Fanatic Ultra Cat

Je vais essayer de faire cette entrée en francais pour mes amis de La Plaine/St-Lin :)

This post will be attempted in French for my new friends - try the Google translate - put in French and then English :)
When it goes OFF the main page i will put an English version too ...started - interspersed with French BELOW

Merci beaucoup pour avoir me donner la chance d'essayer la fameuse planche Fanatic Ultra Cat !!! La planche n'est pas juste connu pour les vents legères MAIS aussi pour sa vitesse !!! Ca date des années début 1990 et il y a du monde qui l'utilise encore !! C'est environ la même longeur que mon BIC Dufour MAIS beaucoup moins lourde, plus épais et moins large en arrière. C'est connu d'être capable de "planer" et roule casement avec les mêmes vitesses que les "shortboards". 

Je l'ai nettoyé et ca fait une belle planche n'est-ce pas !!

Thank you SO much to my new friends for having given me the chance to test the infamous board Fanatic Ultra Cat!!! This board is NOT just known for light winds BUTT also for its speed!!! It dates back to the earlys 90's and there are still plenty of people who use such a board !!The board is approximately the same length as my BIC Dufour BUT is much lighter , less thick and less wide at the back. It is known to be capable of planing and going with same speeds as shortboards. 

I cleaned it and it is a beautiful board,  is it not ??

Qu'est-ce que ca prendre pour être une "longboard" du type course ? Comme déjà discuté, il faut que la planche "plane" rapidment ie ne prend pas trop de temps, evidement la planche est legère, le "mast track" peuvent être ajouster pendant le "voyage", le derive est fait en carbone, l'aileron est fait en carbone et c'est assez controllable evec vitesse et quand on change direction. Aussi le dérive peut être enlever de l'eau completement. Cela n'est pas possible avec le BIC Dufour. J'ai pensé que ca prendrait une aileron plus large par exemple ...

What does it take to be a " longboard" of type race ? As already discussed, it is necessary that the board plane up early, obviously the board must be light, the mast track can be adjusted while planing , the "keel" or centreboard is made out of carbon, the fin is made out of carbon and the board is rather controllable when direction is changed or under speed. One needs to be able to remove the "keel" from the water completely. That was not possible with the BIC Dufour. I would have thought this would have required a larger fin - to run with no centreboard.

Some say this board can be gybed like a shortboard !!

Pour sortir de l'eau completement, le dérive depasse la planche en haut. Il y a une couverte qui protège les pieds et donne la possibilité de facilement re-descendre le dérive.

For the centreboard to be taken out of the water completely , the keel sticks out of the board on top. There is a cover which protects the feet and allows one to push the keel/centreboard back down - with one's feet.

Le pied de mât est different et le "socket" aussi.

et l'autre coté plus haut ??

Il y a une genre de "pedale" pour être capable de changer la position du mât pendant qu'on "roule". MAIS c'est quoi la cord en dessus - qu'est-ce que ca fait dans la vie ?? Ca l'aire que c'est une genre de cord de sécurité.

There is some kind of pedal to allow one to change the position of the mast while moving, planing hopefully. BUTT what purpose does that cord serve ?? Apparently it is a safety cord that is NOT really required on this version of the CAT.

Le lendmain je suis allé sur l'eau avec ma voile MS-2 8.0 dans les vents très legères à Baie d'Urfé. La planche flotte mieux que mon BIC mais je trouve qu'elle flotte casement trop. Elle me fait penser à des BICs que j'ai essayé. Les nouveaux BICs flotte comme une bobin de pêche. C'est dur avec les vagues de face et de coté $%^& J'ai mis l'aileron dans le milieu et le "mast track" en arrière. Mais j'ai oublié de barré le mast track $%^&*($%^&*( Casement aller dans l'eau %^&*( Pas utilsé l'harnais aves ces vents faibles. Mais eu du fun pareil.

The next day I was on the water doing a test run using my MS-2 8.0 cambered sail in the very light winds at Baie d' Urfé. The board floats better than my BIC but I find it almost floats too much i.e. too floaty. It makes me think of other BICs that I have tested/tried. The new BICs float like a fishing bobber. It was difficult with small waves straight on and from the side $%^& I had put the fin in the midlle and the " mast track" at the back. But I forgot to lock the mast track $%^& * ($%^& * ( Almost flew into the water %^& * ( Did not use the harness in these weak winds.               However, definitely had fun.

