Review of the FANATIC STUBBY

[sav1]

I had the opportunity to sail the 88l Stubby yesterday and for those in doubt I can tell you it didn't disappoint.

The shape is a variant of Tomo's successful surfboards and the popular Vader and Vanguard kiteboards. The Stubby uses a double concave which differs from the JP Slate in that the Slate has a monoconcave in the rear. The Slate in my opinion would be better for more perfect conditions whereas the double concave of the stubby is better for those of us that sail choppy, more disorganized conditions as it would soak up the bumps better.

I sailed in 5.2 conditions in 5 ft. waves in onshore conditions. I set the straps in the central position in both front and back. The first impression was that the board was tremendously short and that the rear strap was a reach to engage but that sensation disappeared after a few runs. Despite the low nose kick the board has no issue climbing the whitewater while going out. The short nose however was an issue twice when I dropped into the wave trough and hit a secondary wave and was catapulted over the front. You have to be ready to weigh the tail heavily to avoid those situations.

The board has tremendous upwind ability due to the thrusters and parallel rails. The speed was slightly better than other thrusters I have sailed. On the wave it felt like I was on a surfboard and the more I pushed the board the better it performed. I could throw snappy vertical backsides due to the short swing weight and the board kept up its speed tremendously well due to the large tail. It is a different style of riding as you really have to weigh the rear foot to get sharp turns. Having said that you can still gybe long arcs.

The onshore conditions were challenging for jumping but the board has such as short length that you can manipulate it in the air and found that it was easy to keep it under me while looping.

The best feature of the board is it's high volume relative to it's length and weight which means a greater usable range. The 88 sails like many 82 liter boards I have had yet has the ability to slog around.

Overall the board is excellent. As the saying goes 'imitation is the highest form of flattery' and I expect Tomo will be flattered even more next year as this design gains momentum.

[kellyericl]

Looks nice, much nicer than the prototype in the boards annual. It is interesting how big a variation there is in the widths of the compact boards. You can use this website for any future writing help.

[LUCARO]

[isobars]