Standup Zone Forum
Stand Up Paddle => Gear Talk => Topic started by: GlideMarko on June 29, 2018, 05:37:14 AM
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https://www.fanatic.com/product/strike/
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So I guess the question is: Strike or Sprint- which is faster, more stable, more affordable, etc?
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one trick pony - useless for most people
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So I guess the question is: Strike or Sprint- which is faster, more stable, more affordable, etc?
You mean that people actually buy these boards :-) :-) :-)
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I like to test ride both size and see what the fuss is all about and goes with the sprint board.
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Well, at least it’s not another f**king inflatable.
All you get round here is people asking for the relative merits of one 250 dollar inflatable board from Amazon vs. another 250 dollar iSUP from eBay.
So it’s nice to see a brand coming up with something aimed at the more serious end of the market.
If it works well, the 21.5” wide Strike might be popular for the 11 cities race. The question is whether Fanatic have got the rocker and volume distribution correct. It would be good to see the board actually being paddled.
Maybe when and if SUP becomes an Olympic sport, the race boards will mostly look like (even thinner) versions of this. Good for lane racing on a lake.
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Actually yesterday was considering getting a 21.5 Sprint that has come up for sale. But thought about how much use we could get from a board like that in the variable ocean conditions we have. Came to the conclusion that the AS23 is narrow enough when conditions get challenging. The low rocker would spear the nose way too much upwind and DW for our use.
Would def hop on a 21.5 to try out if you have chance however. Provides a super efficient paddling experience. Best board that I have ever paddled for glide. The second best for glide would be the discontinued log SB Race 25. But that board was much harder to get full power down consistently. Then AS23 out of the boards tested.
The price of a new Strike is exorbitant in these parts. Over 5K new $3200 used. Comparably can get the 21.5 Sprint for $1750 used right now.
Probably both the Strike and Sprint have similar efficiency and glide.
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Come on you guys... Sub-20 is just around the corner ::)
https://youtu.be/YkiFnoINWS0
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...
The question is whether Fanatic have got the rocker and volume distribution correct. It would be good to see the board actually being paddled.
Maybe when and if SUP becomes an Olympic sport, the race boards will mostly look like (even thinner) versions of this. Good for lane racing on a lake.
I preferred the look of what must have been the prototype before this. With the open back. Obviously some down sides to that. I'm guessing tricky to kick turn.
Arthur Arutkin was on one early season. Interestingly Arthur was on his allwater model the last few races including Bilbao. Which is a slow moving river in town.
Also interesting is that lots of other riders were on boards rather than in clogs. Including Lincoln Dews on a flattop Deep.
One thing I've noticed is that few women use clogs. If clogs were easy and fast I'd expect lots more to be on them.
Boothy has taken some spills on his sprint and lost valuable time. He's cutting it real close sometimes using his Sprint in tricky conditions. When you see someone like him struggle you know it's harder for us mortals. He's super used to his Sprint.
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Yes. My position on blogs is well-known: I’m not a fan. But this new Strike isn’t really a (full-blown) clog, and having a mildly sunken deck (like the RS etc) seems like a good compromise to me.
I think the tendency towards the elite riders using all-waters type boards rather than full displacent bows is because most of the races these days are draft processions. But Michael Booth prefers to get in front and go it alone. So I think he’s always going to favour a board that will allow him to sprint to the front and then pull ahead. And a narrow sharp-bowed board will do that best. But if you know that you aren’t going to be pulling away from the pack and going it alone, you’d want a board that drafts well, like the more boof-nosed all-waters boards do. And then, to boot, the flat(ish)-deck all-waters boards are generally better for buoy turns, beach starts, downwind and surf. That’s a pretty big set of advantages.
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This how the 2019 Strike underside at the tail compares to the past Sprint iterations. The huge single concave with tippy rounded edges of the 2016 gave way to the more stable 2017 triple concave. Then was flattened a bunch in 2018 to make it more stable. Will be interesting to see what SB brings to the masses for 2019.
