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September has been fun!!

		Name: Lucy Robson Age: 24yrs Home town: Brighton

“Cummon Lucy, go get your boardies on and let’s see some action!”

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Let's get wet and Salty!

Interview with Craig Gertenbach, Fanatic Brand Manager

What did you do before you worked for Fanatic? I was a pro rider for Fanatic but also worked in R&D for F2, Neil Pryde, Arrows and AHD.

Eleven years. The first five years racing and doing R&D and the last 6 years in the office in Munich. Not much sea in Munich but I travel a lot and it is good central place to be based.

How did you get the job of Brand manager?

It was a natural progression. I went from R&D to marketing to Line/Brand Manager in charge of the windsurfing however I am still involved with R&D so I know all parts of the business. I test everything apart from the Formula boards. We try and make sure stuff is useable for the average guy, which is critical. (Are you saying you’re average Craig?! Don’t be hard on yourself!))

What does your job entail? Describe an average day.

That is difficult as no day is the same. If I’m office based then answering emails for the first two hours. I get up to 500 emails per week. Then I check the forums to see if there is anything I need to respond to or I get the riders, distributors and Sebastian (Wenzel) to answer. In the afternoon there are a lot of meetings with the management doing strategic, long term stuff. Last week we had a meeting about 2008. Plus all the calls to the distributors, sales, admin…..
I go to Maui twice a year, South Africa 6-8 times per year, Portugal two times a year and to Lake Garda for testing. I also travel all over the US and Europe to visit distributors.

What is the hardest aspect of your job?

There is a lot of travelling, which doesn’t always involve a lot of windsurfing. I also have two small kids so it is quite difficult to leave them. I have been married for a few months now, but we also work together, sometimes there are only two of us so there is no real break, it goes the whole year round.

How many people work at Fanatic?

In my office there are two people, and then we have a HQ in Austria where there is another 50 people which are shared between other brands. We have an agency of people that do part time work for us then there are the team riders who have a lot of influence over kit and finally the product engineer who implements are ideas.

How do you decide on the board graphics from year to year?

The basis is always the previous years design. We check where we are in the market, what is liked and best liked. We do like to go for an individual look as we have always been famous for that with the old mambo and mosquito, but now we are going for a more common CI; a line identity in the '05 and '06 ranges. We think this has a higher level of appeal overall.

What do you think distinguishes Fanatic from other brands?

We try to offer something different; authenticity and an individualistic approach for each line. We have a very small board range and every board has to have a broad range of use to make it simpler. You can’t have these unbelievable niches that some brands have invented. We try to stick to our names and create a cult following around those models so that people remember us. For example, we wanted to associate the word skate with freestyle.
One day we want to be the biggest, but it is a long term goal and we are not going to sell ourselves out just to be the biggest. We would rather stay a bit smaller to have authenticity.

In your eyes, what makes a good team rider?

What are the advantages of Fanatic being part of the Boards & More group?

Firstly the learning curve in terms of the multiple facets of the job that I have to do. I learn about sales, marketing, people management, communication, focus on the long term development and brand positioning, for example, where the brand wants to be in five years. I find that very interesting. Then we also have kitesurfing, snow equipment, clothes and other licensed products.

Do the other B&M brands compete against each other?

Positioning is important but we have complementary positioning which we have been working on over the last three years. We have big distributions all over the world, so it is important that all three companies’ (F2, Fanatic & Mistral) still have full range brands. The concept is to have a relatively small board range so we can compete alongside without cannibalising each other, especially as we are distributed by the same people. With the sails it is different; North and Neil Pryde are the biggest then there are a lot of other brands competing in this market. Whereas Arrows is a different brand with a unique approach and that works well for them.

The Mega Cat is back, what’s that all about?

We wanted something in the Hybrid race board class, since there was a lot of development done for the new Olympic class. We wanted something unique, especially for sub and non-planing conditions. That is where the sport is suffering at the moment as a lot of the concepts only work in planing conditions. We want the original Mega Cat sailors to try a newer version that is at least as good in light winds and much more fun when it is windier.

You don’t need such board length with the modern rocker lines to get upwind so the new Mega Cat will be around 290cm long & have 250 litres of volume. It also has a different mast track and daggerboard then the original. We want people to have fun on the lake and then if that develops into racing and competition then great but the key is that it works in light winds.

team riders to step into his shoes and he was very positive about the whole idea that team riders come and go, but the shaper remains the same.