The Fanatic Fly 290 "longboard waveboard"

This is not your regular windsurf waveboard, and finding any information on it is next to impossible. So since I have one and found a lot information in an old Windsurf magazine from the year 1998, when the board came out, I made this post. 

The Fanatic Fly 290 was made in 1998 and for one year only, so I think it is fair to assume that it was not very popular, as it is a specialist board. The Fanatic Fly 290 have a classic Malibu/longboard surf shape with a lenght of 290 cm (about the classic 9'6") and have a volume somewhere between 90 and 100 liters (haven't been able to find the right number), and is on the heavy side at about nine kilo which is probably due to it having three US finboxes and a masttrack that all need reinforcements and it have probably been beefed up further to make it more durable as a production board. But compared to the boards in the test it is only about 1 kilo heavier, but for a board made for light winds, heavy is not what you want, but the lenght make up for this in the "get up and go" ability. A longer board will plane sooner than a shorter board, but the long/short board is a totally different discussion.... ;-)

Data

Lenght: 290 cm (~9'6")

Width: 58,5 cm

Volume: ??

O.F.O: 38 cm (nose)

O.F.O: ?? cm (tail)

1 metre off: 56 cm (nose)

Wide point from tail: 131 cm

Mast track from tail: 140 cm

Finboxes: 3

Toe-in: 0 degrees

Tail lift: 17 mm

Weight 8,9 kg

The board has an insert to attach a leash so it can double as a surfboard, but with regular grip this is not really an option (unless you have a really old wetsuit), or you do as the previous owner did, sand down the grip and replace it with wax, but the wax is just not ideal for windsurfing. The last option would be adding a deckpad all over the board, like a SUP, but that adds weight to an already fairly heavy board....

Disclaimer: I have not tried it in "surfboard mode" - only as a windsurfer. 

My history with this board...

I bougth this board back in 2012 as a "very light wind" waveboard after having experimented with converted SUP's that never quite worked as expected.  

At that time the options where either SUP's with mast inserts or the Kona waveboards for this purpose. 

I had a few great sessions on it, as it has the possibility to "float & ride" and make it possible to wait for the waves and then catch them. (See one here; https://vimeo.com/42694161 )

I lost the board after three month and got a AHD Sealion instead which is the ultimate board for this purpose, and I only used it once since I got it back in 2014 and it have been sitting in my garage ever since. 

But I've now decided to give it a light renovation and a new chance in the quiver this season - more on this in a later post.

This is the board test scanned from the UK Windsurf Mag from 1998:

This is a feature of the board with a little history of it scanned from the UK Windsurf Mag from 1998.

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An alternative to this board as a light wind wave windsurfer, without going the SUP/Sealion/Custom way, would be finding a F2 Air (1. generation) from around the same time - if you can find one... - and which I think was one of the first freestyle boards - if not, at least the grandmother to the freestyle boards :-)

Raceboard test from 1994

Found this test from 1994 of the high performance raceboards.
Boards tested are:
- Fanatic Mega cat
- F2 Lightning World Cup Ed.
- Mistral Equipe XR II

Enjoy

Raceboard test from 1991

Came across some old raceboard tests.
And thought I would post them here for your enjoyment
Hope you can read them.

The first one is from the UK Windsurf Magazine from March 1991 and includes the:
- Bic Bamba
- Fanatic Ultra Cat
- F2 Lightning World Cup Race
- Mistral Equipe Race

So the season begins

Had a very nice first session of the year in Hornbæk on my SUP - and also first test of my new Werner Nitro paddle - the wind eased of and the waves became nice and clean and 2-3 foot.
Good thing that it was a workout as the water was 7 C and the air 11 degrees C

Old and new

I have been using my old Mistral Competition together with my new Hot SuperFreak 6.7 Ultralight and they work perfectly together

Another board

I have just purchased another board....... (Some of the old ones gotta go now.....)
I got a good offer for an used JP FreeStyle Wave 98 III that is gonna be used at the weekend home.
It will be ideal with sails between 4.7 to 6.7 but will be the working horse for the 5.3 and 5.8. Depending on the water state and state of mind the board can be transformed by moving the straps between the inboard and outboard positions changing it from a manouver board to a blasting board.
Basically this board is what used to be called a waveslalom board but since freestyle is the new hip its called freestyle wave now.
I'm building a quiver to keep there so I don't have to lug everything back and forth - I think this will an ideal board for the conditions around that area where there is a range of conditions from flat, to chop to waves. So know its just to wait for warmer weather............

A cold day

Things came together - a possibility for a session in Hornbæk
It was 10 degrees both in air and water - When i arrived it was a bit offshore so i rigged a 4.7 on my new 95 litre ExowavePro and had a great time, even though I never get comfortable in that kind of cold - later when the wind became more on-shore I changed down to my 75 litre an got one of the worst "over the handlebars" ever and hit my head hard into the sail - I went in and rigged my new 4.2 superfreak - it looks supercool especially when the sun hits it - some said it was very visible from the beach - just what I intended

Just to get an idea of the great conditions- even thoug the picture doesn't do it justice.