Fanatic Video - The Good and Bad

Hi
I mentioned in the last post that I would say something about Gonzalo's sailing.  Please go to the Fanatic site, and under "Event News" " find the video clip headed "NEW FALCON SLALOM TEASER - TEAM TIPS'.  This video starts off with some general slalom sailing footage but from sec 18-26 focuses on Gonzalo sailing really fast and controlled over rough water.  Note how he keeps the board trimmed to fly over the chop without losing control.  Here is a sailor who has all of his equipment perfectly balanced and compatible.  His Ifju fin is clearly a perfect match for the Falcon he is on and his sail is properly rigged for the conditions.  His mast foot and strap positions are nicely balanced for his particular sailing style.  This means that he can put all of his concentration on the water in front of him without wasting energy fighting with any of his equipment.  Very impressive and we can see why this guy was such a match for the boss in Reggio.

After this footage the video, in my opinion, loses an opportunity to be really useful to fans of the Fanatic brand.  Sebastian introduces Peter, Kurosh and Pierre saying that they each going to give us some board set-up tips for their favorite boards.  Excellent idea!  Peter starts off quite nicely explaining about the two small boards in the line-up (fin and sail sizes, mast foot position etc).  The other two guys however, are given no opportunity to speak in any detail.  What I want to hear from the top sailors is where they place the mast foot, which footstrap holes they use, what size fins they use for the boards they are discussing and sail sizes.  Neither Kurosh nor Pierre are allowed to say more than a few sentences.  I don't care that Pierre's English is not that good - (it is 100 times better than my French) - I do care that he is one of the best slalom sailors around and I want to hear him speak about how he sets his boards up.  The guys should have been given the opportunity to develop and practice their spiels before the camera arrived and then given some time on the video.

All in all a wasted opportunity by Fanatic to give us something of real value.  I note at 2.53 minutes the footstrap marks on the board Peter is discussing are right to the front (second from the front) and he mentions that he has his mast foot all the way forward.  It would seem therefor, that these Falcons perform with everything towards the front.  I can't make out any of the key positions on the bigger boards being discussed.  When I rode the 113, I had the mast foot exactly in the middle of the track and the board behaved beautifully but if I had the time and opportunity now I would try with everything a bit further forward.

Talk to you soon