With Boothy and Connor leading the charge -> they have super talented guys at the top. Would not expect many average joes to race a 21.5 Sprint in the harsh conditions they do -> and finish standing. When young top elite with alien balance fall off their boards -> you know board width vs speed are reaching their limits.
A number of Brands are now dropping widths and selling production boards 23 and under. So long as Boothy or Connor etc finish in first with falls and all -> they will have done their primary job. Fanatic have made radical changes to the Strike over the years. But the 2019 iteration looks the goods to compete against the Sprint. Back in 2016 the rounded tail underside looked even tipper than the SB Race 25. Moving towards the Sprint design for 2019 -> would expect the 21.5 Strike to be very competitive.
https://youtu.be/fsPiHlpnRGU
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Competitive for who, and in what race, Eagle? ukgm for instance is a self-confessed “training robot” and a highly competitive individual who is fitter than either of us ever will be. But even he won’t be able to use the 21.5”.
I’ve got one adult friend who could use a board like that in real racing conditions. ONE. Good luck with those sales - this is just a loss-leader built for marketing purposes (and elite team riders). They might sell a few of the 25s. But 25 is a strange width - most keen racers can go 23/24, and the ocean/downwind/fitness/occasional racer crew that make up the rest of the demographic for a board like this tend to want a 26 or more.
Maybe with the 21.5” Fanatic are aiming mainly at the kids who are coming into SUP racing - get a bit of brand loyalty early on.
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Boothy has taken some spills on his sprint and lost valuable time. He's cutting it real close sometimes using his Sprint in tricky conditions. When you see someone like him struggle you know it's harder for us mortals. He's super used to his Sprint.
Things are changing though - two of the podium of our recent Icon Classic (which is a full on ocean race for surfski's, SUP's and OC1's) were on Starboard 21.5's. One of those is a teenager who has been on narrow boards from day one.
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Competitive for who, and in what race, Eagle? ukgm for instance is a self-confessed “training robot” and a highly competitive individual who is fitter than either of us ever will be. But even he won’t be able to use the 21.5”.
Yep I agree. I'd been keeping an eye on this brand (thinking ahead for 2019) but the 25 is too wide and the 21.5 far too narrow for me. I don't know why a board so specialized was made so relatively wide or narrow without something between the two sizes. A 23 or 24 would seem to be an obvious choice.
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The 21.5 Strike would be very competitive for those racers that would be going up against riders on 21.5 Sprint or other narrow boards similar.
Obviously you and ukgm are not the target market. The Brand simply missed out bringing something forward like a 23. But for flat water -> that board would be ok for me or a few other racers I know. There are a number of racers here on 23 and 21.5 wide boards. 21.5 is not too narrow for flat water use.
Point was the fully rounded 2016 Strike at 24 wide looked less stable than the 2019 version at 21.5 with hard edges. In that way Fanatic has kinda brought forward a Sprint clone.
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Boothy has taken some spills on his sprint and lost valuable time. He's cutting it real close sometimes using his Sprint in tricky conditions. When you see someone like him struggle you know it's harder for us mortals. He's super used to his Sprint.
Things are changing though - two of the podium of our recent Icon Classic (which is a full on ocean race for surfski's, SUP's and OC1's) were on Starboard 21.5's. One of those is a teenager who has been on narrow boards from day one.
Well, this really is the death of racing then. If people trying the sport for the first time can’t use a board that looks even remotely like the ones the people on the podium are, then they simply won’t do it. It’s hard to sell as sport when you have to say “well, if you start before you are a teenager and practice your balance for 1000 hours first, then maybe you can use a board in a race that will get you somewhere near the podium... oh, and btw, the board will be crazy expensive, fragile and awkward to use, and will be worth next to nothing just a few months later because there are only a handful of people in each country that can use it, and they are all sponsored”.
