Messages

1

Gear Talk / Re: Infinity Blackfish PVC

« on: July 08, 2020, 04:14:14 PM »

LoudounSUP,

Truth be told I'm just learning about all this stuff. I was originally looking at the SIC RS because somtehing drew me to it aesthetically and people had recommended it as a fast board + you could get the 23" for quite a bit less than the Starboard 23". I was/am looking for something that can perform in the choppy lakes I paddle with the ability to hit the bay every so often. Someone on this forum recommended the Blackfish which I hadn't considered and I saw this year they made the PVC blend at a lower price point ($500 less than the carbon verson, $500 less than the SIC RS PVC sandwich) and figured for my needs and current abiity it would be a good option without breaking the bank.
The carbon sounds nice, but it's only 5lbs of difference for the blackfish. $100/pound doesn't make sense to me personally for what I'll be doing. If I get serious about racing I can just drop 5 lbs off myself. Did that for plenty of years before competition when I was trail running competitively haha

Anything interesting you've found while comparing the two ?

I've been waiting to see the new construction myself. Wifey needs a new raceboard and the PVC version looks great i live in DP so had to see for myself and i weighed a few with Dave at Infinity here's what i got fyi...

Blackfish flatdeck 14' x 24.5" x 23lbs (this is new molded carbon construction for this year and it is killer!)

Blackfish flatdeck 14' x 24.5" x 26.4lbs (this board looks very nice and can't tell the difference from the carbon almost like they made it too nice ha!)

Pretty impressed you are gonna be stoked

2

Gear Talk / Re: Infinity Blackfish PVC

« on: July 08, 2020, 03:53:55 PM »

Sorry to hyjack your thread, but I obviously haven't paid much attention to the race scene lately. Because of this thread, I watched some of Infinity's videos. Kia Lenny is on Team Infinity. Did not know that.

Did you see his latest instagram post riding the BlurrV2?? Sweet...

3

Sessions / Re: SUP at the Kelly Slater Surf Ranch

« on: June 24, 2020, 08:42:37 AM »

There is a video out there of Ian Cairns on a 10' King's..

Ya until now that was the only single wave on a sup I can think of... There was a photo of Kai Lenny in SUP Journal but never any video that I've seen.

4

Sessions / Re: SUP at the Kelly Slater Surf Ranch

« on: June 23, 2020, 02:54:10 PM »

Yes i think it's the most SUP anyone has seen at Kelly's wavepool... I haven't been on the "zone" in awhile and wasn't even sure if anyone SUP's on here anymore LOL wanted to share because i know i've been dying to see someone sup this wave.

5

Sessions / SUP at the Kelly Slater Surf Ranch

« on: June 22, 2020, 10:03:01 AM »

i'm just a bit jelly 

6

The Shape Shack / Re: Hollow 14ft sup

« on: September 05, 2019, 02:10:02 PM »

Haven't tried any of them. Can't afford to buy one let alone all of them. Really hard to find boards around here. Lots in the North of France. I have a 2018 Fanatic Falcon 12'6x26.75. Super stable. Not the best flatwater board but good downwind. Haven't seen the 2020 blackfish! Yes double concave starting to get tricky.
 I really thought hard about the concave. Most boards seem to have them now so I thought I would try it. If it looks too complicated I can just glue a strip of ply across the frames with the concave and make it flat.
 Burchas I would  be interested in a brief report of the pros and cons of the boards you had like the blackfish. Will your design have a concave?

My design had a super subtle concave, but after going with flat bottom for my last 2 boards I changed it to flat as well.
Adding a concave may or may not make your board faster. It might make it track better or have a little more control in certain conditions but one thing for sure is it will add some form of drag. It's so easy to fuck-up a concave design and it happened to the big brands as well. If I'll ever copy bottom contours, I'd make sure it's from one of the mature shapes on the market.

Naish Maliko is one of the most mature shapes, the SIC RS is another. Both very different but very successful shapes. BTW, I consider your Falcon (before they changed its name to Blitz), a mature shape as well and a very good one. Had a good opportunity to put some miles in various conditions on the a 14x23 Falcon prototype Arthur Arutkin paddled just before they renamed it to Blitz. Really good board and one I would definitely be content with in a 14x25.

Have mixed feeling about the EVO 2 and the Blackfish.

