at all. Makaha anyone?

Enter the 2013 Fanatic Quad 101. Windsurf and Snow has a demo board which I took out for a test run in combo with a 4.7. Big mistake. After 20 minutes on the board I knew I had to get it. It was everything the JP Thruster wasn't.

Now let me explain why. In a nutshell the Quad 101 feels a little bit like two boards in one. It has the floatation of a big board (duh, it's got 101 litres volume) with the feel of a 90 litre board once you get on a wave. It doesn't plane quite as early as a JP Thruster and it definitely has a speed limit when setup for wave riding. But boy those drawbacks are all but forgotten once you get on a wave.

In the past I have always been envious of lighter guys being able to take out an 85 litre board in bigger swell and just rip. There simply wasn't anything decent in the 100 litre range to compare. How things have changed with the Fanatic Quad.

As soon as the wave starts building the board gets going. It's almost as if you are on a long board. I guess it's due to the volume in the nose section. Once planing the board actually get's some good speed (you won't break any records though). I think the relatively flat mid section is responsible for that. Then once you setup for a bottom turn you are surprised how easy it is to put the rail into the water. This is probably due to relatively thin rails in the back (thin for a 100 litre board) and the fair bit of tail kick.

I have used the board with a 5.8, 5.4 and 4.7. The sweet spot is the 5.4 but 4.7 is manageable. The biggest problem riding it with a fully powered up 4.7 is mainly to do with jumping. At 30 knts+ you definitely know you have a 100 litre board under your feet once you get airborne.

The board is super light for it's size. Mine weighs in at 9 kgs inc foot straps and fins.

One word about the fins. The fins supplied with the board are awesome. It seems manufactures are finally wising up and provide decent fins with their boards. At $2,998 RRP you'd hope so. That said within the past couple of weeks I have lost three fins to shallow reefs. While trying to get hold of replacement fins I discovered that getting anything for slot boxes isn't exactly easy or cheap. After driving around Perth for a day to track down a decent set of fins, Surf and Sail in Gerald ton was kind enough to take a set out of one of their production boards and sell it to me. At $300+ not something you want to do often. Buy them from MUF, MFC or Chocco and you pay even more. BTW, I have tried surf board fins as well but their slot system is a different size.

So who is this board for? I'd say if are a 90 to 100 kilo rider and you want a pure wave board that has enough float to get you out in next to no wind but is fun to ride once actually get on a wave then this is it. I have tried plenty of 100 litre wave boars in the past but none of them gets even close to this.

If you want a board that you will use sometimes on waves but quite often you will just ride flat water then get something else. The JP Thrusters, Starboard Kodes, Fanatic Thrusters are all good options for that. I would have kept my JP Thruster if I had space in the shed for it.

Keen to try the JP 99 Quad in comparison. But with the paint job JP has on their boards this year it would have to be one hell of a good board to convince me.

Disclaimer: I am not sponsored by Fanatic (but I wouldn't say no if they's offer). I bought the board from Windsurf and Snow. Sam gave me a good price but I did pay for it with my own hard earned cash.

Thanks for sharing. Its refreshing to get a review on the review forum.

Nice review...glad I could help you out.

I have the 2012 94 litre board, it is fantastic i use it with 5.7 / 5.3 blades, all type of sailing, from coastal blasting to onshore and side shore waves 1 ft to 6 ft +. I'm 88/90 kg, and can slog out and catch waves in 15 knots to 30 knots, it has really replaced my 100 litre FSW and 90 litre quad, when the wind is too light i use a kona mini tanker, or just sup or surf.
The graphics look sick, and it plans early and turns sweetly, it does have some width in the tail and medium rocker line, but still turns sweetly in the pocket. As most quads it really trucks up wind, and as a benefit the small fins allow you to sail closer to shore to get speed up for jumping on the way out, where a big single fin would have spit you over the handle bars when you ground out. For me twins just don't inspire confidence in big surf, bottom turning, etc, but a quicker in the small stuff to turn.
i bought the board 2nd hand and is paid for its self with the amount of time on the water. On the east coast we get good waves, but wind mostly 15 to 20 knots and a big wave board with the 5.7 blade is a super fun combination.

Great review Tom. Good to hear from a heavier guy's point of view. I heard these go great in side and side-off wind, but I am wondering how does it go in side-onshore where the waves aren't as clean and usually not as powerful (what I mostly sail in on the MNC of NSW)? I must get a go on that 101 demo from Sam.

Great stuff guys-keep them coming. How do either handle the big stuff? Do they still work at mast plus? Anyone compare the performance of the 87l board with either of those?

I'm still using (and really loving) my Mistral Twinzers: 84 & 92L, but I'm keeping an open mind about what to replace them with when their use by date comes. At 91-92kgs I'm amazed at the float of the bigger Twinzer, which makes me wonder whether when it's time to replace it I should go for a 101L type board, or a 94L? If the bigger vol doesn't have too many downsides, it would be tempting, as surely it must increase the light wind range of the board?

Cheers, Jens

Hey jens check a few threads down in the other fanatic quad 101 review... I did a small comparison to my 87 fanatic quad. Nothing in-depth but you might be interested

Here's the link:

www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Windsurfing/Review/Fanatic-Quad-101-Naish-XL/

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bowsa said...
Hey jens check a few threads down in the other fanatic quad 101 review... I did a small comparison to my 87 fanatic quad. Nothing in-depth but you might be interested

Here's the link:

www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Windsurfing/Review/Fanatic-Quad-101-Naish-XL/

Sounds like it worked very well for you. You'll be in a great position to tell us about the merits of having both after this season.