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We have gone over this ad nauseum. The pointy end of the elite racing spectrum are ok with 21.5 wide for certain races. ukgm noted this even in his races. Many dropped down from 23. Robert is much heavier and older racing on his custom 21 in 11 Cities. These narrow boards are designed to be used by a specific sector of riders that can balance on them. Pretty sure the Brands do not expect to sell a lot of these each year. They are a big promotion tool.
They need that exposure to differentiate. Racing is very niche now. And if put into lane racing -> much more niche like was predicted years ago. For everyone else they can always buy wider options so they can balance ok.
Market presence seems to be a big motivator for Starboard racing. Big sales and profits come from their other boards. Obviously 21.5 and less is very specialized and not intended to be used by the average joes. Just check out their selling prices.
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Yes. But it’s made much more poignant now by the huge recent influx of people into SUP via inflatables, and the announcement of the 2019 boards like this one. The number of people SUPing at my local beach - and asking questions on the local SUP FB site - must have quadrupled over the last year alone. This is mainly due to super-cheap inflatable SUPs that the supermarkets are now selling. Many of these people have never really done any sport before.
They are not even aware that SUP racing exists. But if even only 1% could be attracted to it, the numbers racing in the UK would triple overnight. However, they aren’t going to do it now because the equipment is too expensive and too specialised and so are the races. N1SCO has the right idea IMO. Long and expensive races against people on fragile and fast-depreciating boards that cost over 2 months salary (after tax) that you’d never be able to stand on if you practiced for 10 years? What kind of madness would that be?
It’s the exact opposite of the way we should be going IMO. And most of us agree - but it’s still happening. WHY? What is driving this sprint towards obsolescence and irrelevance?
That the Strike only comes in two sizes says it all. But maybe they will reveal a range of fitness/touring boards as well, to cater to the vast majority. Certainly, their inflatables will be cut out of the market by the cheapo Chinese no-brands in the supermarkets and discount stores, so they need to do something. Tough times if you are a premium SUP brand: The elitist drive at the top end means ever fewer sales, and the drive to the lowest common denominator at the bottom means there’s no money to be made there either.
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Yeah we noted years ago the preponderance of SUPs were cheap inflatables on our beaches. Even more again this year. Is getting to be a traffic jam at our local beach.
More expensive brands like SB are few and far btwn. Most have never seen a Dominator or SIC or any race board for that matter. They have a low budget and stick to that. Not many consider spending more than a few hundred Cdn dollars.
From our perspective it is what it is. Luckily have all we need and each board still does exactly what we need it to do. But the answer to "why" -> should be posed to the peeps in charge of the Brands. We can only speculate which is often off base BS.
At least the 21.5 Strike provides another option to the race proven 21.5 Sprint.
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We have gone over this ad nauseum. The pointy end of the elite racing spectrum are ok with 21.5 wide for certain races. ukgm noted this even in his races. Many dropped down from 23. Robert is much heavier and older racing on his custom 21 in 11 Cities. These narrow boards are designed to be used by a specific sector of riders that can balance on them. Pretty sure the Brands do not expect to sell a lot of these each year. They are a big promotion tool.
The key thing for the UK is that the majority of its regular racers are 35+ and no more than a dozen in number. This means that the number of us migrating to sub 23 inch width boards is probably not going to change much more now without any growth, there is now a relative polarisation between the regular racers and the occasional speculator too and whilst the fast paddlers are going narrower, I suspect the rest are not really. The sport here is frankly stagnant and unlikely to change in my view. The actual racers at our national series rarely exceed 20 per class. I agree that the narrow race boards are really floating billboards (often sold as a loss leader) to team riders and I'm not going to keep racing in a sport that isn't growing and whereby I can't move up the standings much more.
A few of the older SUP hands are also migrating to other paddle sports (OC1 is getting increasingly popular - although still niche). Personally, I've only done a couple of board races this year and have spent more time on my surf ski of late. I may well do some of those races next year instead (I also trialled and was selected for the GB Dragonboat team this year but I couldn't make the date of the european champs - I may go for the worlds next year though).
