Author Topic: new Fanatic strike  (Read 16457 times)

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Re: new Fanatic strike
« Reply #15 on: June 30, 2018, 09:21:14 AM »
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”.

Eagle

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Re: new Fanatic strike
« Reply #16 on: June 30, 2018, 10:44:24 AM »
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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Re: new Fanatic strike
« Reply #17 on: June 30, 2018, 05:23:51 PM »
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.

Eagle

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Re: new Fanatic strike
« Reply #18 on: June 30, 2018, 09:01:13 PM »
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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ukgm

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Re: new Fanatic strike
« Reply #19 on: July 01, 2018, 12:38:54 AM »
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.
« Last Edit: July 01, 2018, 01:26:45 AM by ukgm »

ukgm

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Re: new Fanatic strike
« Reply #20 on: July 01, 2018, 01:28:55 AM »
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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Re: new Fanatic strike
« Reply #21 on: July 01, 2018, 03:28:07 AM »
JP new board

ukgm

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Re: new Fanatic strike
« Reply #22 on: July 01, 2018, 03:50:42 AM »
It's a bit 'me too' but the JP looks interesting.

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Re: new Fanatic strike
« Reply #23 on: July 01, 2018, 05:43:13 AM »
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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Re: new Fanatic strike
« Reply #24 on: July 01, 2018, 05:50:00 AM »
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 :)

ukgm

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Re: new Fanatic strike
« Reply #25 on: July 01, 2018, 08:23:37 AM »
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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Re: new Fanatic strike
« Reply #26 on: July 01, 2018, 10:03:57 AM »
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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Re: new Fanatic strike
« Reply #27 on: July 01, 2018, 10:27:35 AM »
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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ukgm

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Re: new Fanatic strike
« Reply #28 on: July 01, 2018, 12:32:51 PM »
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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Re: new Fanatic strike
« Reply #29 on: July 01, 2018, 02:16:44 PM »
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.


 


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