Changed my mind...again and now I believe that the Fanatic 100 BGS is THE board for the 5.0 to 6.0 sails range and my mostly flatish water playgrounds.
standuppaddlemag.co.uk/2016/07/08/windsu...ate-100-2016-review/
A fsw board just doesn't cut it in terms of pop for me. It starts to get appealing in the 4.0 to 5.0 though.

I have that exact Skate as in the picture. Sailed it hard for the first time on Tuesday afternoon on a 5.4. A little different, but I like it better than the Goya One it replaced. I'm excited to get more time on it, but this crappy wind pattern we're in is miserable: nearly 2 months since last good sesh, finally get a good day, then we gotta wait two weeks (or longer) for the wind to come back.

I feel you brother, same shit here. Where did you buy it from? Worldwinds? There were/was some used rental for sale that is gone now. I never have the money when there is a good deal around and then I buy expensive cuz I cant wait anymore...and on top of that every other board I buy turns out to be the wrong one. An expensive way of experience gathering

Yes, from WorldWinds rental fleet. $1300 shipped. I spent a week in Bonaire in January, and three of the pros plus Andy Brandt were all sailing this board, so I decided it was probably worth trying. Not disappointed.

Interesting! I thought that the 100 and 110 BGS Skate are for amateurs mostly. After all they are almost 10 cm longer then the TE edition, but if some of the pros are using them, then maybe they are really better for carving and sliding moves then the shorter models. In this case Fanatic may have hit a jackpot since they are the only ones offering this longer model freestyle board and now that all of the fsw boards -Starboard Kode including-are leaning towards waves more then ever there is a bit of a market niche to be taken advantage of.
You know if you think about it, Slalom gets boring after a while if you don't compete and for Speed you need a very specific conditions-the Calumet wall is the closest thing we have here. So the only thing left for flat water is Freestyle more or less. It offers an endless challenge to yourself and looks almost as cool as kiteboarding-everything else looks rather dull in contrast. What not to like about it?!
And I actually have a theory-that same flatwater blasting only dullness leading to boredom was the main reason behind the decline of Windsurfing in the 90s everywhere, besides the popular wave destinations. And it was the rise of Freestyle in the early 2000 that turned the tide, changed /shortend/ the shapes and made Windsurfing look cool again for younger folks ...and some old ones Freestyle and later the SUPs that led to WindSUPs and became a stepping stone to Windsurfing for those willing to try. So the future looks bright as long as somebody finds a way to convince the Joes out there that blasting back and forth all the time-every time is not the only fun to be had in Windsurfing and that Freestyle is not for pro's only and that the easiest way to start it is in light wind with a WindSUP. Does it make sense?

Get both the Skate and the Freewave. I have an older Skate 107 and Freewave 93 and I really like the combination. Skate is pretty good on lake Michigan too when the wind is lighter. It's bouncing too much when it picks up a little bit.

You probably forgot that I have a Kode 86, so Im covered more or less. It is from the bouncing breed as well and gets out of control in a 4.2 wind, but we dont get that often enough to be concerned. I should buy a smaller fin though, I have only the stock 26cm Freewave one right now.

Yeah, you should try a smaller fin! On a 4.2, I'd be on a 77 litre board, but even on my 87 litre board, I'd still be using a 16 cm wave fin with that much wind.

16! Wow thats small! Is it part it part of a tri-fin set? The smallest single fin I found is 18cm. I'm back foot heavy comming from a 4 straps board and something like 21-22cm is small enough for me-I'll spin out terribly. Narrowed down my choice to those 2:
www.isthmussailboards.com/True-Ames-Endu...productinfo/TAEA/22/
www.isthmussailboards.com/MFC-All-Around...e/productinfo/MFARA/
What do you think?

I only use single fin boards. It's gotta be pretty windy to use the 16 cm fin. I have the 9.25" version of the "Enduro" fin; it's a great fin. MFC fins are solid as well.

Ordered a 22cm MFC AR. I've never had anything smaller then 26 , or this swept back, so 22 seems plenty radical to me at this point.

I am considering the Fanatic or JP for a freestylewave board. Can you compare the two models? What didn't you like about the JP?