My current opinion is that the fears that Terrell, West and myself all raised is now coming to fruition. The only saving grace may be the more inclusive racing formats/classes the ICF is piloting at their worlds this year (probably to get one up on the ISA) such as age groups and inflatables.
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And most of us agree - but it’s still happening. WHY? What is driving this sprint towards obsolescence and irrelevance?
Because commercial interests and sport development don't generally work together. Starboard don't realise they are actually destroying their own sport in the long run by having race boards too high in price, 12 month development cycles and widths that 95% of the sport can't use.
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JP new board
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It's a bit 'me too' but the JP looks interesting.
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It's a bit 'me too' but the JP looks interesting.
Hmm... might have most of the ownership and use drawbacks of a full-on clog, without any of the benefits?
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Mo Freitas and Travis Grant are coming to my local beaches this week. Will be interesting to see if they are on 2019 models. Mo’s balance is off-the-scale so I wouldn’t be surprised to see him going sub-20... come along, ukgm, and be made to feel like a hopeless old man like the rest of us :)
Are you racing in London next week, ukgm? I might go along to watch, but there’s no point me taking part in any racing. These days you could just look at the boards of the racers lining up and award the medals on the basis of them, and save a lot of time and commotion :)
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Mo Freitas and Travis Grant are coming to my local beaches this week. Will be interesting to see if they are on 2019 models. Mo’s balance is off-the-scale so I wouldn’t be surprised to see him going sub-20... come along, ukgm, and be made to feel like a hopeless old man like the rest of us :)
Are you racing in London next week, ukgm? I might go along to watch, but there’s no point me taking part in any racing. These days you could just look at the boards of the racers lining up and award the medals on the basis of them, and save a lot of time and commotion :)
Sadly I couldn’t fit London in (although it sounds like the turnout should be decent). I’m double booked with other events in other sports I’ve got going on.
I’m really curious to see what Starboard will do for 2019. I’ve seen nothing yet. I’m hearing whispers a 21 inch wide board might be on its way.
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With so many dropped decks the advantage to SB will be cut back. So makes sense they will push the envelope once again in 2019.
The promo blurbs are quite a joke looking back. Every year it is the latest and greatest -> with faster this and faster that. Then the next year it is better again -> but now more stability this and more stability that.
Seems like a never ending cycle to push product and keep consumers wanting something new each year. We gave up on that -> after testing a bunch of boards and concluding that what we have is already near perfect. With no need to change anything.
Actually SUP race design has kinda progressed as suspected. Bit by bit -> narrower and narrower especially for the top elite. But if you have no need for that just get the wider board option and carry on. Unfortunately you will not be able to catch the leaders on their super efficient low drag boards. So makes sense ukgm is now looking to greener pastures. C'est la vie.
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For those that think they have decent balance on a SUP -> check this out. From many moons ago. When these guys fall off a board you know conditions are pretty difficult. Skill levels off the chart. But the young lads are right there nowadays as well. ;)
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With so many dropped decks the advantage to SB will be cut back. So makes sense they will push the envelope once again in 2019.
The promo blurbs are quite a joke looking back. Every year it is the latest and greatest -> with faster this and faster that. Then the next year it is better again -> but now more stability this and more stability that.
Seems like a never ending cycle to push product and keep consumers wanting something new each year. We gave up on that -> after testing a bunch of boards and concluding that what we have is already near perfect. With no need to change anything.
Actually SUP race design has kinda progressed as suspected. Bit by bit -> narrower and narrower especially for the top elite. But if you have no need for that just get the wider board option and carry on. Unfortunately you will not be able to catch the leaders on their super efficient low drag boards. So makes sense ukgm is now looking to greener pastures. C'est la vie.
Well to be fair, I’m not an international standard paddler anyway (hardly any in the uk are). As a result, the race fields are shallow enough here that I can dip in and out of the sup scene and not really lose out much as most of us are the same age. It just means I’m not that motivated to go back to the sponsored team/paddler route and I’ll cherrypick my events.