I had the EVO 2 14x26 for testing and while it felt much better than the EVO 1, I wasn't too impressed with it compared to RS, Maliko or the Falcon going in small bumps and side wind/chop felt more labored in these conditions imo. One very noticeable difference from previous version was the tail. I was surprised by the ease and control off the tail with this board probably more than all boards mentioned above.

As for the Blackfish, this board has gone under so many changes year over year that it starts to look more like an experiment rather than a shape that's coming into its own (unlike the the Whiplash that really evolved into a great board). This year is no different and if the proto I saw is something to go by, I would not know it's a blackfish unless I was told.

To put it simply, I would much rather have a Falcon (Blitz) than a Blackfish or an Evo 2.
If I was to work on a design being in your situation, I would start with the devil I know and maybe reference some design concepts from mature shapes that are proven year over year.

You never said what's wrong with your Falcon outside the fact you thought it was not the fastest board around?
Also, what are you after with this new board is something you didn't speak about.

Blackfish sure does seem to keep winning races with every design anyway so who's to say that's a bad thing? I see the changes as more of a smaller brand being able to be nimble and make the latest greatest. You LA fin guys sure do love your gossip! I saw Junes proto board and it looks sweet!  I'm willing to bet it's just a custom at this point and not for 2020.

For a project like this it definitely seems the best approach is to start out simple and evolve from there. I think an all around style shape like the one's mentioned is a great place to start and makes a lot of sense. Especially an all around style design. How about this, you take the bottom of the RS match it to the outline of the Blackfish and take the tail shape from the Fanatic and voila! Go for it have fun with it!

7

Flatwater and Touring / Re: NELO is in for the games with Light Signature Race

« on: March 14, 2019, 04:40:57 PM »

we need to take this dw discussion somewhere else 



burchas,  you said the Infinity downtown was dropped from their line-up this year, which comes as no surprise to me based on my experience. Can you tell us more about the downtown, maybe its too light to dw or was it the design not there yet compared to others that have been around? What do you of the JL rail?

Burchas is wrong i got the chance to paddle the 2019 dugout version Downtown a few weeks back some refinement updates and 3lbs lighter from 2018 (28lbs last year) nice board. Dave B, Shae Foudy and more of the crew were all on them on our local DW run.

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Gear Talk / Re: Naish 2020 Inflatable SUPs

« on: March 14, 2019, 10:31:17 AM »

2020!? LOL

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Sneak Peeks, Rumors, and Wish Lists / Re: It’s that time of year 2019 sup boards

« on: January 30, 2019, 09:02:45 PM »

2019 Infinity Catalog

https://issuu.com/infinitysurf./docs/infinity_2019_sup_catalog_layout_fi

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Gear Talk / Re: Infinity New Deal 10x27"

« on: January 30, 2019, 09:13:20 AM »

You're gonna be stoked! Every new board takes some time to get used to but at your size i think you are gonna be loving it.

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Gear Talk / Re: Laird SUP gun

« on: January 18, 2019, 11:59:16 AM »

Talk about "guns" I don't want anything to do with these! SUPs for Kai.

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Gear Talk / Re: New Infinity fins for the Blackfish

« on: December 28, 2018, 10:09:26 AM »

A carbon single fin alone can cost up to $150 bucks and 4 fin set from LA in fiberglass would run $250+ so in hindsight the carbon at $235 is not bad.

13

Gear Talk / Re: New Infinity fins for the Blackfish

« on: December 27, 2018, 02:55:37 PM »

Have you tried them at all yet? I would just start with the stock set that you have and go from there. All you would have to adjust is maybe to a larger center fin but good chance that set up is pretty good. Remember the flat side of the fins face out to the rail (opposite from a surfboard fin) and i like the middle fin pushed all the way up in the box.

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Gear Talk / Re: New Infinity fins for the Blackfish

« on: December 27, 2018, 01:38:10 PM »

The boards have gotten more stable so i started taking the side fins off and messing around with the ventral and smaller center fins and settled in on that for everything. I don't race much anymore but i still paddle for fitness. I never got more speed from the twins LA versions or these, but the stability was noticeable. I don't think they sell the carbon ventral separate but LA sells his. I would just keep them and experiment that's half the fun!

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Gear Talk / Re: New Infinity fins for the Blackfish

« on: December 27, 2018, 11:05:18 AM »

I've got a set and i like them. I mostly use the ventral and a single most of the time though. Those fins were the only 4 fin option made in carbon. LA didn't like Infinity making carbon 4 fins so they stopped making them. Lucky you got a set!