2009Sep24
4

Speedsurfing on Fanatic Falcon 86 (2010)

This article is a reaction to Mark van Osch his question on www.windsurfing.nl, hereby my first impression: The Fanatic Falcon 2010, I am one of the lucky bastards. Have tried the Fanatic Falcon 86 in these conditions:

-Overpowered with 7.0 could go near 70kmh (38kn)
-A very good powered 5.5 didn't go as fast as 7.0
-My RS:Slalom 6.2 in its sweetspot

The feeling of the Fanatic Falcon 2010 is for me NOT comparable to any other Fanatic Falcon before. BUT I found the total feeling very familiar... The first time I was sailing and thought WOW this is Carbon Art Speed-style. But this is quite a amazing effort since it works really well. It would be even more intresting if the bigger sizes also work on this concept.

I would call the concept "fixed boardangle", it looks like Antoine Albeau boardtrim, however for normal surfers the board also allows "a bit deeper tail in water"-trim

I think this is the first fanatic falcon that suits all surfers well, the board itself doesn't look special. The boardtrim is the MOST stable I have ever sailed, this means your bodyposition can be locked easier than ever before!

Do I want to buy this board?
Not yet, my fanatic falcon 79 is my favorite board ever in that size. Would hurt myself when I sell it, after this short use period. But it is also a fact the Falcon 79 allows a bit LESS powerfull sailing. I came from POWER sailing on Carbon Art, I expect this style is really fast on the new Falcons. However since I am still finetuning my current board, when I found the limits it would be time to change. (however don't be surprised if you see me sailing a falcon 86...)

Who Should buy the Fanatic Falcon 86 2010?
If you are looking for something that doesn't take of in gusts in a scarry way. If you would like extreme fast acceleration in the easiest package ever, don't look further. I am not joking, this board allows bad trim and still will be able to take dayvictory. Control/Easy/Power/Fast this is what I think of 2010, compared to the older monoconcave falcons which I would describe as Fast/Most Efficient/Hard trim

I believe the new fanatic falcon will blast WAY faster than 2009 in terms of speed. But more important I believe the Fanatic Falcon 2010 is good to match all top 10 sailbrands/ finbrands. I can't say this about all the other Fanatic Falcons before (including 2009)

General Trimtips:
-Board works better a bit to much powered than vice-versa. Don't rig to small
-For really high speed your Caspar Speed or Select SL7 is quite suitable ( good new for the old monoconcave riders!)
-Mastfoot I found the "monoconcave-position" good, which is in my case 3-4cm back from the center

Trimtips for the advanced riders:
-A bit more raked fin would be a tiny percentage more efficient. With Carbon Art Speed I used 14 degrees rake with great succes, I guess with the new falcon you could do the same trick. Even more rake is possible... If you're willing to experiment, let me know if you found more performance!!

Cheers,

Erik

Eriksurf

Erik is windsurfer for 10+ years. In his daily life he is professional in construction dewatering, advisor, troubleshooter. Erik likes adventures, explore and to challenge himself. During his life he is trying to get the best out of it and have respect for the earth, nature and future generations. The modern world is about sharing, in this blog Erik shares his experiences, selfreflection and lessons learned.

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4 comments:

  1. AnonymousSeptember 25, 2009

    Hi Erik,
    a very nice review again! Sounds a little bit like the Ray 95 style to me. :-)
    Will be interesting to compare the Ray 2010 with the new Falcons. The shape of the Ray remains unchanged for 2010. Who will benefit from the Ray and who from the Falcon?

    See you on the water,
    Mark

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousSeptember 25, 2009

    Hi Erik,

    Some extra note's about the 2010 Falcon's

    The 86 and 102 I sailed are way better than the previous line's, the main things you will feel:

    A very nice "pre" trimmed board.

    Top end control in the 86 is better than the 4!! cm less wide 79, specialy flying upwind and crosswind the 86 keeps a very easy and control able trim.
    Downwind it feels as sava as the 79.
    The V bottom handles a 7.0m sail with a lot of ease this feels even better than the 89.

    The 102 has a better and more controlable top end windrange compaired to the 89 this makes the 102 a very nice Slalom shape, it has lot's of volume during the non planing stuff around the course.

    The 2010 FF have an amazing gybing ability they turn better than any slalom shape I ever tried, short turns, wide turns, changing the radious during a slalom gybe all this is very nice for the slalom "pro" but the "freeriding" fanatic can benefit too.

    PLUS!! the exiting ride is still there (like 2008).

    I have done a few test's on speed potencial the 2010 Falcon's seem to have the same potencial the 2008 have the feel and way to get there may be a bit different but in the same conditions the 79 and 86 have a similair topend and AVG, I have been testing in chop, superflat, strong and gusty and lightwinds.

    In lightwinds on a flat(ish) course the top speed seems to be better than the mono concave this might have something to do with the tight angle you reach your topspeed (in gusty choppy conditions you can go far deeper downwind)
    The V bottom helpes the fin a bit during crosswind speeding.

    Last but not least like you said: the Falcon 2010 has a better plug and play caracter,
    Even if you din't find the perfect trim, these boards will be f***íng FAST........... oops that was another brand's slogan..

    I hope to be able to try the big ones soon!!

    Cheers,

    Peter de Wit

    ReplyDelete
  3. EriksurfSeptember 26, 2009

    Hi Mark,

    I would say the fanatic Ray sails much more flatter. This is giving even more the feeling you can't go wrong with full power (nice on NOT flat spots). It works good, however the control comes in choppy/difficult condition because of the deeper concave in the front slow the boardspeed down.
    For pure speedsurfing and NOT flat water, the fanatic falcon 2010 will accelerate to much higher speeds... if you want too.
    If the water is flat like strand horst I think the difference isn't soo big. Martin van Meurs already showed this by sailing the fanatic shark very fast.

    Hi Peter,

    Thanks for this report! I totaly agree and also can't wait to try the bigger ones. In a french report I saw very positive feedback on the Falcon 112...

    Cheers,

    Erik

    ReplyDelete
  4. MarkSeptember 26, 2009

    Hi Erik,
    I would like to know the ofo for the boards to compare it to the previous models. Is that possible?

    Thanks,
    Mark

    ReplyDelete