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Just to add to the mix, Tim Cyprien won the Queensland State Title Technical Race on a 2019 21.5 Strike.
Granted the swell was small but buoy turn racing on a FW board?? Pretty special.
https://vimeo.com/277850758
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Eagle - Some impressive skills on display there. And it makes a good case for the Strike. The rear looks big on a board that narrow, doesn’t it? Must help with the buoy turning and stability when surfing.
How do you feel about racers getting off their boards and pushing their boards round the inside buoy? It looked like that gave some competitors a distinct advantage over staying standing up. I know it is within the rules, but should it be?
It’s interestjng to see the dominance of Australia emerging. The prediction for racing a few years ago was that racing would become predominantly an inland waters thing. But watching the Euro tour etc I’ve been struck my how much the races are still mainly conducted in or near the sea, and the top racers are still overwhelmingly ocean-based in background, as they always have been.
Maybe that will change when the ICF gets going. Although will people watch videos of people paddling up a creek in a dry suit and pfd vs. Seychelle wearing a skimpy bikini bottom while frolicking in the ocean, as she did in Germany this weekend? (Where she was the sole US elite competitor appearing on the podiums at that event.)
Maybe if racing is becoming just a loss-leading and photo-generating marketing exercise, then racing at the elite level will not become the predominantly inland waters thing we predicted after all. The sea is more interesting to paddle in, and generates bettter marketing coverage. If so, that will determine in part the designs of the boards - and maybe keep full-on clogs out of contention, and board asses fat. Are ocean brands like Fanatic going to build boards designed for ICF-sponsored inland waters pure flat water races? I can’t see it happening right now- even the FW designs like the Sprint and Strike have one eye on the ocean. If anyone had been on a true FW board (displacement nose, pintail, rounded hull) in Germany this weekend they would have finished in a woeful position. And the pintail clogs seemed to be struggling too.
Where was photofr and his buddies on their flat water Nelos etc in Europe’s races? If rounded hulls and displacement noses are so much faster, it’s amazing how few of them there are out there.
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from distance and to non-professional eye you will choose 2019 boards just by color/name. pretty sure they have their own thing on bottom/construction/tail dimensions/etc... :o
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Just to add to the mix, Tim Cyprien won the Queensland State Title Technical Race on a 2019 21.5 Strike.
Granted the swell was small but buoy turn racing on a FW board?? Pretty special.
https://vimeo.com/277850758
It's not FW in the purest sense though as the board was reconfigured with a wider tail and volume in 2018 to handle light chop. Personally, I think that's the one board quiver racing concept that the brands are going to head towards in the short term. It makes a lot of sense and the sharper edges and aesthetics are good for marketing. The only anomaly is Naish who dropped their FW Javelin entirely and went for what is an excellent ocean racer but not great on flat stuff.
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1) How do you feel about racers getting off their boards and pushing their boards round the inside buoy? It looked like that gave some competitors a distinct advantage over staying standing up. I know it is within the rules, but should it be?
2) Are ocean brands like Fanatic going to build boards designed for ICF-sponsored inland waters pure flat water races?
3) I can’t see it happening right now- even the FW designs like the Sprint and Strike have one eye on the ocean.
1) That's one of my old surf lifesaving tricks. We used to sometimes have 1 or 2 turn cans in the breakers and I could do the same and gain major distance back. It's legal but the loophole on it should be closed.
2) I think it will take 2 or 3 years of the ICF to attempt to get traction before we'd see that. The ICF will need to take SUP seriously. However, I do know that Nelo are going to have a major presence and PR promotion effort at this years champs (EDIT: I see in the entry list they are now sending their entire team to it). They see an opportunity and being a sponsor, may well help shape future formats (now where have we seen that before ?!).
3) They certainly have one eye on chop and they are merely playing the general condition averages for most paddlers I think. The 2018 board is depowered on the pure flat a shade over the 2017 version but its still fast enough. The other brands have realised this and there seems to be a scramble to copy the concept. Whether they get the stability right though is a big question. I've seen two new narrow boards out that haven't paid much attention to stability at face value and that's basically putting board design back 5 years.
