Sonni to Starboard

[kayadogg]

Infinity's contract with Surftech ended in 2015. The production boards made by Surftech were typical of most production boards back in the day... wider, heavier and not necessarily tailored to the "advanced" paddler. Infinity started their own production run that they manage themselves with a new factory. These new "LTD" production boards hit the market over the summer and they are impressive. I have one of the 14'x24" Blackfish production boards from the first run and it feels lighter than a couple of their customs that I have. The attention to detail in all aspects is really awesome. They didn't cut any corners with these.

So the carbon melt BF are made in USA but the LTD are made overseas or is that a different factory still in the USA?
And the LTD are supposed to be lighter than the carbon melt even if the carbon melt is a custom shape/volume, correct?

Edit: I do not see the LTD anymore in the 2017 catalogue only the carbon melt and the 2017 models show the chevron instead of the stripes like the LTD.

The LTD production boards are made overseas. They look exactly like the "Speed Melt" construction used on their customs, same construction and finish process. I'm not saying they are supposed to be lighter than a custom, it just happens that my production Blackfish feels lighter than some of the customs I have. Of course you can get a custom to be super light if that's what you're looking for.

They are using the chevron stripes on all new boards now, custom and production. This first run was labelled "LTD" because it was a limited run and there was limited availability. I think they removed LTD from the name but will still be offering the Whiplash and Blackfish in a production model.  Their surf shapes will also be available in production models, including the New Deal, a new design, which is a performance longboard-style shape.

[Luc Benac]

Infinity's contract with Surftech ended in 2015. The production boards made by Surftech were typical of most production boards back in the day... wider, heavier and not necessarily tailored to the "advanced" paddler. Infinity started their own production run that they manage themselves with a new factory. These new "LTD" production boards hit the market over the summer and they are impressive. I have one of the 14'x24" Blackfish production boards from the first run and it feels lighter than a couple of their customs that I have. The attention to detail in all aspects is really awesome. They didn't cut any corners with these.

So the carbon melt BF are made in USA but the LTD are made overseas or is that a different factory still in the USA?
And the LTD are supposed to be lighter than the carbon melt even if the carbon melt is a custom shape/volume, correct?

Edit: I do not see the LTD anymore in the 2017 catalogue only the carbon melt and the 2017 models show the chevron instead of the stripes like the LTD.

The LTD production boards are made overseas. They look exactly like the "Speed Melt" construction used on their customs, same construction and finish process. I'm not saying they are supposed to be lighter than a custom, it just happens that my production Blackfish feels lighter than some of the customs I have. Of course you can get a custom to be super light if that's what you're looking for.

They are using the chevron stripes on all new boards now, custom and production. This first run was labelled "LTD" because it was a limited run and there was limited availability. I think they removed LTD from the name but will still be offering the Whiplash and Blackfish in a production model.  Their surf shapes will also be available in production models, including the New Deal, a new design, which is a performance longboard-style shape.

I just seen a picture of the New Deal - it is a very nice board.
OK so now the overseas are the standard models and not a limited run anymore and only the customs will be made in USA.
For some reasons I assumed that the 2016 catalogue was saying that the limited were lighter boards but I was likely wrong.
It always get confusing after a while....

[Luc Benac]

I did notice that the 2017 catalogue now just says Design in Dana Point and no longer design and built all in one roof in Dana Point.

[PonoBill]

Seems like I just saw a video from one of the big outdoor shows of the Surftech booth with new Infinity models. What I saw on display was the surf boards, including a Slater Trout model. Didn't notice any race boards. Maybe it was Boardworks.

It's tough to make a substantial profit with production boards. Of course, it's not easy to make money selling boards no matter what, but a mid-tier player like Infinity has a tough road--too big to do it all themselves, too small to have an efficient supply chain.

[kayadogg]

Seems like I just saw a video from one of the big outdoor shows of the Surftech booth with new Infinity models. What I saw on display was the surf boards, including a Slater Trout model. Didn't notice any race boards. Maybe it was Boardworks.

It's tough to make a substantial profit with production boards. Of course, it's not easy to make money selling boards no matter what, but a mid-tier player like Infinity has a tough road--too big to do it all themselves, too small to have an efficient supply chain.

Sorry, I had a major brain fart in my first reply. Infinity's previous production boards were through BOARDWORKS, not Surftech. Don't know why I wrote that. So it's definitely possible that you saw some Infinity boards in the Boardworks booth but they are not involved in these new production boards. Boardworks still has some of the older Infinity production surf shapes for sale on their site in the clearance section.

[Eagle]

It seems they have taken a long time sorting out the FAST since its introduction.  Have they given you any updated timeline when you can expect your 17.4?

It will be here in the spring... April/May.  Which is fine by me as there's not much need for it where I live this time of year.. And good timing. We're going to Australia for most of March.. 

That is great.  Hopefully the mods they made will squash the problems they were having the past year and make your system reliable and durable.  I did not buy that 17.4 demo because the new FAST was just announced at the time and wanted to wait to test the new steering and see how much better it was.  The old one worked - but did notice that it took a lot of force to hold the tiller in place.  There seemed to be an overly amount of friction for some reason.  But probs was due to not having the slide plate installed under the arm.  Like the easy swap from regular to goofy as well.  Would be interesting to see if you could use 2 arms.  That would be useful for me - as on that board the steering was never in the way - and I always switch stances when I DW.  Hmmm?

But for med to big DW that board is the bomb.  Fast and goes like a train.  When you hop on one in Hawaii - it will feel just like home. 

[PonoBill]

The basic design of the old ASS system was a little goofy. but it worked. Having the spring on the tiller meant the spring had to be strong enough to straighten the rudder against the friction of the lines and the curves in the guide tubes meant that tightening the lines enough to eliminate shake and vague control of the rudder increased the friction, making the rudder not center.

The obvious answer was to put the spring on the rudder, which also helps if you break a line or have some other control problem. It's also easier to precisely adjust the rudder by moving the anchor end of the spring. I made that modification to several of my rudder boards and talked to Mark about it. He had tried it before but found it harder to control the rudder. The reason was that he used a spring (batten) as stout as the one on the ASS tiller, which is unnecessary for centering. The spring should be the minimum amount needed to center the rudder since there isn't any need to overcome friction to center. A heavy spring stretches the cables reducing steering authority and increasing friction.

The FAST rudder uses a spring on the rudder end, and goes even further, using pushrods. don't know that I would have done that, but the mechanism is well developed and very slick. It's a huge improvement over the ASS setup. I won't need a new rudder board for a long time, but when I do it absolutely will have the mechanism--unless I get off my ass and perfect the RC rudder. 

[DavidJohn]

[coldsup]

Not sure what that was about ......

[DavidJohn]

You're not the only one.. 

[PT Woody]

I'm tired of the Starboard tiki.

Have you seen the 2017 range? The tiki has been relegated to a bit part.

[coldsup]

You're not the only one.. 

I used to be a FB "Friend" until I questioned her about a post she put out about drinking milk and a totally pointless and ill informed fad on eating. Can't actually remember what it was but she was trying to make cash from it I think. I was blocked after that because I questioned it and all of a sudden others did too. No loss.