Autumn in Southern California is one of my favorite times to surf. The air temperature is generally warm thanks to a fairly reliable Indian Summer and the light takes on a golden glow. Most of the visiting tourists have long since returned home allowing the beaches to settle into a more civilized level of activity. The swell is still as unpredictable as always, Surfline forecasts notwithstanding, and locals jump at the waning days of “trunking it” before being compelled to pull on warmer attire.
I’ve been surfing the Infinity New Deal for the past few months and am pleased to report my initial chemistry with the Dave Boehne designed performance longboard surf SUP has continued to blossom with time. Infinity markets the New Deal as a board for intermediate to advanced riders. My experience with the board has confirmed that spot in the marketplace. With that assessment in mind, the Infinity New Deal is a fantastic board for someone who has established their initial SUP surfing chops on a larger all-around SUP and is ready to transition into a zippy performance shape. Why do I feel this way? Because that’s exactly who I am.
Growing up in Nebraska I never thought surfing was something I would do once, let alone on a regular basis. It wasn’t even something distant that I dreamed about. Surfing simply did not exist. I unexpectedly had the opportunity to move to Los Angeles about 10 years ago (I had been working overseas at the time.) and received my first exposure to the sport.
Sunset & PCH is a popular LA area surf spot where the optimal conditions are found at low tide. Low tide was also a convenient time for me, then a beginner paddler, to launch from the beach on my first SUP. I’d often linger out in the water on my return and cautiously watch the surfers. I gradually waded in and gave it a try. The rest is history. So, for all you folks out there who may be hesitant to give SUP surfing a try, if a guy in his early 40s from Nebraska can quickly progress to surfing the Infinity New Deal – so to can you!
Versatility
As all experience surfers know, boards come in various sizes and shapes optimized for different types of waves and styles of surfing. If you are similar to me and don’t come from a surfing background but are surrounded by friends who do, don’t succumb to false notion that surfing is about pursuing smaller and smaller shortboard style surf SUPs. Stay true to your path, join the SUP longboard revolution and pick up an Infinity New Deal. You’ll have an insane amount of fun and your friends will be left scratching their heads wondering where they went wrong. Why? For most surfers, the Infinity New Deal goes a long way to dispelling the notion of needing a quiver full of boards. It will work well in a range of conditions suited for experienced SUP surfers.
Riding the Infinity New Deal at the PV Cove on a Saturday.
I took my New Deal with me down to the Pacific Paddle Games earlier this month. As most readers are aware, Doheny State Beach experienced a period of small and inconsistent surf mainly limited to the 1-2 ft range during the event. While many were deterred from getting on the water, I was there and thus committed. As I already knew at this point, the Infinity New Deal excels in the small stuff. I caught a ton of waves, and had a blast working on stepping forward towards the nose. I’ve by no means mastered the exercise, but if you want to see what noseriding looks like on a longboard I recommend following Mike Muir, aka Muirman, on Instagram for some great footage.
Playing around in smaller waves is one of the best way to really get to know your board. You can modify your foot position over the fins or work on digging in the rails to carve a turn. Practice trimming the board to learn how it responds. In essence, learn how to become one with your board. Then you’ll be ready for the big stuff when a larger swell rolls in.
The long-awaited south swell arrived one week later and peaked on Saturday, October 7th. Returning to Doheny wasn’t an option for me that weekend so I headed over to my local spot at the Cove in Palos Verdes for a few hours in the morning. Arriving at dawn, I was greeted by set after set of beautiful, clean waves averaging 3-5 ft. After paddling out and diplomatically letting a couple of waves roll through I charged in and snagged a large right breaking set wave and took the New Deal for a ride. I stepped back on the raised arch bar, buried the fins and sunk the rail, carving a long arch down the line and popped out over the shoulder as the wave broke behind me.
A fellow SUP surfer watched my run and commented that the way I buried the rail and carved a long graceful bottom turn reminded him of a watching footage of Laird Hamilton. Now I’m no where near that good, but I knew I had assembled a pretty good performance surfing that wave. The kind that when you are finished you still feel a rush of exhilaration from the ride. It was one of the first times I’ve been complimented for my surfing and speaks as much to the finely foiled rails of the Infinity New Deal which enabled me to pull off such a turn as it does my current abilities as a surfer. Simply put, the New Deal is a board which will enable a weekend warrior, intermediate level SUP surfer such as myself to develop genuine, respectable surfing skills while having one heck of a good time. The shape is perfectly tuned, negating the need to force anything. Just step back and allow the board to do what its maker intended.
As a student of history, I predict the advent of the New Deal will be looked upon as a marking a significant design evolution in the years to come. There is just nothing else like it. The Infinity New Deal is the real deal and if you are a passionate SUP surfer you owe it to yourself to try this board. #gamechanger
P.S. It’s also really fast!
#PalosVerdes #InfinityNewDeal #Surfing #DohenyStateBeach #InfinitySUP #InsidetheLineup
