Fanatic Diamond Air Touring Pocket: the SUP Sisters’ board of choice!

If you’re a fan of Instagram accounts dedicated to stand-up paddling, then you definitely shouldn’t miss out on The SUP Sisters account! These twin sisters from the UK are part of the UK Fanatic and ION team, and they regularly document all their exciting SUP adventures. Whether it’s their daily local sessions or their stand-up paddle trips, Georgina and Rebecca consistently capture stunning images with their trusty Fanatic boards. Notably, they have a strong affinity for the Fanatic Diamond Air Touring Pocket, and you’ll often spot them showcasing this elegant purple board in their photos. The Diamond Air Touring Pocket is a unique compact board with a touring shape that’s tailor-made for long rides and exploration. It’s rather unusual to find a touring board in such a compact form, as compact boards are typically associated with entry-level all-round models. The SUP Sisters are here to enlighten us on why this board is the ultimate choice for versatile use, suitable for all kinds of paddling adventures. Additionally, they generously share insights into their own SUP lifestyle, giving us a glimpse into the world of stand-up paddling through their eyes.

Hi Georgina and Rebecca! First of all, can you introduce yourselves and your Instagram account @thesupsisters, where you share your SUP lifestyle to a nice community of 12k followers?

Rebecca: Hello! We are twin sisters based in the UK with a passion for paddleboarding. We started the sport almost 10 years ago and found it was a great way for us to spend time with each other, especially when we stopped living together.

Georgina: We started exploring lots of different places, both in the UK abroad, and The SUP Sisters was born out of that. We started it as a place to share our paddleboarding adventures, and it has turned into a great way to connect with other likeminded people.

Canals, rivers or the open sea… you seem to have a lot of really nice SUP spots around your place. Can you give us a quick overview?

Rebecca: I’m lucky enough to live on the coast in Dorset, which is a paddleboarder’s paradise. The iconic Old Harry Rocks is my closest paddle, but there’s so many amazing places to paddle along this part of the Jurassic Coast. There are other well-known sites like Durdle Door and many stunning, secluded coves like Mupe Bay, which require a bit of a strenuous hike to reach but are well worth the effort.

Georgina: Being city based (working and living around Bath), the ocean is a bit further for me, but cities still offer some amazing paddles on the river or canal. You can be paddling under some iconic landmarks like Pulteney Bridge in the city centre of Bath, but then find some rural sections of the river where you see no people, only wildlife. The canal is also great for winter paddles as it’s more sheltered and the water much calmer than the river.

When you go on vacation, do you choose your destinations based on the possibility of exploring them on SUP? Do you have a bucket list?

Rebecca: The possibility of paddleboarding on holiday influences where we go, but isn’t the be-all and end-all. We do try and go away together at least once a year for a specific paddleboarding trip though.

Georgina: We do have a bucket list, but it’s not actually a physical written one. We just know there’s specific places we both want to go and paddle, in the UK and abroad. Whenever we see somewhere new we want to paddle, we always say let’s add it to the bucket list.

What’s the most incredible place you’ve paddled?

Rebecca: We’ve been lucky enough to paddle some amazing places both in the UK and abroad, but our favourite has to be a recent trip to Venice in Italy. With over 150 canals and waterways, is there a more perfect place for a paddleboarder? There’s something so special about paddling through a city that floats in water and it’s a great way to explore the area.

Georgina: There are a few rules around when and where you can paddleboard though, so we recommend heading out with one of the local watersports companies if this place is on your SUP bucket list!

What are your tips for finding new SUP spots to explore, whether close to home or on vacation?

Georgina: Social media has always been a great way to find beautiful places to paddle and there’s a great community of paddleboarders who are happy to share routes and tips. Mostly though, we search the wider internet for looking up new places to paddle. This helps with knowing where to park, launch from and suggested paddle routes.

Rebecca: We’ve found it saves time when we arrive somewhere new as we know exactly where we are heading – there’s nothing worse than turning up all excited to paddleboard, and then finding there is nowhere to park or no way to access the waterway! We also find local people can often be helpful and know all the good spots to go!

What’s your connection with Fanatic?

Rebecca: We were in search of some new boards a few years ago and we both ended up buying Fanatic boards. We’d had friends that had used their boards in the past and they seemed to perform well, and we were a fan of the fact that they made female specific boards! They’re also one of the oldest paddleboard companies on the market and are known for their quality. We were just sharing our adventures with our boards over Instagram and Fanatic UK contacted us to ask if we would like to officially join the team.

Can you give us a little tour of your Fanatic board quiver and tell me which boards you prefer and why?

Rebecca: We both have a Fanatic Fly Air Premium, which is a great all-rounder, inflatable board. It also comes with a mast foot insert if you want to switch between SUP and windsurfing and has a handy FCS camera mount slot to attach your GoPro so you can record those SUP adventures. We tend to favour this board in choppy coastal conditions or when we want to do some SUP yoga.

Georgina: Our favourite boards, however, are from the Diamond range – these are a range of boards (both hard and inflatable) designed specifically with us ladies in mind, and come in some beautiful designs and colours.

You’re often seen on the Fanatic Diamond Air Touring Pocket. It’s quite rare to have a touring board in compact mode, as compact boards are generally entry-level all-round boards. Can you tell us what’s special about this board?

Georgina: We absolutely love the Fanatic Diamond Air Touring Pocket. It is based on Fanatic’s Diamond Touring board, but this version is compact so is far more lightweight but doesn’t compromise on tracking or stability. It packs down to about half the size of the usual Fanatic iSUP and fits into a much narrower bag so carrying it around is much easier (and we can easily fit two in a car boot). The board alone weights around 8.5kg so is light enough that if you’re carrying your board inflated around for a bit your arms won’t tire so quickly, and when it’s all packed in the bag it’s around 10kg so far lighter than your ordinary iSUP.

Rebecca: The weight was one of the things that appealed to us the most as we wanted to start hiking to more secluded spots and city centres but found this tricky with a huge board bag on our backs. We’ve also found it fits into a standard suitcase with pump and paddle so love that we can easily take it on a plane with us. Despite the compact design, performance isn’t compromised. Being a tourer board, it still has great tracking and gives you a bit more speed and comfort for those longer adventures and exploring trips.

Georgina: We’ve found the board performs great in all types of waters too – from coastal to inland – and we love that it comes with two click fins so you don’t need to worry about always having a fin tool on you. The foam pad also differs from your ordinary board and is split in two sections to help with the folding and compact design of the board. We also love the graphics and its purple colour, plus the matching paddle!

What are your next SUP adventures?

Rebecca: We’ve got plenty of new places in the UK that we’re looking to tick off our bucket list this year, but we’ll also be visiting some of our all-time favourite place like The Lake District.

Georgina: We’re also heading abroad to explore some new places this summer, including the Maldives and Menorca!

Thank you very much Georgina and Rebecca for your answers!

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