The Bluefin Cruise Carbon is a new version of the Bluefin Cruise, which has enjoyed great popularity among beginners and advanced riders for years.
The model was so successful that the British manufacturer has now reissued the board in this upgraded carbon variant and as a kids paddle boarding.
In this Bluefin Cruise Carbon review, we focus on the Bluefin Cruise Carbon 10’8 and the Bluefin Cruise Carbon 12′, both of which are among the best boards around.
The 10’8 (325 cm) long version is an allrounder and accordingly suitable for different areas of use, while the 12′ (362 cm) long Bluefin Cruise Carbon is primarily designed for longer tours.
Check out our video review of the Bluefin Cruise Carbon:
Table of Contents
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If you’re looking for an inflatable SUP board that can almost compete with a hardboard in terms of stiffness and performance, then you should definitely take a closer look at the carbon variants of the popular Cruise SUP boards from Bluefin.
The manufacturer achieves this performance through a special construction of the boards and also includes an accessory package that meets the high demands of experienced and ambitious paddlers. In addition to the 10.8 variant, the Cruise Carbon is also available in sizes 12 feet and as a stately 15 feet tandem board.
The Bluefin Cruise Carbon is one of the stiffest paddleboards in the world. It is more expensive than the normal Bluefin Cruise, but offers more in terms of stiffness, included gear and board features. With its weight, it's not the best model for travelling, but on the water this inflatable paddleboard comes as close to a hardboard as you can get.
Bluefin Cruise Carbon Review in Detail
In the following presentation, I will go into detail about the Bluefin Cruise Carbon and the accessories that come with it.
At the end of the article is a small section attached where we answer frequently asked questions about the board. If you have any further questions, please feel free to leave a comment. We will get back to you as soon as possible.
Product Specifications
| Board Type | Inflatable |
| Brand | Bluefin |
| Skill | Beginner, Advanced |
| Price Category | High-priced |
| Area of Application | Allround Touring |
| Max. Paddler Weight | 120 kg (265 lbs) |
| Length | 325 cm (10’8) | 366 cm (12′) |
| Width | 82 cm (32″) |
| Thickness | 6 cm (6″) |
| Weight | 15 kg (33 lbs) | 19 kg (42 lbs) |
| Volume | – |
| Accessories | Instruction manual, SUP backpack, carbon paddle, triple action air pump, 3 removable fins (1 x US box + 2 x Smartlock system), riser, kayak seat, coiled leash (spiral safety line), repair kit. |
Construction
The Bluefin Cruise Carbon 10’8 is a crusing board. The width of 82.5 cm (32″) ensures that the board is stable in the water. With the pointed construction, the board is nevertheless fast in the water.
The tilt stability of the wide built Carbon Cruise 10’8 is especially good for beginners. With elongated boards like the Bluefin Sprint, higher speeds can be achieved, but the narrower boards are harder for beginners to control. And maneuverability also suffers from the elongated design of racing boards.
Cruising paddle boards are, in a way, the middle ground between allrounders and touring boards.
While the roundish allrounders offer a secure footing and are maneuverable, they also slow down. On longer trips, however, you’re just paddling straight for a long time. For these types of trips, you need boards that brake less and have better tracking.
Crusing boards like the Bluefin Cruise Carbon 12′ are better for medium length trips. Boards like the Bluefin Cruise Carbon 12′ have good directional stability due to their length.
Furthermore, the most noticeable thing about the design is the noserocker. The slightly bent up tip of the board ensures that the Bluefin Cruise Carbon does not dive into every small wave, but glides better over the water.
In addition, the Bluefin Cruise Carbon has three removable fins. This is especially practical for transport. I’ll tell you more about the possibilities this offers later. Since all fins are removable, the board can be rolled up better.
In the Bluefin Cruise Carbon (in contrast to the normal Bluefin Cruise), the US fin box system is used for the center fin. The fin is screwed to the fin box with a threaded plate and a smaller screw. With a little practice, the assembly takes about 45 seconds.
The advantages of this system are that the position of the fin in the fin box can be freely selected and that significantly more different fins are available for this system.
The great feature of the Bluefin Cruise Carbon boards is their stiffness. In the production of the boards, the dropstitch process was used, in which several layers were tightly woven together. Bluefin itself states that the process used is the one with the highest density of stitches.
In the Bluefin Cruise Carbon, the edges were additionally reinforced, which makes the board much more robust, and in addition, the eponymous carbon layer was incorporated.
In my Bluefin Cruise Carbon test, it was clearly noticeable how little the board yields.
In addition, the design with two air chambers gives the board additional stability. Contrary to the reports of a buyer of the board in an Amazon customer review, there is also no bead at the border of the two chambers. When both air chambers are fully inflated, the deck closes completely flat.
Furthermore, the dual-chamber design also has safety advantages. In the unlikely event that one of the two air chambers is damaged, the board can stay afloat with the other air chamber.
