Mick Fanning on Fins, Titles and the New ASP Format by Tracks
Mick Fanning, reigning ASP World Champion, and man of many hats...except in this photo.
SYDNEY, New South Wales/Australia (Tuesday, August 17, 2010) – Mick Fanning (AUS), 29, reigning ASP World Champion, has a lot on his plate. The pressures of an ASP World Title defense against the best in the world, his duties as a loving husband, his status as a sporting icon within Australia, his role as surfers’ representative on the ASP Board, an extensive fitness regime, sponsorship responsibilities, etc., etc. So when Tracks Magazine sat down with him, they had no shortage of topics to hit upon: a new fin sponsor, his title defense and his role in the new ASP 36-man format. This…is their story…
Firstly Mick, when signing a new sponsorship agreement, is it the money or the product itself that you consider most – fins surely has to be performance-based decision?
What happened was I went and tried different fin systems, cause I was riding glass on fins and I was so set on them I couldn’t ride any other fin system. I eventually became sick of carrying 12 boards with glass ons. What I did was I got a couple of different fin systems put on a quiver of boards and took them all on the Red Bull boat in Indonesia last year and tried all the different ones together – and the FCS ones felt the best.
So you were one of the last guys on tour lugging around boards with set fins?
Yeah, it was heavy.
Literally.
Yeah.
So, after your little test – FCS won. Why them?
It just felt like the FCS fin system had an extra bit of zing. We’d copied my favourite fin exactly (that I was using in glass ons) so I was using that as well and they felt great.
Would you consider yourself a fin expert? Or are you a bit of a novice?
It’s one of those things where the slightest little change in your fin affects the board’s performance so much. And then it keeps evolving. Put it this way, I know…
For full interview, check out Tracks Mag’s ‘Interviews: Mick Fanning’
For more on MICK FANNING, check out his ASP WORLD TOUR PROFILE
Watch Mick and the rest of the ASP Top 45 do battle LIVE at the Billabong Pro Tahiti
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