La prochaine fois ca va être avec des vents plus forts !!!
Next time I will go in "bigger" winds !!!

Les caractéristiques du planche ??

Longeur : 380 cm
Largeur:     67 cm
Volume:   250 litres
Poids:     13.5 kilos
Dérive:      70  cm

actuellement j'ai découvert que les mesures sont moins que indiqué ici. J'ai un chat/"cat" qui est plus avant le "mega cat" avec "juste" 210 litres and largeur de 66 cm. Le longeur est 374 cm et le derive est mesuré à 63 cm. Je ne suis pas sure du poid !!

Board characteristics??
Length:  374 cm
Width:     66 cm
Volume: 210 litres
Weight:  between 13.2 and 16.6 kilos
"Keel":     63 cm measured
Fin:          12 inches/ 30 cm
Box:         A-box

The board goes VERY well upwind (like most longboards) and planes in lighter winds than I thought. It seems I have the earlier, smaller version and the later, larger version was more race oriented .. and approached the specifications of the infamous MegaCAT.

La planche va bien "upwind" et va "planer" dans les vents plus legères que j'ai pensé !!!

Voilà qu'est-e que j'ai écrit dans ma journal...hier le 30 septembre 2011

By the time I got back and was ready to go , the wind had dropped and everyone was getting off the water. Including the kite surfers. So, I went out on the water ALONE and PLANED with my MS-2 8-oh !!!  Some people commented on the Fanatic Ultra before i started:) They said they just donut make them like that any more. Even Helmut is talking about getting a longboard now !!

The above in italics is from my journal entry of 30SEPT2011.  The only issues I have now with the board now are - need to change footstraps and the deck is slippery - needs reDek !!!

I have now made a video to describe the board - forgot to mention that reDek has been applied:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://windsurfraceboard.blogspot.com/2011/09/raceboard-would-championship-2011.html 

RACEBOARD WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 2011

The youth fleet´s top 3 board and sail setup was,

# 1 ESP 1, Fanatic Mega Cat, Neil Pryde RS:X 8.5 m2 and Loft sails 8.5

# 2 FIN 5,  SB Phantom Race 380, Neil Pryde RS:X 8.5 and Severne Raceboard 8.5

# 3 FRA 259, Fanatic Mega Cat, Neil Pryde RS:X 8.5 and Bic OD 8.5  

The ultimate raceboards were and are now all 380s like the Mega CAT, Phantom, Exocet, F2 Race 
NEXT STEP - gotta get me ona those  380's !!! 

During my first experiences with the Ultra-CAT, which i will call U-CAT from now on,  i felt that the board did not turn as tight as i would have liked. This was with tacks since gybes/jibes were NOT attempted. At first I thought a longer or bigger fin might help. However, some readings showed that fin placement played an important role in this... The further up the fin, the more "turny" it would become and "less control". The further back and it is to be somewhat more traction and perhaps even faster, butt less "turny". I had put the fin in the middle. Before I purchase a new fin that will cost as much as the board, i will do some experiments with moving the fin forward some ...
One place that does carry US box fins up to 40 + cm is gsport. Have written them to see availability and shipping !! 

On the longboard forum they are calling the Mega Cat fins trim box - thought the Ultra Cat was US box !!
Some US box seem to have an additional "fin" at the bottom/top. What's that all about ?? Will have to check the fin box on the U-CAT now $%^&*( 
Here's that Mega Cat fin discussion -

http://www.lbwindsurfing.com/board/rigging-fine-tuning/lightwind-fin-for-a-mega-cat-1191

 In May of 2012 I changed the base of the CAT. I wanted to be able to remove sails from one board and put them on another ie swap boards instead of sails. This is NOT possible with the OLD boards cuz they all have proprietary mast bases. So, I took Yvan of AuVentFou's suggestion and CUT the old mast base. Then I purchased some washers and an 8 mm nut. This went on the standard Chinook US mast base. In order to put it on I need to loosen it about 4 turns, but then it tightens on fine.