The two versions of the Bluefin Cruise Carbon are also 15 inches thick. The 6 inch thick boards can fit much more air than thinner boards. This has the advantage that these paddle boarding boards are also stiffer as well as offer more buoyancy, which provides a higher carrying capacity.
With a weight of over 15 kilograms (for the 10’8 variant), the Bluefin Cruise Carbon is quite heavy and weighs significantly more than the normal Bluefin Cruise (only 12.3 kilograms with the same dimensions).
However, transport is made much easier by the additional carrying handles and especially the included backpack, which is equipped with wheels.
Load Capacity
The 325 cm model (Bluefin Cruise Carbon 10’8) carries a maximum of 130 kilograms. The maximum load of the 366 cm Bluefin Cruise Carbon is 140 kilograms.
The Bluefin Cruise Carbon 10.8 is ideally suited for paddlers weighing up to 120 kilograms. Trips with a child or a dog on board are also possible.
However, if you want to paddle in pairs (as two light adults) or if you weigh more, you should rather go for the Bluefin Cruise Carbon 12.
For regular trips for two over longer distances, Bluefin also offers its own paddle boarding for two people called Bluefin Cruise Tandem, which we have also already tested. For two performance maximizers, the Tandem variant is also available under the title Bluefin Cruise Carbon Tandem in its own carbon variant.
The Bluefin Cruise Carbon is one of the stiffest paddleboards in the world. It is more expensive than the normal Bluefin Cruise, but offers more in terms of stiffness, included gear and board features. With its weight, it's not the best model for travelling, but on the water this inflatable paddleboard comes as close to a hardboard as you can get.
Areas of use and Riding Characteristics
The 325 cm Bluefin Cruise Carbon is suitable for various areas of use. For beginners this is exciting. Beginners, of course, do not yet know what they enjoy about paddle boarding. With the Cruise Carbon they can therefore try everything first.
At the end of the deckpad there is a small kickpad that allows you to turn the board faster.
The paddle boarding is a good choice for trips over lakes, tours, leisurely trips with the family, tours over channels and surfing smaller waves. For faster turns, the board has a kickpad at the back of the deckpad.
The cruising board is not designed for top speeds, but is still built quite sporty. The tapered nose provides low water resistance. The Bluefin Cruise Carbon 10’8 is a tip stable entry level model that is still built quite sporty. On a scale of beginner to pro paddle boarding, we would rank it at “beginner +”.
The Bluefin Cruise Carbon 12′ is better suited for more advanced paddlers who are already planning trips that involve putting in a lot of touring miles. The elongated design provides more directional stability, which improves straight-line riding. The board deviates less from the direction of travel, so that the paddle side has to be changed less often.
We had already praised the edges on the Bluefin Cruise, but rails reinforced with carbon fabric are even better on the Cruse Carbon. When inflated, the board is extremely stiff, which makes fast turns possible, among other things. Qualitatively, the Bluefin Cruise Carbon boards can easily keep up with really expensive brand boards.
Convincing with regard to the variety of applications is especially the fact that all 3 fins are removable. This allows you to optimize the board for a variety of situations:
If you opt for the classic 2+1 fin setup, this noticeably increases the board’s stability and maneuverability. If you only mount the large center fin, you emphasize the board’s directional stability, which ensures greater directional stability on longer distances. This allows you to set significantly more paddle strokes before you have to change sides.
If it gets really shallow in between, for example on river tours, you can also just ride with the smaller side fins and thus reduce the draft to a maximum.
Material and Weight
The Bluefin Cruise Carbon is made of several PVC layers using the so-called dropstitch process. This production process makes for particularly stiff boards. The shells of the Bluefin boards are extremely stable and can withstand even an air pressure of 28 PSI. At the pressure of almost 2 bar, most paddle boarding other brands go out of joint long ago.
The Bluefin Cruise Carbon boards are in the higher range with a weight of 15.6 kilograms and 19 kilograms respectively. The higher weight comes from the extra carbon layer and extra reinforcement on the side edges. Extra weight is the price you pay for more stiffness.
However, transporting the inflatable boards is very straightforward. After a tour, simply deflate, roll up the cover and stow it in your backpack. The backpack can then be easily carried or pulled as a trolley with the integrated wheels.
Together with the accessories, the backpack weighs 18 to 22 kilograms. Since a backpack with off-road wheels is included, such long distances can be covered on foot. A journey via public transport to the water is also possible, but not as comfortable as, for example, transport in a car.
Workmanship
When it comes to workmanship, the Bluefin paddle boarding boards generally play in the top league. For a fair price you get with the Bluefin Cruise Carbon a high quality board including top paddle boarding accessories. The Cruise Carbon also looks very high quality and as if it will last a very long time
If you look at the Amazon customer reviews, you can quickly see that the number of complaints is limited. The vast majority of reactions to the Bluefin Cruise Carbon are extremely positive. The problems described were limited to adhesive residue on the board, an initial chemical smell, which only disappears after several days, and minor problems when mounting the fin. However, the complaints did not go beyond the “assembly model” category.
