Fanatic talk about their new 2023 TE boards

Foiling Magazine's Contributing Editor Steve Sjuggerud talks to Sky Solbach from FANATIC at the AWSI in Hood River about their new TE series of boards.

Sky talks us through the Fanatic x Duotone Sky Surf, Fanatic x Duotone Sky Style and Fanatic x Duotone Sky Free.

For the full interview transcript, see below.

Steve:

Hi, I'm Steve from Foiling Magazine, here at AWSI, and I'm here with Sky Solbach, of Fanatic and Sky's going to take us through the new TE series of boards here.

Sky:

Yeah, so we're looking at three new boards here for 2023. These are our team edition boards. First thing to mention about these boards is the new construction that we've done on these boards. It's full PVC carbon construction, so very similar to a windsurf board construction. Really stiff, really light, and really bombproof. So with all the crazy stuff they're doing with foiling these days, jumping, doing flips, we feel like this is definitely the most bomber construction that we can offer and should withstand all the abuse you can throw at it in terms of jumping and doing all the crazy stuff. So yeah, we're looking at three different models here. I'll start with this small guy here. This is the new Sky Surf. So this is a brand new shape for 2023, updated from last year. This is a prone surf foil slash wing crossover board, so great prone surfboard, and then great as a high performance wing board as well.

So what's different about this board compared to last year? A few different things. The outline template has basically stayed very similar to last year, but we've added a different rail shape here, which last year we sort of just had flat bevels. Now we have this concave bevel, which is really nice for surf foiling because it kind of gives you a surfboard rail to hold, which is really nice when you're duck diving, rather than having to grab this big chunky rail, you can actually grab like a surfboard rail, which feels really nice in your hands. And then we have a new recess deck shape, and that's kind of something we have on all the different models and that just allows me when I'm designing these Boards to optimize the deck angle and the rocker to the actual angle of the foil. So for this board in particular, that's really good for early takeoffs and to give you really positive pumping on the way back out to catch the next wave.

Steve:

What are the volume sizes on that one?

Sky:

Yeah, so this comes in three sizes, a 4'2″-25L, a 4'4″-35L, and a 4'6″-45L. And the four two is actually kind of like a grom-specific board. So we have some extra foot-

Steve:

The Bobo model?

Sky:

The Bobo model, exactly, yeah. For the little riders. And we have some extra foot strap inserts on that one so that they can ride a narrower stance, for smaller riders, so. Yeah. And then next in the lineup here we have a brand new model for 2023, which we call the Sky Style. And this is-

Steve:

Super compact.

Sky:

Really compact. This is kind of like the do everything high-performance board. So we really wanted to have a board that was great for not only freestyle but for riding waves as well. And this board's pretty unique in a few different ways. One, if you compare it to last year's Sky Wing board, which had quite a full square outline, this one definitely has a more surf-inspired, sort of pulled-in tail, pulled-in nose. So it's much sort of narrower and more compact overall. But it also has a completely different rocker line, which is kind of the magic of this board. It has a continuous rocker, so it actually has tail a rocker, kind of like a surfboard. And that's really nice because it helps the nose ride higher. So it rides in a nose-up position, which gives you a lot of freedom of movement for pumping. So you have a lot of room in the pitch direction.

Steve:

Less bearing it in the bottom of a wave and-

Sky:

Exactly, yeah, you can drop down a seat wave, the nose rides higher, gives you more room to drop the nose and load it up for a jump when you're doing freestyle. And we found that the big chunky rails with a hard edge are really good for release. And yeah, we've kept the bottom shapes on all the boards really simple.

Steve:

It's relatively simple. Yeah.

Sky:

Because yeah, we've just found that for release and early planting, that's kind of the best thing that I think we can make at the moment for early planning and release. So this is a great all-rounder if you're into freestyle and jumping and riding waves.

Steve:

And then what are the volume ranges on this one?

Sky:

This one goes from 55 Liters all the way up to 85 Liters.

Steve:

Okay.

Sky:

So from a four seven all the way up to a five one.

Steve:

Yeah, very compact. And then this guy?

Sky:

And this is the Sky Free. So this is kind of an update of last year's Sky Wing and in the new team addition construction of course. And so really similar idea to last year's Sky Wing. So light wind oriented, early planning oriented, stability. It gives you a lot of stability for knee starting. So this is a great board for people who are maybe begin… Even beginner, intermediate can write a bigger version of this. And then once you know get better, you can step down in size, but it's a great option if you're riding in lighter wind and flat water. Compared to last year's Sky Wing, it's one inch shorter for the same volume. So like last year's 5'4″-95 Liters is now a 5'3″‘-95 Liters. Also incorporated the new recess deck shape.

Steve:

Recess deck, yeah.

Sky:

Which again, just for stability, it allows me to… If I'm designing the board, distribute the volume into the areas that you really need it, like up in the nose and in the tail and in the rails. So when you're kneeling on the board or standing on the board when you're not foiling, it's really stable. You have all this volume around you, so it really gives you stability. In terms of bottom shape, again, really simple, like a rolled V up here in the nose and real flat clean release out the tail for early planning. And yeah, just a great all-round, do everything board.

Steve:

Awesome. Looks fantastic, man looks… And then last question, so what are the volume sizes on this one?

Sky:

Volume sizes on this one, you're really testing my-

Steve:

Sorry.

Sky:

My ability here.

Steve:

Yeah.

Sky:

I think it's 95… Sorry. 85 maybe 95 to 115 I'm going to say. But don't quote me on that, check the website.

Steve:

And that's the team edition though. These would still be in the larger volumes?

Sky:

Yeah, so these are carryover models from 2022, which have a bigger size range and they'll go all the way up to 140 liters. Yeah.

Steve:

Fantastic. All right. Thank you, Sky.

Sky:

All right, thank you. Thanks, guys.