Looks a little funny cuz it is NOT going snug to the board = NO matter, Will see how the feet like or dislike it !! 

Here is a photo :-) Also asked Yvan if I can return the aluminum extension I just purchased :-)

Found an interesting article taken from a 1991 magazine and on this site:
http://surfingsen.blogspot.se/2013/02/raceboard-test-from-1994.html

Finally found a video with a board like mine - he calls it a race board and puts some special music with it ...

HD Windsurfing Scottish Borders from Chris McColgan on Vimeo.

I had made adjustments so that the mast base is now a standard mast base with full pulley support - in order to be able to take race sails downhauled properly. This created other issues - the nut came off once in the middle of the local river and someone called the fire department and three(3) times the pin came out. And so, I needed to find a solution ...

First i thought this clamp might work ...

However, on the base a piece of plastic is in the way ..

However, since the base was off, could make nut tight ...

And added a rope to keep clip on ...

And now just need to test this setup !!
TESTED and GOOD !!
Update: have to remove the "rope" as it wrapped and pulled on the clip.

Here is a video that shows one can have a good time in light winds:

i like the sounds, the colours, under water stuff and sailing in light winds
NO harness and NO footstraps required
One day will post one with planing and some editing :-)

I cannot believe that I am still piddling around with the mast base %^&*() I worry about losing the clip and the round piece inside. These two(2) pieces are custom for this board and not used elsewhere. I may have found a similar mast base for sale and would go back to that if i could. At least have the choice. My next attempt was jamming a wooden dowel under the clip to ensure it does NOT come out. After that i need to ensure the nut does NOT come loose and perhaps raise it a bit - bolt is scratching the track.

The very next day in May ... 2013, i continued my "experiments" with this base... I added another washer so that the bolt would NO longer scratch along the middle of the mast track. I know there are ways to stop nuts from loosening, but there is not a lot of room on the bolt to try things... And so I added bolts - one on each side so that that portion of the mast base could only twist and NOT turn. It is starting to look like something from a science fiction movie or from a knee joint operation, butt if it does the job - that is all that matters ...

This board is after all the board i have used the most so far in 2013. Tried sailing with the 160/79 once and with the Formula 94 cm board once also. Those boards need specific wind conditions and are not as forgiving. More and more i am looking at getting a real longboard - something like a StarBoard Phantom 320 or even the freaky AHD Tactik, which is not really a longboard and may even be considered a hybrid...

For now - let the tests continue .... :-)

The first test run was a COMPLETE success !!!

Note: On the next run I DID have to re-tighten the mast base and as such made another minor adjustment...

Just the other day I came to the realization that Fanatic Ultra CAT makes for an interesting acronym. This longboard has just become my FUC board :-)

And yet another adjustment to the FUC mast base - i added a tie wrap.
This one may be the clincher ...

I still look for what could/would replace this board - should the need arise. So far it is still between Kona ONE and SB Phantom 320...with a lean towards the StarBoard...

In 2014 I busted the nose when i hit a sandbak and somewhere prior busted the clip. The mast base is proprietary and as such was crazy glued - seemed to hold, but is always a weak point with NO alternative. With the clip and the nose repair, this board stays at the chalet. I still enjoy it very much on the little lake and have replaced it at home on the St Lawrence River with the Mistral Equipe I LCS-XR which is VERY similiar in terms of specifications. On that mast track I have put a metal plate under the track and attached a standard US base. MUCH better,,,

I used to wonder how people managed to punch a hole in the nose of their boards. Well, I wonder NO MORE. My buddy Ed helped me fix this board to show it is invincible.  Here is the video when it made its return to the water :-) {still need to make a planing video with this board}



In 2016 I am trying to sell it as I now have way too many boards. Now it looks more like this:

 

It is a FANTASTIC board and the ONLY reason I am selling it is, I just have too many boards now. Currently have eight(8) boards !! For $150 , it is a steal for a GREAT board !!

SOLD in less than 10 days ... with mast foot, fin, carbon centreboard, some footstraps , etc

I did not make many good videos of this board - sadly ... found this ok one...