Nik Baker has very kindly answered some of our questions on the great new Fanatic Quads:

Nik Baker (K66)
Weight: 85 kg
Height: 5’9″
Which Fanatic waveboards will you have in your personal quiver this season?
Fanatic Quad 79
Being back in Shoreham, which will be your everyday waveboard for the South Coast mush that we love?
Fanatic Quad 79
A lot of people don’t tune their boards much, do you think it makes much difference to these new quads moving the fins and the mast base?
It is very important to have your fins in the correct place for a Quad. this is partly why we have mini tutle boxes in the front ones to prevent people from moving them and getting the positions wrong. You can move the back ones back and forth to increase control (back) or loosen up (forth) the board.


I would say it is something that all sailors should get used to doing on occasion is play around with the rigging of their sails and adjustments of their boards to find out what it does to them as this is really important stuff and also adds another dimension to what they’re doing on the water.

How do you like to set yours up (fins and mast base)? Do you change them much for different conditions?
I have my forward fins obviously in the same place as they are fixed. they are smaller than the back fins as through extensive testing this is clearly the way to set them up. I move the rear fins forwards for a looser board but back if i am looking for more control or maybe if i were riding much bigger waves to draw my turn out a little. The great thing with our new Quad is that they turn very tight but also have immense control. they are very settled in a straight line as well as very stable during maneuvers compared to a twin fin which have a much looser feel to them but less control. The stability and control does give you a feeling that the board is moving slower through the water than on a single or a twin but in comparison tests that i have done personally I found they are very similar in speed in normal conditions but if it gets really choppy and tricky they are certainly as fast if not faster – you have more control on a Quad.

When it comes to riding, how do the new Quads differ from the twin fins?
They feel more stable and settled in a turn. They have a lot more grip and drive and they very rarely spin out or slip out. Once you get the confidence with them in a turn you find you can turn even tighter as there is so much more grip with the extra fins as well as the drive to keep the board moving through the water which the twin fins do not do. the Twins are loose feeling like a skateboard with the trucks loose but they slow down  a bit more during the tuns.


Do you think the tail slide is going out and the gouge is coming back in?
I think the Gouge had never gone away but it is a maneuver that is much harder to do well than a tail slide and the quads make the Gouge much easier plus allows you to do a tail slide with more control.

Are the quad fin boards making much of a difference to your jumping over the twin fin? Do you think that the quads are as good as the old trusty single fin for jumping?
For me our new quad gives me so much to push against with the extra fin area that i am finding i jump even better as with the Twin sometimes you can get a little squirally going up the face in choppy, tricky conditions. The single fin is a trusty design and will always be around. I think in the future we will have single fins and quads. our 3 different fin configured boards are all designed completely different to one another. different rails, outline, rocker bottom shape etc as this i what is needed to make the most out of the fin configuration and in working more and more we are finding our team rider have now mostly opted for single and quads.


Is there else that you think people need to know about the new boards?
For me it is always very exciting to try the new products. This keeps the excitement of windsurfing alive as we are always evolving and improving and this is great for our sport. I will say the best thing to do is get down to your local dealer who should have these types of boards on demo (there is a Fanatic Quad 79 and a Single fin 76 at X-Train, West Wittering on demo) for you to try and decide for yourself and the conditions you sail in as to which board feels and works best for you. We are at demos most weekends or we can arrange to hook up and help you with a demo of any of our products with as much advice as you feel you need. Remember we’re al doing this for the love of windsurfing so lets get the right kit to hep us along the way.


Cheers


Nik Baker k-66