FreeWave vs NewWave
FW 85 vs NW 83 – Lanzarote, Russell and Team
As you all have noticed, we have stepped things up a bit and now offer you not only the feedback of our teams about the current Fanatic boards but also help you to further choose your ideal toy by now having match races and comparative tests between boards. We try to choose 2 models that may seems similar on the paper, but actually often have very different characteristics and offer a whole different set of sensations once you ride them on the water.
This month for you, again from our special Test Lab of FBC Lanzarote (you guys really have it hard!), we share with you the results of test, use and abuse made to the FreeWave 85 against the NewWave 83.
FreeWave 85 (FW 85): riding smaller (euro) waves, jumping, (absolutely all) manoeuvers and carving.
New Wave 83 (NW 83): pure riding of waves of all types and sizes, jumping.
Test Conditions: pretty much everything, from chops & small mushy waves to breaking waves of 0,5 up to 2 m. Wind from 14 to 30 knots.
Sail Sizes: 4.5 to 5.3
Comments:
Wow! How can 2 boards be so different with only 2L difference in volume?
DAY 1:
During the first session with the NW 83 and the FW 85, I was underpowered. It was a typical session where I love to go and play in La Pulga, planning some of the time but mainly going upwind not planning and just surfing the wave.
The first thing has to be stability. The FreeWave 85 is easy, stationary and not planning, the board is very stable. You only need a little bit of power to get into the straps to plane early. The NW83 is the complete opposite and requires more experience to keep your balance. Now I know why Gollito can use this board in such light winds.
My first thought on this board is that it is very technical and would deliver a hard and aggressive ride. So the testing will have to be done in powered up conditions, the FW85 came out top in this part of the test on default, the NW83 could not come out to play.
The FW 85 planes amazingly early and is very smooth. It also flies upwind. So will it ride waves?
On this day the waves had not much power and were a bit mushy. This board loves these conditions ! It turns really nicely and you can have a lot of fun snapping off the white water and sliding around. I would normally have gone out on a larger board in these conditions but now this board has made the choice harder.
DAY 2:
Well today was the New Wave 83 real test day.
This board loves power!!!! I was using the 2010 4.7m Combat well powered up, slightly over powered.
The board is very smooth and loves going fast. The jumps are really floaty and easy to control. So I also knew that the jibe would be smooth.
I was itching to catch my first wave. Again this board only knows power, drop into the bottom turn and just crank on that power. Super smooth and so fast ! The board just loves changing rails so you are in for the ride of your life ! Even if it is quite user friendly, I found out that if you lose the power with the New Wave it tends to stall quickly compared to the Freewave.
Being larger, the FW 85 gave me the possibility to actually use a smaller sail for this board, which is really nice when you work on improving in waves or practice new tricks.
Generally it is much easier to sail than the NW 83, giving a softer ride. On the size waves we sail at the moment on (1 to 2 m), which you have to class as small, I can get more vertical and as I said before I love the way it slashes and slides.
So basically, both boards are really fun to ride and perform really well. The FreeWave 85 really delivers its programme for all those spots with not so big or powerful waves and also if you are not a pro. It is a great toy for any tricks you’ll want to train on flat water too. It feels stable and nervous at the same time, so that will be my board of predilection for the condition we have here in Lanzarote.
The NewWave 83 is a board that can probably happily swallow any size and type of waves. It is more technical but allows some real radical riding if you are up to it, while being totally fun in jumps. Definitely a great option here for the bigger days, ideally I think in its smaller size then (76l) … Hmmm, I guess I’ll have to go and check that out as well !
See you on the water !
PS: Special Thanks to Russell and the whole FBC Lanzarote team for the long hard hours spent on the water – we hate you !!
PPS: See you soon for the Fanatic Pro Camp in June with Tom and Yoli !
View more information about this board.
Review By:
Name : Russell Groves
Job : SUP
Nationality : British
Languages : English, Spanish
