Fanatic Ray 115 Ltd
The low down
The Ray is Fanatic’s freerace board line, which sits in their range along side the Falcon race boards. They are designed for maximum comfort and top performance. They are available in four different sizes and come in either wood sandwich or LTD carbon construction.
At a glance
The Ray has a classic shape, with a narrow rounded nose and pintail, it is not particularly wide across the middle but there is plenty of volume packed into its shape. On the deck it is nicely domed for comfort and control under foot and this is paired up with high quality footpads and straps. Underneath it features the same rocker line as their Falcon slalom boards but has a deeper vee in the tail area, with double concaves up front for extra control. The LTD construction is lightweight and has a high-class finish which looks great. The fin supplied is a Tuttle box 38cm G10 from Chocco, which has been specially designed to work with this board.
Performance
It has plenty of stability while at rest and the deck shape is very comfortable under foot. Acceleration is rapid, with great low end power, lifting you quickly and smoothly up on to the plane. The ride from the straps is superb, with plenty of dome under the straps you feel connected to the board while it delivers a responsive ride. It performs well in rough conditions, riding quite high in the water, so any chop or swell is easily absorbed. Round the corners it is a super versatile gybing board, thanks to its narrower pintail and regardless of your style or ability, it maintains its speed well through turns. Either tight turns in rough conditions or fast lay downs on the flat, you can be confident that going in to any gybe, you’ll be coming safely and quickly out of the other side.
The verdict
Fast comfortable and very easy to sail in all conditions. The Ray delivers an exciting yet controlled ride, with straight-line performance that can rival full-on slalom boards but doesn’t need the same level of in-put or power, making it a lively and fun board that you can blast around on all day long.