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Well, it’s only really old farts like me and you who worry about stability. The kids coming through just want fast, have energy to burn, and could balance on a log. Their parents will be buying them these boards.
Give it up, old man. You were born too early for this sport :)
At least if racing dies, we won’t have all the nonsense that will come from entry as an Olympic sport. Then maybe the ICF will lose interest too, and we won’t all be forced by them to have a SUP licence (costing 500 dollars) and wear inflatable armbands, pfds, drysuits, and carry spare flashlights plus first aid and bicycle puncture repair kits. :)
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Just to add to the mix, Tim Cyprien won the Queensland State Title Technical Race on a 2019 21.5 Strike.
Granted the swell was small but buoy turn racing on a FW board?? Pretty special.
https://vimeo.com/277850758
It's not FW in the purest sense though as the board was reconfigured with a wider tail and volume in 2018 to handle light chop. Personally, I think that's the one board quiver racing concept that the brands are going to head towards in the short term. It makes a lot of sense and the sharper edges and aesthetics are good for marketing. The only anomaly is Naish who dropped their FW Javelin entirely and went for what is an excellent ocean racer but not great on flat stuff.
FYI Fanatics top racer, Arutkin, is using their allwater board even on completely flat courses.
So there's that.
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Well, it’s only really old farts like me and you who worry about stability. The kids coming through just want fast, have energy to burn, and could balance on a log. Their parents will be buying them these boards.
Give it up, old man. You were born too early for this sport :)
At least if racing dies, we won’t have all the nonsense that will come from entry as an Olympic sport. Then maybe the ICF will lose interest too, and we won’t all be forced by them to have a SUP licence (costing 500 dollars) and wear inflatable armbands, pfds, drysuits, and carry spare flashlights plus first aid and bicycle puncture repair kits. :)
True, true. I'm actually going to try a 21.5 at some point soon just so I can talk myself out of racing any more.
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Similar to the DEEP Fireball which is their flatwater speed machine. When they dropped off their boards after the PPG, the 21" wide version was the only one their team rider Lincoln Dews kept with him. He used it in some early season races that were anything but flat water (Carolina Cup Graveyard race) but he switched over the Dryft for the late season events and won the Mercedes Benz SUP World Cup this past weekend. I paddled the 23" wide version and at 175 it felt pretty good in flat water with small chop or bump.
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ukgm you might be surprised.
The AS24.5 has some roll and the AS23 definitely more. But if you can balance ok on the AS23 powered up then you should be ok on the dropped 21.5 Sprint. The difference in tip is noticeable but not much more. Was able to go max speed on flat with no balance checks. But again technique needs to be on point. Your size may make the 21.5 Sprint too far a stretch -> but the 23 Sprint might work.
Def the Fireball 21 looks like a nice efficient low vol board in the diversified Deep lineup. SB will need to bring forward something special for 2019 as there looks to be some very decent low drag competition.
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ukgm you might be surprised.
The AS24.5 has some roll and the AS23 definitely more. But if you can balance ok on the AS23 powered up then you should be ok on the dropped 21.5 Sprint. The difference in tip is noticeable but not much more. Was able to go max speed on flat with no balance checks. But again technique needs to be on point. Your size may make the 21.5 Sprint too far a stretch -> but the 23 Sprint might work.
Yep, you're right. I'd be more likely to go for a 23 width and if stability was still an issue, I'd probably install a small ventral on it.
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I had a quick paddle on the NSP Sonic 14x24 wide and that feels narrow and tippy for (80kg/176lb 5'6"). I'm really looking forward to the 21.5 wide boards and see how they feel :o ::)?
