News in from Fanatic on the new Stingray foil and Jag boards for 2019

Stingray 125 & 140:

As a special release for the 2019 range, the all new Stingray is a dedicated windsurfing foil board with an incredibly easy and fun character. If you thought windsurfing foiling is too technical for you – the Stingray will prove you wrong! It’s the board you want to enter the foiling world with and go way beyond. Lift your fun factor, confidence and skill level to new heights with the Stingray 125 & 140!

Fanatic Stingray 2019 from Fanatic International on Vimeo.

Fanatic pro rider Jordy Vonk tells us more:

The Stingray is the new Free-Foil Board in the Fanatic range – what‘s the secret behind this shape?
The secret behind the shape is that it’s covering such a big range of foiling experience. From making your very first flight to cruising around like a pro never touching the water anymore. The shape is wide to get you out of the water super early with maximum control over your foil. At the same time it’s extremely forgiving all of the usual mistakes in the beginning – which gives you the confidence needed to try and learn quickly.

What kind of Foils do you recommend?
The Stingray comes with both options, Tuttle Foil Box and 4-Way Track System, so generally you can mount almost every foil out there. I’d recommend to start with an entry level foil. Once you’re comfortable and got the feeling to control your flight, you can progress into Freerace foils with higher performance levels and speeds. Fanatic will launch a pretty epic match for the Stingray very soon – stay tuned!

What about sails? Do you need a dedicated foil sail to ride the Stingray?
It’s not necessary to use a dedicated foil sail, for example a freeride sail like the Duotone E-type works very good as well. But what is nice about a dedicated foil sail like the F-type is that it pumps super nice and is even lighter in handling, so if you have the option to use a dedicated foil sail: do it, but it’s not a must! The Stingray has an extra long mast track and works with everything from smaller no cam to larger full cam race sails, so whatever you have in your quiver will do.

What skill level should you bring as a Windsurfer to start foiling on the Stingray?
As soon as you’re comfortable sailing in footstraps and harness you can take the Stingray for a spin for your first foiling experience. The board doesn’t need much effort to start flying, so you can have your first flights on the foil really early! I would recommend to try the first time with about 12-16 knots of wind to get the feeling, afterwards you can go in much lighter conditions.

Do you have any useful tips for first time foilers? What should you know before your first take-off?
I have three main tips for the first time foiling:
– Take it step by step, only put your front foot in the strap for your first run. Once you get comfortable you can sheet in a bit more, hook into the harness lines and use the back foot strap too.
– It’s easier to understand the foil when it’s a bit windier, so i’d recommend to start with medium winds as mentioned above. Later you can go in much lighter winds.
– Watch out for the wingspan and length of your foil! I’ve seen quite a few injuries of people accidentally kicking their wings under water during their water start! If you’re about to crash, make sure you hold onto the boom. This way you’ll avoid hitting your foil. Also make sure you don’t sail into shallow waters!

How does foiling affect your windsurfing experience?
For me it suddenly didn’t matter anymore if forecasts were only showing 10 knots of wind! You can go out in a bigger range of conditions which increased my time on the water, so it’s been a great thing! Also you can use much smaller and lighter sails in very light winds – which makes these conditions so enjoyable!

Where do you see windsurf foiling in 5 years?
It’s hard to say as in the last 2 years it grew a lot and we figured out a lot of things in the development. We can just wait and see what the future brings – we’re only at the beginning and i think there’s a lot to come still!

More info about Stingray: https://www.fanatic.com/product/stingray-ltd/

NEW RELEASE – JAG 94

Good things take time, so we’re adding our smallest and fastest member to the Jag family in spring 2019. The Jag 94 is the ultimate weapon when the wind is strong or for a light to medium size riders – the perfect Defi Wind board! Coming with the same attributes as its big bothers, it’s the ultimate missile for the open ocean!

Fanatic Jag 2019 from Fanatic International on Vimeo.