Infinity Blackfish 2025 Breaks New Ground: Dave Boehne shares the details

The Infinity Blackfish is undeniably one of the most renowned race boards in the SUP world. The all water design sparked up unmatched levels of buzz in 2018 when Kai Lenny returned to competition and dominated the APP World Tour Sprints in London. We were there to witness it first-hand!

Hi Dave, “let’s talk shop” 🙂 You mentioned that the Blackfish board design has a special place in your heart…

I would say the original Blackfish was the first race shape that really put me on the map as a designer. This was before “all water” boards were a thing.

Are we seeing a shift towards flat deck designs?

Not really. For us as a brand flat decks have always been more popular than a dugout for general paddlers, which is who we sell to. More skilled riders and of course the team seem to prefer the dugout boards. The Blackfish flat deck overall is our most popular race board sales wise. It doesn’t surprise me that the big guys have a flat deck board in the line up now.

What prompted the evolution of the Blackfish board?

Only the natural progression of design. Everything is always evolving. We spend time on the boards and we are always tweaking, refining and cleaning things up to keep the gains moving forward.

The 2025 Blackfish promises “all around versatility and flat water speed”. What are the key features that allow you to achieve that?

The new updates are subtle but all add up to a move forward. We won’t commit to production until we have a better board. What’s updated on this version Blackfish is the outline in the nose and how the water enters the rocker line. Small refinements where we place the transitions in the shape of the rail and concave all play a part together to make the board move how we want it to.

Why is the new nose a big deal? How does it improve performance in both upwind conditions and flat water?

It’s the first time I’ve changed the outline in the nose. It’s narrower, taller, sharper and the volume is stretched back until the cockpit. Just gives the board that slightly better efficiency up wind and in pure flat water. The bottom of the nose is still soft and round which gives it that all around conditions versatility. It is still the best/easiest board to go in and out of surf and ride waves with control.

In response to your Team’s request, you have lowered the flat deck slightly—how does this adjustment impact the board’s performance and overall feel?

Like we mentioned before, the team and more skilled paddlers tend to like dugouts more. That being said they are only recessed about a half of an inch. The narrower sizes (21.5” and 23”) we don’t sell them to general paddlers really they only go to team and lighter skilled riders so the smaller sizes are made specifically for them. The wider sizes which we sell a lot of we keep them in the most popular traditional flat deck.

Is there a story behind the Ghost White palette?

Just having fun. Most brands keep the same colour for years and years. I like to mix it up and offer a few different options. Ghost White is just simple, modern and clean. It sticks out without trying – I just thought it looked cool.

Is the one board quiver the way forward?

That would be amazing and much easier and is the reality for most people to only be able to afford one board. Team riders, I feel, are requesting specific boards for specific races and conditions more than ever so it’s getting tricky to accommodate but luckily we have some excellent international partners that help with logistics.

What else is in the pipeline before the season’s end?

Gearing up for the ICF Worlds where we will see all of the boards in action! The all new 2025 Blackfish, Everready and Whiplash will all be on the starting line in Sarasota.

Thank you for your time Dave and see you soon in Florida!

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*Images courtesy of Dave Boehne