Paddling purity – Fanatic Pure Air Touring 11’ 6 x 31” x 299L
Fanatic’ s Pure range is simplistic, affordable and economical. The brand’ s no frills line includes the Pure Touring 11’ 6 which we’ re looking at here. Based on the popular Ray design it’ s still a premium iSUP from a premium brand – don’ t confuse cheap with affordable.
Price:
£ 699
Info:
www. fanatic. com / product / pure-air-touring /
CONCLUSION
If Fanatic’ s Pure range is supposedly an affordable product then sign us up! With too many bad quality iSUPs currently available it’ s comforting to see one of the bigger brands do the job of tackling the problem. Fast and loose on the water Fanatic’ s Pure Air Touring 11’ 6 is satisfying for both progressing paddlers and experienced SUPers alike. We’ d say the Pure Air Touring 11’ 6 is particularly good for those jetting off on holibobs and wanting to take easy to travel with kit.
Utilising a single layer of Dropstitch Lite material the first thing you notice is just how light the Pure Air Touring board is. Feather like pretty much sums it up. For most paddlers this in itself will be welcome. Carrying around in its equally well made bag is no issue – those travelling overseas and wanting an inflatable toy whilst away should definitely have a gander at the 11’ 6.
With no bells and whistles, so to speak, such as metal D-rings and Fanatic’ s usual windsurf mast insert, the board is very uncluttered. It inflates quickly and is rounded off by a simple fin. Over to Rich Heathcote for more.
‘ The first thing that struck me about the Pure Air is it feels like picking up‘ pure air’ – it really is super light to carry and you feel this on the water as well when
paddling. Each stroke propels you forwards with ease, glide and speed. Step back towards the tail and it pivot turns efficiently. 31” inches of width makes it feel stable underfoot – novice paddlers after something a little more progressive than standard round nosed beginner iSUPs could do a lot worse than choose a board like this. Two friends, who were complete beginners, tried the Pure Air Touring 11’ 6 and both really enjoyed the experience. One even came in dry after their first time out!
For experienced paddlers the 11’ 6 can speed along with the best of them. There’ s a degree of nose rocker which helps it keep clear of chop whilst the overall high riding nature sees it reactive to paddle strokes and zoom along at a fair rate of knots. If water states should become choppy the Pure Air Touring is susceptible to buffeting, mainly when going cross swell. Engaging the windward rail helps alleviate this and bring everything back under control.’
k g i e t a r s h e d: i n f l a t a b l e s
93 s t a n d u p p a d d l e m a g u k