An extremely choppy lake with a moderate wind from the south-west - the conditions were not ideal for our first "test" of the new Fanatic Raceboard. 3 degrees and light rain didn't make things any more cosy. But even in difficult conditions, a Raceshape has to prove itself - after all, you can't choose the weather when racing.
The most exciting question was therefore: "How wobbly is the new 14er in difficult conditions?" The well-known current Raceshape from JP-Australia in width 24.4 had to serve as a comparison. The surprise was big, but clear: the nominally "narrower" Fanatic board is more stable and gives the feeling that the board will find a stable point where it won't roll any further. The stance is sufficiently wide because you are not "standing inside" like in a canoe, but have the entire width of the deck at your disposal - and there really is endless space. Like on an aircraft carrier, the standing area is wide and flat right up to the stern, completely covered with a non-slip pad, so you can also go far back for a buoy turn. And even then, the board still offers good stability thanks to the very wide tail.
The topic of "width" therefore needs to be fundamentally rethought. Obviously, the maximum width in the middle says less about the stability against tipping than previously thought; a particularly wide tail obviously stabilises the board at least as well as an additional half inch more width in the middle of another board if it is otherwise quite tapered at the front and rear.
Last year, many 25-inch wide boards were considered to be "wobbly candidates", but the shapes that are currently appearing with wide tails (also spotted at Starboard, for example) now need to be re-evaluated. The first brief comparison has already shown this.
However, we were unable to determine whether these concepts are also faster in very choppy water. From a purely sensory point of view, the Fanatic board floats very high on the water due to the large buoyancy surface up to the stern, which should also reduce the drag. This concept is different from the narrow, pointed (displacement) shapes, which lie somewhat deeper in the water but are designed to "cut through" with little surface area.
With the rather chunky bow, the Fanatic board also goes more "over" the choppy waves, while the narrow, pointed JP bow cuts "through" the water more easily. Further comparisons in better conditions will have to show which concept offers advantages at speed - especially in which speed range.
Because one thing is already apparent: In the future, different concepts for hobby racers and world-class paddlers could prove their worth in race shapes. While normal paddlers paddle at around 9 km/h, mainly at the displacement speed of a 14-foot board, the top riders regularly push their boards beyond that at over 10 km/h. One person may prefer a more pointed displacement shape, the other a flat half-glider?
We are therefore already looking forward to the first comprehensive system comparison in flat water and with some waves: full displacement hull vs semi-displacement hull vs flat bottom hull.... Coming soon!
