Fanatic Premium Sky Air inflatable Wing Foil Board Review

[@gregstrickland9667]

Checking back with you guys on an update. The 150l is proving to be a lot of fun. I’m attaching two videos I made from my trip to Cancun in January. Nice thing about this video is you’ll see me sailing the fanatic board with my 8 m wing and 2140 front foil. You’ll also see my friend learning on the Nash 170l board. You’ll see how stable the 170 is for my friend. This is really his first time Wingfoiling. When you see him in this video, he’s just learning how to get on the board and get in the position. By the fourth day, he was up on foil getting some pretty good reaches in. He would not have been able to make this progress if he were to have started on the 150 L. It’s true that you outgrow the 170 pretty quickly but in the right conditions you can learn how to get up on foil and a relatively short period of time , once you know how to get up on foil, you can go down in size. For me right now the 150 is perfect for travel. I just got a 125 L hardboard that I’ll be trying out this spring. I’ll give you guys some updates on that.

[@CaribsurfDon]

Nice thorough review Greg. I am sure you answered a lot of questions people have about inflatable foil boards and the Fanatic Sky Air in particular. I ride composite foil boards , but for travel I was wondering about an inflatable..

[@gregstrickland9667]

I like this board a lot. The construction is great. There are a couple of things I don't like. First, the plate that the mast mounts to isn't very deep. The second is that the back of the board is pretty narrow and a bit unstable. The third thing I don't like, and it's kind of a minor thing, the handle for carrying it is really bad. You should check out Naish and F1 too. My Naish had a very solid carbon plate. I don't know too much about the F1

[@gregstrickland9667]

Update… it’s a bit more tippy than I thought it would be. It is a lot narrower in the back. This is really only a problem when you’re trying to slog around. It definitely pops out of the water and onto the foil with less effort. The wetted area of the bottom is much less. Once up on foil it is much more comfortable and predictable. The narrower board reduces the area you can put your weight, so it kind of locks you into better foot position. All in all it is a much better board but requires you to move faster on the start up… meaning the time between when you climb up on the board and the time you get the wing in position and stand up. I’ve learned that if there isn’t enough wind to get up and into position then there won’t really be enough for me to foil. The good news is that I can easily nurse it in when the wind dies off.

[@vladiksun1985]

I traveled to Dahab with my Reedin IFEATHER 5’4” 152L and learned on it a couple of days. Approximately same size of everything - the bag (no wheels though), the board. Managed to pack 1800 front foil, 85 mast, the pump, and the suit. I learned how to go upwind and return to a starting point on my inflatable - it is much easier on inflatable to get started. On a third day I rent 120 hard board and that was a game changer I tell you. It was much easier to go up on a foil with a hard board even with less volume. So in my opinion having inflatable does not make sense. It will not give you same feeling and satisfaction as a hard board will. So now I have to dich my inflatable )). In my opinion in terms if investment it is better to rent high volume inflatable to learn basics (2-3 days) and buy a decent hard board to use at home. For travelling I'd prefer to rent a hard board at place.

[@gregstrickland9667]

If you’re over 200lbs it would be great to rent an inflatable in ideal conditions and then go to a smaller board. I still think it would take a lot longer to try to start on a smaller board. There is high demand for big inflatables. You could buy a new one and re-sell it at a 20% loss or look for a used one. It took my 220 lb friend about 20hrs in ideal, flat water, 12 to 18mph wind on a 170l Naish inflatable to get up on foil. He may have been able to drop down to a 140l hard board after 10 hrs but if he had started on the 140l I think he would have struggled the whole time.

[@zungagames]

Any thoughts on the bottom profile of the new Naish S27 hover inflatable. It looks like they elevated the carbon plate and have a straight edge at the rear of the plate (I'm assuming to improve release). I'm thinking of getting the 135L as my first board. Bad idea? I'm about 200 lbs and have some kite foiling experience (can cruise back and forth on foil but haven't figured turns yet). I'm not sure what foil setup I'll use just yet.

[@gregstrickland9667]

I'm happy to report back that I sold my 170l to a local guy about my size for about 80% of what I paid for it, proving that it's going to be easy to sell beginner gear. If you can find big used gear you'll be able to get it for a pretty good deal, ride it until you're comfortable with all of the aspects of work with the wing and foil, and then sell it to someone else that is just getting into the sport.

[@george2036]

Thanks, great video. Would you have gone with a bigger inflatable board if available? I'm asking because Fanatic has a beginner inflatable 6-10 with 200L Volume. Benefit is that I could start with fins and the move up to a foil (with the same board) once I get the hang of it.