Cheers, Jens

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AJEaster said...
I heard these go great in side and side-off wind, but I am wondering how does it go in side-onshore where the waves aren't as clean and usually not as powerful

The board doesn't plane as early as the 99 Thruster. That said it's not a late planing board. It doesn't seem to have that typical wave draggy kinda feel many pure wave boards have. Once you get it going it accelerates quickly.

I have sailed it a couple of times in cross on while in WA. Both days I used a 5.4. The extra float the board has is definitely welcome in the break zone where the wind is usually very fluky. The board seems to work nicely for both back and front side riding.

If you get a chance to demo it then do. I don't think this is a board for everyone. It definitely has a pure wave focus.

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Jens said...
I'm still using (and really loving) my Mistral Twinzers: 84 & 92L, but I'm keeping an open mind about what to replace them with when their use by date comes. At 91-92kgs I'm amazed at the float of the bigger Twinzer, which makes me wonder whether when it's time to replace it I should go for a 101L type board, or a 94L? If the bigger vol doesn't have too many downsides, it would be tempting, as surely it must increase the light wind range of the board?

I think it really depends on where you sail and in what conditions. If you use the 92 for ultra gusty no planing conditions the 101 will definitely give you more lift and should get you out in 8-10 knts..

From what I understand the 81, 87 and 94 shapes haven't changed in 2013. I wouldn't be surprised if the shape characteristics of the 101 is very different to the smaller sizes. I actually think the volume steps are a bit out. I really wouldn't mind having another Quad in the 90 to 91 l range. 87 seems to small while 94 is too big.

As I said the I have a 93 2011. It works with a 4.2 but only just.

ok. I have now had a chance to ride the Quad in onshore conditions. Conditions were 25 - 35 knots, bigger sets head high, sail 4.7.

The additional volume is really nice when you are in the impact zone where the wind is always a little bit less. It was easy to get out of the way of the bigger sets and the additional float is nice when you do have to chicken jibe and get away from a wall of white water.

Now to the riding. While I was maxed out on the 4.7 there was a lot of tail walking happening. Realistically the board was too big out the back. Especially when it get's choppy it's difficult to convert the power in your sail into speed. I have a feeling this actually more to do with the short length of the board than the actual shape. That said despite being hopelessly overpowered in the gusts I surprisingly was still able to jibe without much effort. That really blew me away.

Again once you get on a wave the board comes into it's own. Back side or front side riding wasn't a real issue despite the wind coming cross on and me being a little overpowered. It really drives threw turns like it's on rails.

On the way back out you need a bit more wind to get going while pointing up wind. Still it was easy to just point a bit down wind give it a couple of pumps and get on the plane.

In summary I'd say this is a pure wave board. If you are a heavier sailer who only sails ocean side and in waves this could be you board of your dreams. It has a huge wind range. It certainly has opened up a new area of windsurfing for me that wasn't available before.

I am now keen to give the 94 / 87 a go and perhaps add it to the quiver. Fanatic are you listing???

I gave the 101 a demo on Tuesday up at Newport(thanks Sam at WWS).
Wind was about 15-20S-S/E(cross/cross-on) at low tide.
Comparing to my Nude99 I found the board very slow to get onto the plane but once up it stayed there ok and tracked upwind well.
The board feels much bigger than the 99 and big in the air when doing jumps.I think the Nude might be closer to 95lt or less!
On the wave is accelerates well and turns well off the rail with heaps of grip,I would have liked to have had better waves as sections were hard to comeby to evaluate it better.
Overall I found the board easy to ride and did most you asked of it except for the slow planning.
As for fun factor, the Nude would win easy imho.
As for asking price of nearly $3000, pretty hard to justify when you can get a custom for a grand less.
Looks like a SSD bumblebee for me next after alot of good feedback about them from mates!

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roberto said...
As for fun factor, the Nude would win easy imho.
As for asking price of nearly $3000, pretty hard to justify when you can get a custom for a grand less.

Agreed. $3000 seems like a lala land price when you can get a custom for about $2000. On the other hand a custom has almost no resell value unless it was owned by a well known pro. In addition, every board coming of a production line is pretty much the same. You know what you'll get. With a custom there is always a margin for error. Not like you can test it first before you buy it.

I actually think you get the most out of a custom if you have ridden a lot of different boards and know exactly what you want in a board and in what condition you will be using it. It also gives you the option of asking for 10 fin boxes just to keep your options open.

Yep Tom, agree its cool to demo but in reality this is the first big waveboard in a long time that is available for demo. All the ones I had before I didn't get to demo anyway.
Resale, yep not as good,but production boards aren't flash either!
Paint job, give me a custom, some of the productions are horrible.

3000 is crazy, that's not to mention the textreme versions for 3600

And you get a board that when it breaks they don't honor your warranty

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jsnfok said...
3000 is crazy, that's not to mention the textreme versions for 3600

It's $2900 RRP for the team edition. But I doubt anyone ever pays full retail for a board these days.

Best review in a long time
I have 101 Fanatic Quad and am 95 kg so looking forward to providing some feedback on how the board runs in Tassie conditions. A mate Brett also has one so it will be fun to proving some feedback on these boards. Long time since I owned a fanatic light wind board it was a fanatic fish year 2000? that was 95l and worked well back in the day.

This quad looks short but should go well with my naish chopper L

cheers Russ