Fanatic 8,7 Stubby 2019 Sup Board Test – by Jake Sparks

The past couple of weeks West Wittering has been the place to be on the south coast with some great waist to head high swell rolling in. I have managed to get out on the Fanatic 2019 Stubby, ‘The Ginger Rocket’

The Stubby has had a bit of a make over this year, the new bright orange look, new vector net construction can be seen through the paint and is a change from the previous limited construction. A lighter( 8.3 kg) and a more reactive feel, which is closer to the Fanatic pro construction, lay up.

The Fanatic Stubby is more affordable without losing any performance. It has 5 box fin set up – tri or quad set up so you can choose how to fin it  depending on preference or conditions. It comes supplied with a tri fin set of 3 Fanatic 5 inch multibox fins .

I took out the 8’7, 120 litres x 29 ¼ wide. I’m around the 75kg mark, so in theory the board is on the larger size for me, normally riding around 100-110 litre, but it doesn’t feel big or clunky under your feet.

On the paddle out the board is pretty stable even for its width . Due to the shape of the board and its parallel thin rails -it’s easier than others to paddle through the shore break and over incoming breaking waves.

I would say that positioning on take off is key to really feel the boards potential. Putting the Stubby in the right place on the wave, you start to feel this board come alive. It’s a fast board, accelerates quickly down the wave and into a bottom turn and with the new winger swallow tail shape, you can make a snappy top turn without lots of effort or loosing momentum.

If you are confident paddle surfer and looking for something quick and playful, the Fanatic Stubby might just be right up your street! Check out the 2XS beach site for a demo …01243 512552 sales@2xs.co.uk

Sizes available of the Fanatic Stubby:

7’10 x 28.5 x95l,

8’3 x28.75x105l

8’7 x29.25 x120l

8’10 x 30.5 x135l

RRP Fanatic Stubby £1149

Fanatic Foil edition 8’7 £1199