Fanatic Jag

Fanatic describe their new “Jag” board as “A freerace board set free from the racecourse!” Fanatic brand manager Craig Gertenbach gives us the lowdown on the concept.

- Craig Gertenbach

WS: What makes the new Jag special?

CG: I think there are three key things that make the Jag stand out. In no particular order, let’s start first with price. The Jag costs about 20% less than a Falcon TE. The price is obviously linked to construction and with that the Jag gets our premium Biax fibre/ full PVC sandwich construction, which is the same as you get in the Gecko LTD and Blast LTD. This brings the Jag in at a price point under what most other freeride boards cost. Factor in the carbon Choco Black Pearl race fin that the Jag comes with and it’s a pretty competitive package.

The second key point is the ease of use. Compared to a classic slalom board, the Jag is slightly narrower in the centre and at the tail. A normal customer is probably a bit lighter than your regular slalom rider and perhaps doesn’t have the same skills, so they don’t need the board to generate the same amount of lift to get up and flying on the fin. This means the Jag sits a bit easier on the water and gybes better with the narrower centre and tail. We also adapted the rocker lines slightly so that the board planes early. The Jag actually planes pretty much the same time as a wider, similar in volume slalom board and you are looking at a top speed difference of maybe 5%, but the Jag is generally way easier to turn and handle.

The other key thing is that the Jag doesn’t need to be used with a full on race sail like the Falcon TE does. It can be used with a no-cam, a twin cam or a race sail. The cut-outs are a little smaller which helps get it planing earlier and trims the board down a bit, meaning it’s not as powerful and won’t take off as easily as the Falcon TE.

WS: When you say it gybes better than the Falcon TE, what specifically do you mean?