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How to choose your SUP surf board ? Review and comparison of the Fanatic range with Maria Andres

SUP surfboards come in all shapes and sizes: from 6 feet to 11 feet or more, round shapes or sharp noses and tails, thicker or thinner rails, different fin configurations… in short, there’s plenty to choose from! So how do you choose your SUP surfboard? You’ll need to take into account many parameters, including your level, your size, your riding style and the size of the waves you’ll be surfing. While your body size will influence the size of your SUP surfboard, everything else will influence its shape. It’s this last point that we’re going to address in this article, with the help of Maria Andres and the Fanatic’s SUP Surf range. Stylemaster, AllWave, Bee and ProWave – these are the four (rigid) models with very different shapes offered by the brand. Maria Andres, who was able to try them all out, gives us a review of each one to help you make your choice. We let her introduce herself and tell you about her favorite SUP surfboards, let’s go!

Photo : Fish Bowl Diaries

Little presentation

My name is Maria Andres. I was born in the south of Spain, in the Bay of Cadiz. I entered into the watersports world through my brothers, windsurfing in flat waters at home. Then I discovered the waves, and I started to learn to surf and to wave sail. It has taken me to many amazing places in the world.

Photo : Fish Bowl Diaries

Before I focus completely in my windsurfing career and travel writer for watersports mags, I was also a freelance graphic designer and Co-Director of SUPING Magazine. As soon as I saw the first people SUPing at home, I wanted to try it! By then I was already a professional windsurfer, and still not so much into surfing. Having the chance to SUP I discovered a complete new world! I could spend even more fun time in the ocean, even just paddling around and exploring the coast! SUPing in the waves gave me the chance to ride a lot more waves than regular surfing, as well as riding bigger waves, since SUP surfing is a lot more accessible.

I became a SUP passionate since the first time I tried! I couldn’t believe the mountains I was riding! I have enjoyed incredible waves around the world and I love sharing some of the adventures in SUP articles, to motivate other people to discover this other way to enjoy the nature and the ocean!

Photo : Ivan Gonzalez

My favorite boards

Then I became part of the Fanatic team, having the opportunity to try and enjoy their boards in different waves. Specially in the photoshoots it is a great chance to ride them all!

Photo : Fish Bowl Diaries

The boards I use the most are the Stylemaster, the AllWave, the Bee and the ProWave. The Stylemaster is my favorite one for longboard style riding in mellow waves, the AllWave is super fun when not perfect conditions, the ProWave is my choice for good and bigger waves, and the Bee is the board I love to always have with me to have it all in one and flow with the conditions, whether it is SUP surfing or foiling.

Photo : Ivan Gonzalez

The Stylemaster is the classic longboard style of the range, a nose rider with an incredibly beautiful bamboo deck that invites you to walk and dance all along in countless waves! I am a total addict to longboard riding, so this board to me is just endless fun when the waves are mellow and small, and still awesome when it gets bigger and not too steep. It catches literally every wave!! And the look of it, it is a piece of art! I would hang it in my wall!

Photo : Ivan Gonzalez

Its proportions makes it a very easy SUP to paddle, it has a great balance, you will not miss any wave! The classic outline and the rocker line makes it a very fast board, even with this long length, you would be surprised of how fast it accelerates! Of course, imagine the momentum it creates! When paddling out or waiting for the wave, pivoting quickly to paddle to ride it, is much easier than you would think! It is a 10’0” but quite say to move around and get positioned with it.

Photo : Ivan Gonzalez

I really love how the thin rails engage on the wave and with very good speed, giving you a lot of stability and confidence to cross-step all the way. Stepping back, it has very good grip on the turns and allows you to do very playful turns! The wide nose lets you enjoy your nose rides in balance, with good grip on the tail. Being a 10’0” longboard, and what it means when having to wax, it is pretty awesome that it comes with a nice grip almost all the way, so you will only have to wax the nose if you are into nose rides. This board comes with a windsurf insert, so if you are also a windsurfer, it will allow you to cruise around in light wind days. I have to say there is no day I use this board that I don’t come back with a huge smile!!

Photo : Ivan Gonzalez

I recommend this board to beginners to advance longboard style lovers who plan to surf in small or mellow mid-waves, looking for a playful ride and practice some cross-steps and nose rides.

This board comes in 2 sizes 10’0″X 28.5” 130l for lighter and more experienced riders and 10’0″X 30.5” 145l for heavier riders. It comes with 2 + 1 fins, for more stability.

