Hi All
I have heard a couple of blokes say that the litres of Fanatic freewave boards are not completely correct. The word on the street is that some freewave boards (I don’t know what years) are actually several litres more than what is on the spec sheet. Does anyone know if this is the case or not?
Also from the other posts I have read I am guessing that the rule of thumb for buying a wave board is buying your body weight in litres. Do you agree or is this a "how long is a piece of string" question ?
Cheers
Oldboy
the newer freewaves are designed on CAD so it should have been a sinch to caculate the exact volume before it was even made, so maybe the freewaves are correct and all the others are wrong!!
i think that theory is sound, but a short/wide waveboard will always feel bigger than a traditional of the same volume.. eg a evo 70 should feel bigger than an acid 70.. but evos are sht so buy the freewave they rock!
Fanatic is generally a few litres under spec on their boards. I have freewave 96 and I would have said it's pretty close. ISAF only show 04 boards:
F/W 86- 81L
F/W 96- 93L
Hi Tony,
The freewave I'm selling is a 2004 model. When I bought it I heard a few stories about the incorrect volumes also so I did as much research on that as I could and found only this review which includes a comment about it from one of their factory riders.http://www.boardseekermag.com/equipment_reviews/sailor/fanatic_freewave05.htm
I figured because he was a factory rider it was potentially true... but then again it should be true.. isn't everything you read on the internet true? 
yer sometimes i think they just guess the size of the boards, for a wave board get one close to your weight..
that is true for some mass produced boards, and asembely line boards, not sure about the fantics, but i did just resently see a jp wave board wich said its 69 litres but when compared to 2 other goya and quatro 69litre boards it was obviosly not 69 litres, more like 73 or 75 litres
dono if it helps or not, but what im told is that when some manufacturors say it such and such litres, its only a rough estimate of the original shape, not of each individual board wihc comes of the line.
The boards which come out of the line are the same (within a few %). The official word when Starboard got roasted over volume discrepancies is that the marketing side wants a board of 96L as it fits in well between the 86 and 106 in the range, shapers try to achieve that end but if they find thinning the rails out and losing 7L of volume makes the board better then that is what will happen.
Sometimes the discrepancy is rather bad with 2 boards in a particular range only being about 3L apart when they were supposed to be about 13L apart.
The volumes are more or less a guide, IFCA does measurements if you really care to see that you're 85L board is 85L. It is the only way to know, all the rest is just sailor speculation. Judging volume is like police judging speed without measuring device, it just dosen't work.
Volume requirements can depend on the type of wind conditions, also. If you live where the wind is gusty, lots of holes, then a bit extra vol is a plus, esp. light days.
If your spot is howling 20+ and that is your trip, then a board close to your weight/litre might be it. cheers
Volume is over rated for performance! A rough guide of plus or minus a few litres is fine. "Tail" and "wide point" width's are more important factors for someones weight, combined with a rough idea of volume.
For what its worth I have a freewave 104 and I reckon its pretty spot on.
I also have a Falcon 111 and that is right too.