[@gregstrickland9667]

I think the 200L would be too big. The 170 is almost too big. I would also highly recommend skipping the fins and go straight to the foil. The foil gives you a lot of lateral resistance that you need, and you'll get used to it being under there. Don't worry about coming up on foil unexpectently... that won't happen :)... read all the threads on heavy guys trying to get up on foil.

[@george2036]

@@gregstrickland9667 Thanks Greg. Got the same board with a Fanatic 2400/300/75 foil and a Slingshot Slingwing 6.5m wing. I'm 77kg...let's see.

[@bmrbca3658]

Thanks. When you do your review can you also compare it to your Naish inflatable?

[@gregstrickland9667]

I switched to the Fanatic because the 170 sticks to the water too much. IT was great to start on because it's so stable. Once I got comfortable on it's stability, the limitation was low wind foiling. It just has too much surface area.... We get really light winds around here, so there huge suraface area really affected gettgin abord speed. If I were closer to 90KG I would have started with the Fanantic. The Fananctic gets up a lot more easily and is a lot easier to ride. The only down side is that I'm still getting use to less volume. Volume defitrely give security, especially if you're in a spot where the wind can shut off quickly... I can nurse the 170 back to shoer in almost no wind. The Fanatic is a little more tricky... so, it boils down to a few things. How do you weigh, do you get consistent wind over 12mph and do you have a big enough front foil... for me now, the Fanatic with a 2140 front foil and 8M Strike CWC can get me up and foiling in about 12 mph. I just got a 125 Sky Air that I haven't been able to take out yet. NOw that the Fanatic 150l inflatable is working I want to try a hard board to improve the water release and board speed accelatroin from 2 to 8 ish. I think I f can get the board up to around 8 MPH that I can get it up on foil... more to come on that when the wind picks up again where live.

[@DrKFong]

Thanks for the review Greg. I am new and unpack my first inflatable, Sky Air. Look forward to your next review after using it. I am learning to balance on it. Since you are a longtime user of inflatable. I wonder can we safely keep inflatable inflated? Perhaps at lower pressure? I bought it for flexibility to travel but that doesn't happen very often.

[@gregstrickland9667]

Thanks for the feedback. First off, I always leave the board inflated to about 10psi. This way it won’t be creased up from folding. I just top off the pressure at home, the morning before going out. The only time I’d deflate it fully is if I needed to pack it smaller for a road trip or vacation. . Regarding the Fanatic board. I’ve been out once and will put together a review. It’s a very nice board but has two issues: the foil box is mounted very far back compared to other boards, so you have to stand relatively far back on the board. The second issue is the handle. It’s very uncomfortable. I just don’t carry it from the handle.

[@HandyCapito]

Hi Greg, i am an old windsurfer, 90 KG: I want to begin Wing foil and hesitate between this board and a Naish Hover inflatable 6’7”, 33”, 170L, which is much bigger and I presume more stable. I don’t speak very well English, so I cannot understand the little details and words like: tippy (= unstable?). What board do you compare with this Fanatic? This size 5’10” is the smallest I can consider for my size and I am afraid to spend lot of money and be disappointed if I can’t start. Thanks

[@gregstrickland9667]

Sorry for the late reply. Tippy = unstable. The Naish is a lot easier to lean on. It is very stable. The Fanatic has been a good second board, but it would have been more difficult to learn on. I recommend the 170 Naish

[@gregstrickland9667]

And here is a comparison with the Fanatic 125l board. kzbin.info/www/bejne/fmGsmnVqndRpiNk

[@gregstrickland9667]

And another one from the same trip. kzbin.info/www/bejne/in3Tc6WXlqulh6s

[@gregstrickland9667]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/qZfPiZyZqbmio9E

[@pete3036]

Do you think it is possible to start with a 105 Liter inflatable board if you are 75 kgs?

[@gregstrickland9667]

@@pete3036 if I were to buy again, I’d go with the inflatable Gong. They’re good build quality and much less money. I really like their mast base better than the fanatic. It’s a lot beefier. I bought their downwind board and am really happy with the quality. It’s ships from France from the factory via DHL and only takes a few days to arrive. I think their 110l would be the perfect choice. www.gong-galaxy.com/en/product/gong-wing-foil-board-inflatable-hipe-first-3/

[@gregstrickland9667]

the 5’5” one. You might get a foil from them also if you don’t have one.

[@gregstrickland9667]

This is a comparison of the fanatic with my gong DW board. The DW is too narrow to learn on, but check out the mast base comparison. The Gong is way beefier. kzbin.info/www/bejne/roesqJ2XpZmoqNEsi=WBipid4REhle-tCX

[@pete3036]

@@gregstrickland9667 thanks for the advice. I m going to look them. I'm living in Europe, so shiping is no problem at all.