Photo : Ivan Gonzalez

The AllWave is a board that every time I use it, it surprises me!! It is probably the most fun and forgiving board of the Fanatic SUP surfing range! It is a great choice for those initiating in the surfing world, it will be their perfect match! It is super easy to paddle, it has a great glide, and turning is forgiving and easy! If you don’t have a perfect technique, no worries, this board will allow your mistakes and will be the perfect choice to improve your ride! The most incredible thing that I find with this board, is that even in messy or choppy conditions, the board still performs super well!

Photo : Fish Bowl Diaries

Now it comes with a new outline and rails, as well as the rocker, making it a great board not only for the beginners, but also for the advance surfers, offering radical surfing as well as a very accessible and stable ride, even in the messy days. The new shape made the board shorter but with the same volume and width, making it more compact and keeping the performance. The tail rails are sharper for grip in the turns and the nose rails are more rounded for easy surfing.

It works great both with small and bigger swells, being super playful in small days making tight turns and as well on drawing lines on bigger days while feeling confident on it.

Photo : Fish Bowl Diaries

To have only one SUP surf board, this would be definitely my choice! It works with pretty much all kinds of waves and it’s easy, with good performance and so fun to ride!

It is available from 7’9” 105l to 9’2” 165l in 5 sizes, so all riders from 45 to 105 Kg can find their match. All of them with 3 x 5” fins.

Photo : Fish Bowl Diaries

The Prowave is the choice of the Pros to ride world-class waves. It is the high performance SUP Board from Fanatic, offering powerful rides with speed and response, sharp carves with unlimited grip and powerful cut backs like a short board.

The new quad V-shape offers more grip, while the single concave to double concave in the mid-section offers speed and drive. It comes with harder edges in the tail for acceleration and softer rails in the nose for a smooth surfing. It is incredibly maneuverable and responsive, with a very light short board feeling, so if you are training to get tighter, sharper and more powerful turns, this is your board!

Photo : Tom Soltysiak

It can be used as a quad or as a tri-fin, having 5 fin boxes available to adapt it to your riding style. I tend to use 3 fins for small waves and 4 for bigger and faster ones. It’s built with custom surf tech construction, so it feels light and nice on the waves, with some flex, and it looks pretty cool too!

Photo : Fish Bowl Diaries

This is the board for advance SUP surf riders planing to use it in bigger and more powerful waves. This would be the board I would chose to go for a Surf trip, definitely!

It comes in 5 sizes from 7’0” 70l to 8’0” 121l, all of them with 5 fin boxes to choose your style (tri or quad).

Photo : Fish Bowl Diaries

The Fanatic Bee is a 4×4, and a board I will always have in my quiver! If you live in a spot where the conditions are changing all the time from small waves, messy mellow ones, light winds… and you want to spend as long as possible in the water having fun, this is the ultimate board!! It is perfect to get into foiling disciplines and to adapt to the conditions. You have it all in one!

Photo : Fish Bowl Diaries

It is a super fun board to SUP surf mellow waves! It is very compact but still with easy balance. It has great acceleration but surprisingly good carving and turns! It comes with pulled down thing rails and a double winger swallow tail to maximize the carving and the grip.

To SUP Foil, it is also the perfect intro board to start those first flights! It works great to learn to Windsurf Foil and Wing Foil! It has a flat deck to accelerate fast and fly easily. And because it is wide with a big surface, It makes it very easy to learn the jibes! In the touch-downs, it will keep the speed and get back quickly to fly. It’s a very interesting board to explore this new foiling sports, learn, progress, enjoy it, and maybe one day, if you want to focus in only one of them, then you can change to a more specific board.

Photo : Fish Bowl Diaries

I love to have always one Bee, to enjoy those not too wavy or not too windy days, I do love it! It is a great board to have in the quiver also to teach your family and friends, and a board that kids will love!

It comes with 3 fin boxes for a regular tri-fin SUP surf and with a foil track to mount the different foils. It comes with 4 foot-straps and a mast track for windsurfing. It is built with Vacuum epoxy construction, so it has a great compromise between weight and durability.

It is available in 2 sizes, 7’8” 120l for lighter or advanced riders or in 8’2” 140l for heavier or beginner riders.

Photo : Fish Bowl Diaries

How to choose your SUP surf board ?

  • For an only one wave board for everything, heavy riders or surf beginners: The AllWave
  • For a high Performance SUP Surf board: The ProWave
  • For a longboard style ride: The Style Master
  • For a fun board to SUP surf in small waves, SUP FOIL and get into Wind and Wing foil disciplines: The Bee

Photo : Fish Bowl Diaries

Thank you so much Maria for these tips and detailed reviews! Now all we have to do is choose and get out there in the waves!

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