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I don’t think any of you guys would have any problems paddling a 14x21.5 board. But whether you could be fast when paddling it in typical race conditions is another matter altogether. There are plenty of people who seem to measure their worth by how narrow a board they can stay on top of. But that’s not worth a damn in itself. You have to be faster on it than you would be on a 23-25” wide board. And that’s the tricky bit :)
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I don’t think any of you guys would have any problems paddling a 14x21.5 board. But whether you could be fast when paddling it in typical race conditions is another matter altogether. There are plenty of people who seem to measure their worth by how narrow a board they can stay on top of. But that’s not worth a damn in itself. You have to be faster on it than you would be on a 23-25” wide board. And that’s the tricky bit :)
I drew the line at "do I enjoy paddling this board?". I raced a 23 in flat water but it just wasn't worth it as I had to train on it as well and I never really enjoyed it. The 24 was essentially as fast with all the added stability benefits and it was a board I wanted to paddle, not one I needed to. I never beat anyone paddling the 23 that I didn't already beat on the 24 anyway and the best performance I had was on a 25 because conditions were mixed and the guys on 23s struggled to keep up in the open water portions and couldn't make it up in the flat water.
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I drew the line at "do I enjoy paddling this board?".
That is the most important question and the dominant criteria I use now.
As a contrarian, I like my board that is long and wide and fun.
But then again, I never race. I do participate from time to time to SUP races as long as they are over 14km, do not include lapses (boring) and do not include more than two buoy turns :-)
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The Ace looks great out in its natural habitat...
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The Ace looks great out in its natural habitat...
:-)
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Competitive for who, and in what race, Eagle? ukgm for instance is a self-confessed “training robot” and a highly competitive individual who is fitter than either of us ever will be. But even he won’t be able to use the 21.5”.
I’ve got one adult friend who could use a board like that in real racing conditions. ONE. Good luck with those sales - this is just a loss-leader built for marketing purposes (and elite team riders). They might sell a few of the 25s. But 25 is a strange width - most keen racers can go 23/24, and the ocean/downwind/fitness/occasional racer crew that make up the rest of the demographic for a board like this tend to want a 26 or more.
Maybe with the 21.5” Fanatic are aiming mainly at the kids who are coming into SUP racing - get a bit of brand loyalty early on.
This is spot on. So much so, I'm now hoping to borrow a 21.5 to see what all the fuss is about next week.
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As you will likely find, it’s depressing how little difference to your overall speed going narrower makes, once you are at the point where you can get the paddle perpendicular without having to lean (this requires a board narrower than 26” for the vast majority of people). Although when going upwind, narrow boards do have a distinct advantage. But mainly, the fast guys paddle narrow boards because why would anyone paddle a board wider than they need? They aren’t fast *because* they paddle narrow boards.
But unless you try you’ll never know. I was able to paddle a 21.5” wide board, so there’s no reason you can’t. It was a pretty unpleasant experience for me, but then racing is mainly about who is willing to take the most pain, so maybe you’ll take to it in a way that I didn’t or couldn’t.
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Good you can test out a 21.5 -> but would expect you not to like how unstable it feels vs your 24.5AS. Should tell you loads. But still think a 23 should be better if you are finding your 24.5 to be overly stable and somewhat sluggish -> and you now want something narrower.
You did find some very good gains dropping from 26 down to 24.5 this past year. So that was very positive. But expect much smaller gains going to a 23 -> and even less going to a 21.5 wide. Maybe with a 21.5 you will be a lot slower. But tough to say until you try that board yourself.
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Similar to the DEEP Fireball which is their flatwater speed machine. When they dropped off their boards after the PPG, the 21" wide version was the only one their team rider Lincoln Dews kept with him. He used it in some early season races that were anything but flat water (Carolina Cup Graveyard race) but he switched over the Dryft for the late season events and won the Mercedes Benz SUP World Cup this past weekend. I paddled the 23" wide version and at 175 it felt pretty good in flat water with small chop or bump.
Deep Fireball is very similar to the Fanatic prototype. But the prod version of Fanatic seems to have gone away from the open back.
So.... does it come in Purple?