It was about end of July I pulled the triggered to get my Master Shaper Dave Boehne at Infinity to start shaping my new my board. But let me start with how it all started …. If you are patient enough you will be able to read the review of the board at the end.
11/29/18 R&D for the new board
This was the day all began…
Machine: Did you said you had some rough design on all around board to share ?
Dave: Are you thinking about the blackfish inspired dugout we are working on for 2020? nothing to share on that quite yet!
3/20/19 Little progress
Machine: Show me secret design!
Dave: I will leak some shots of the latest bottom i’ve been working on with Kai Lenny… Not sure if it will make it on the new dugout board but there is some cool shit going on! Shhhhh!
Carolina Cup Week
Master Shaper got sick really bad and he was quarantined at the Infinity House. No one saw him coming out of the room and left the wrightsville back to California. 1st meeting failed.
5/24/19 Canada meet up Infinity crew
Machine: Any CAD updates yet?
Dave: Coming along tho hope to have something to show you in person in canada
Machine: Nice!… Canada board meeting, sounds good… !
6/8/19 Haliburton, Ontario, Canada
Finally I got to see the 90% finish design and we brain storm some of the idea I had in mind. We left the Canada and made the follow up meeting in week or so.
Finalization of design
We spend time on web conference to finalize and tweak what I was looking for my board. Most of the outline shape and bottom was dialed in. Changed the dugout front area and tail width. It was not much of change but we finalized the design.
7/1/19 Getting Started
It was busy day start the new board. Deposit some money, make sure I get colors and mounts location ready to go. Last thing was to get CNC cut to order.
8/1/19 Final Shaping
Finally Master Shaper Dave put his final touch to the board before shipping out for glassing. It was day or two before it went to the glass shop with rest of 7 custom boards.
8/16/19 Finish products
Dave: Machine! Your board is done and just got delivered to Infinity!!
*Out of 7 boards went to glass shop, mine got finished first.
Pro Box Fin System retro fitting
This time around my board will be retrofit at Larry Allison shop. Process took little while until mid September but got solid bomb proof Pro Box Fin system installed for 4 drive fin system.
9/30/19 Intercepting at logistic Warehouse
I was waiting for my board to return to Infinity so that I can get shipped my way. Getting shipping out my board got day or two late but also took longer than expected coming from Dana Point to KY. Finally I called up the freight company and find out where my board is located. Instead of waiting for additional day I drove up 2hrs to pick up. I had to drive 2hrs to Columbus , IN “Dayton Freight” Logistic to make the pick up.
Time to review about new 2020 Infinity Blackfish Dugout “Machine Edition”
I hope you enjoyed the behind the story of making this new board. I been riding 12.6 for several years now and my last 12.6×23/281L custom Whiplash Dugout was the biggest dugout ever made in its class. Board was tippy but it also had great speed within.
People keep asking me why I am still paddling 12.6. I came into SUP world in 2013 starting with 12.6 and I end up just staying for awhile. I have 3 of 12.6 from Infinity and my first boardworks in 12.6 as well. Not only class division has changed but I had mindset for transition into 14 board when I turn 50. 2019 was the year for that so I started the journey early and Chattajack was going to be the first race with my new 14. In reality I was able to ride two weeks before the Chattajack at Oconee Championship event.
I have demo other brands outside the Infinity in the past year or two when I had opportunity to do so. Just like anything else first “Wow” impression really gets me excited. Some boards I didn’t felt the “Wow” excitement and some did. Everyone feels differently so I can’t really comments on other boards that I have tried in the past.
With that said new Blackfish Dugout had more “Wow” impression than my 2018 Whiplash Dugout. Whiplash Dugout had a new single concave and inverted pintail design which is still gamer changer within for the flat water!.
To be honest, I was never Blackfish guy even though I own 2016 12.6×25.5 Blackfish. This was merely difference between the displacement and planning haul design. I have raced Chattajack in 2017 and I was very success with it.
2018 Whiplash Dugout, 2020 Blackfish Dugout, 2016 Blackfish
The day I picked up my board I headed out to my training ground for the first test. I didn’t even try to stand on the board from my knee. One leg at a time I just hop on from the dock and here I go. I immediately felt totally different feel with the board. It wasn’t just stability of the board but how I felt from nose to the tail. There weren’t much testing at Speed Freaks Factory before I got my new board so it was 100% fresh to paddle that day.
Why I call my board “Machine Edition”?. If you follow @Infinity_Sup instagram story and feed you might saw the Master Shaper Dave Boehne’s Blackfish Dugout (black). Infinity kept the bottom shape secret for about 5-7 weeks before revealing the “Production” version. I had to sync with Infinity make sure to reveal mine correctly with right descriptions.
So Infinity decide to go with single concave on production and I’m the only one has double concave shape (Technically Dave Boehne has one). Double concave shape isn’t new as many other board company has tried. With the high volume trend double concave really works well than the past board design.
Double concave brings a great stability and feel of suction with the surface. Suction sounds negative but because of the high volume it glides excellent with stability. Board do have secondary stability but with combined dugout and double concave design it takes quite bit of chops to really engage the secondary.
First stability test was at Oconee Championship in Georgia and I was pretty amazed how it handle washing machine start and boat wakes. Mild chop and boat wake it stayed stable without me changing the direction of the board. Able to ride the boat wake from the side without feeling unstable or be cautious is an extra plus. There were moment where boat wake was coming in strong but I stayed dead ahead when one side of concave kept suction from tipping the board. It was definitely “wow” moment.
So what else is different? This new board is 14×24/297L and minus the bottom design there is some of my ideas incorporated as 2020 board. One is sorta my signature front deck dugout design slanted transition to the front nose. Very similar to my Whiplash dugout. Second is the nose with little more pointed nose. Originally idea came from when I demo the Infinity Downtown (down-winding board). I love how the water exit from the nose cleaner then past blackfish. Small portions of outline of shape resemble the downtown while rail resemble Whiplash dugout. So new Blackfish dugout design is between the traditional Blackfish planning haul design and displacement haul design. Design is very hybrid design to handle as an “All Water” design. New board still acts like traditional Blackfish but water exit only from 6-8″from the nose. Front of the nose is 6″ tall with pointed nose which you find in displacement type of nose.
This new board really excel excellent in both with the current or against the current. What makes this board lively is the when your board stays very stable and able to concentrate to your paddling power. Off course I am running 4 fin but I also tested out with single fin setup and result was remarkably great either way. I do feel slightly difference in side to side roll with single fin setups but otherwise it performance equally as good. Personally I feel 4 fin setup gives better lateral support and tracking .
I will just leave single fin and 4 fin for individual to make choices. If you ever see me at even I can let you try both setups. I have some data between the two and hope to publish the blog for that soon.
Main objective for this board is to have 1 quiver to handle the flat water to open water. Took me a while to make the decision on 23″ or 24″ width but I have not yet regrets going 24″. Although after getting the board I almost felt like I can do 23″ or 22″ easily.
If you are looking for new board give a shout to Dave and Infinity!
If you have any questions about this new board please let me know !