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



 John Skye (currently ranked 11 in the overall PWA wave rankings) kindly took some time out of his hectic competition schedule (currently in Sylt and about to head to Cape Verde) to answer some questions for us about RRD’s new line of Wavecult Quad waveboards: (Photos: John Carter / PWA, RRD)

John Skye (K57)
Weight: 82kg
Height: 179cm


 Which RRD waveboards will you have in your quiver this season?
All of them!!! Well not quite all, but at the moment I still have my RRD Wave Twins (90, 82, 74) from last year as they are staying the same, plus all 3 RRD Wave Cult Quads (92, 83, 75) and the 2 bigger RRD Hardcore Wave Quads (84,76). I still need to test everything, but at the moment my quiver will most likely be the Wave Cults for UK conditions, plus the Hardcore 84 for proper days and I imagine I will keep hold of my 82 Wave twin as I love that board too much to let it go.


 And I thought I was going over the top buying 2 waveboards this year!
You live in Gran Canaria and are pretty much a Pozo local now. Which board do you think will suit the full power, onshore conditions found there?
The 75 Wave Cult Quad I am sure will be my main board for GC. The extra control you get with a quad means you can get away with a slightly bigger board than normal. I may also use the 76 Hardcore Quad when it gets really crazy. It is a lot narrower and has more rocker so stays even more controllable.



 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 certainly makes a difference. They will still work however you set them up, but there will be a sweet spot. So far I am preferring to put the front fins right at the front and the back fin somewhere in the middle, with the leading edge at 33cm. The mast foot should be around the 135 point. slightly back when its windier and slightly further forward for lighter winds.



 How do you like to set yours up (fins and mast base)? Do you change them much for different conditions?
At the moment its early days and I have still not had some quality time to play around. I did briefly try changing things about. Moving the fins further together seems to loosen the board up and make it pivot more on the spot. Moving the fins apart gives it a bit more drive. I prefer them further apart as it allows me to push harder through the turns and hold more power in my riding.

When it comes to riding, how do the new Wave Cult Quads differ from the RRD Twins?
The Wave Cult Quads have a lot more control and hold in the water better. This gives more drive in the bottom turn and if you want it, more grip in the top turn for gouges.

Do you think the tail slide is going out and the gouge is coming back in?
That was what I thought what happen with the quads, but from my experience so far it seems that you can still slide the tail out when you want, but have more control to bring it back. The fins are actually smaller so it takes less to get them to slide, but if you push the tail in the water on the top turn, you get so much grip to get the best gouge ever. So far I think they really offer the best of both worlds.

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?
Compared with the twin they are definitely better jumpers. More grip and more control, means you can hit the wave exactly where you want to, with more speed and more drive up the face. If they are better than a single fin? Not sure to be honest, but the riding benefits far outweigh the single fin, so overall performance is without a doubt better for me.

Is there else that you think people need to know about the new boards?
I think the best possible answer to all these questions is to try the boards. RRD now has everything you could ever need in a wave board. Wave Cults are fast and early planing, available in quad or single fin. The Hardcores are radical and turn amazing. Available in quad or single. And if there is still nothing for you, there is still the Wave Twin and Thruster.

At X-Train, West Wittering, we have an RRD Wavecult Quad 75 and  and RRD Wavecult Quad 83 for you to demo. If you want to have a go, call the club on 01243 513 077

Emile:
I always air on the side of scepticism when new technologies appear that are ‘guaranteed’ to improve your sailing. I have to admit to hanging on to a single fin Fanatic while everyone around me was buying new multi-finned offerings just because I felt that it suited the way I sailed (mainly jumping) a lot better.

This week, I tried the new RRD Wave Cult Quads and I have to say that I am very very impressed.

Jumping on, the first thing I noticed is a surprisingly sure-footed feeling as the board accelerates onto the plane. They don’t feel skatey, like the twin fins or some monoconcave single fins do. The boards are maybe ever so slightly slower to get going than an early planing single fin, but not annoyingly so.

Once up and going, they feel incredibly smooth and the nose seems to sit fairly low in the water. This was especially noticeable because I had been overpowered and spinning out a lot on a single fin just before and the 75 that I jumped straight onto (with the same sail) was suddenly easily controllable and very composed in the water.

The sure footed feeling seems very useful when boosting airs and backlooping (my personal obsession). You can setup to jump exactly when and where you want to – easily absorbing the waves that you don’t want to jump off without any fear of spin out (there is nothing more annoying than spinning out into a perfect, steep ramp!)

In the gybe, the rail seems to have an endless bite and drive that you can set as tight as you like and still plane out! (very impressive)

On the way in, I found once on a wave, you can point stupidly high upwind and still keep going – useful in strong tides. The bottom turn, like the gybe is full of bite and drive and you can alter it as needed to make sure you hit where you want to… The top turn is really where the magic happens. Out with the slide and in with the gouge is what I say! The tail no longer seems to break free like a twinser or a stubby waveboard, it just hooks in and throws spray, much to my delight!

Another very useful feature is that you only seem to need a few inches of water in which to gybe the board on the inside!

I tried the 75 and 83. They both feel fairly similar. The 83 does give you that extra bit of float for gusty wind or heavier sailors and possibly gets going slightly earlier than the 75. The 75 feels like it is impossible to be overpowered and I can’t see many people needing smaller!

So there you are, I am very impressed! I must point out that I am not sponsored to have this opinion, I am just stoked on windsurfing like a little boy again!

Emile