The Bluefin Cruise Carbon boards cost more than some inexpensive paddle boarding, some of which can be purchased for as little as 300€. However, the cheap boards have much less stability, are slower, less well made and come with inferior accessories that often have to be replaced afterwards.
The Bluefin Cruise Carbon is one of the stiffest paddleboards in the world. It is more expensive than the normal Bluefin Cruise, but offers more in terms of stiffness, included gear and board features. With its weight, it's not the best model for travelling, but on the water this inflatable paddleboard comes as close to a hardboard as you can get.
Design
The board is designed in a combination of white and various shades of blue and turquoise. The dark gray deck pad stands out in contrast and bears the name of the board. In the tip area, the manufacturer has placed its logo.
The underside is white and running lengthwise is a design band in shaded blue tones and the Bluefin SUP lettering. The surrounding rails are color-coordinated and labeled with the manufacturer’s name and the designation FRS (Flex Reduction System). To me, the design makes a really good impression and the bottom reminds me strongly of the design of surfboards.
Other Features
Below, we’ll talk about some other details of the equipment:
- EVA Deckpad: The Bluefin Cruise Carbon features an EVA deckpad. The non-slip pad is soft to the touch and provides a good grip even when wet.
- Additional Carrying Handles: The board is equipped with four additional carrying handles made of neoprene.
- Additional D-rings: The board is equipped with a total of 14 D-rings. Additional equipment such as the kayak seat can be attached to these. The Cruise Carbon has a total of 14 D-rings.
- 3 Removable fins: All 3 fins are removable. The Smartlock system is used for the side fins and the US-Box system for the center fin.
- Luggage net: The Cruise Carbon has two flexible luggage nets.
- Actioncam mount: There is also an actioncam mount in the front area. Which is compatible with all current models. There is also an action cam mount in the front area of the Cruise Carbon, which is compatible with all popular models.
Accessories
The scope of delivery of the Bluefin Cruise Carbon is very extensive. The Bluefin Cruise already comes with a lot of very high-quality accessories, but the accessories included with the Cruise Carbon are even better.
The Bluefin Cruise Carbon is delivered together with an air pump, a paddle with kayak function, a backpack, a leash, a kayak seat, a waterproof cell phone case, a carrying strap, a German-language instruction manual and a repair kit.
The included accessories are definitely completely sufficient for the first season. And compared to buying them individually, you can easily save 250 to 300€ by buying this complete set.
- Bluefin Cruise Carbon Paddle with Kayak Function: Included with the Bluefin Cruise Carbon is a carbon paddle. The carbon paddle is a full paddle that otherwise has to be purchased separately for a lot of money. Carbon is considered the best material for paddle boarding paddles because it is particularly light and robust.
The regular Bluefin Cruise only includes a fiberglass paddle, which isn’t bad either, but can’t compete with a carbon paddle. Other manufacturers, on the other hand, only include aluminum paddles, which are sufficient for the beginning, but due to the high weight and poor workmanship is later replaced by many paddlers.
With the Bluefin Cruise Carbon, however, the purchase of another paddle boarding is superfluous. In addition, the three-piece paddle can be converted into a double paddle with an additional paddle blade. Unlike the paddle boarding a kayak is namely driven with a double paddle. Furthermore, the included paddle is infinitely height adjustable and can be set to a maximum length of 2.15 meters. - Bluefin Cruise Carbon Triple-Action Air Pump: Included in the delivery is a triple-action pump. This air pump has two cylinders and a total of three modes. In the first mode, only one cylinder is used to pump air when pushing down, just like a single stroke pump.
The second mode uses two cylinders when pushing down, and the third mode is particularly effective (and exhausting) because it uses both cylinders when pushing down and pulling up. The build quality of the air pump makes a very good impression and inflating the board is not very strenuous.
It should be noted, however, that the Cruise Carbon has two air chambers. With the triple action pump, it took us less than 6 minutes in our Bluefin Cruise Carbon test.
- Bluefin Cruise Carbon Backpack: The included backpack is very high quality and, most importantly, roomy. The carrying backpack offers enough space for the rolled up board and accessories. The backpack also equipped with wheels, which makes the transport of the board much easier.
Furthermore, the shoulder straps and the entire back area are also thickly padded, which ensures a good wearing comfort. Despite the relatively high weight of the board, it can be transported well in this backpack. Due to the robust wheels, the backpack can be easily pulled like a suitcase, so that even longer Strechen can be managed on foot.
- 3 removable Bluefin Cruise Carbon fins: The carbon models use 2 different systems. While the side fins with the Smartlock system can be inserted into the box in seconds and fixed with the lever, with the US box system you must first place a small threaded plate in the rail, so that you can then attach the center fin to it with the screw.
- Bluefin Cruise Carbon Coiled-Leash (spiral-shaped safety leash): A coiled-leash is included in the delivery. This safety leash only expands to its full length when it falls into the water. The advantage of this is that it prevents this tether line from snagging on rocks or plants.
- Bluefin Cruise Carbon waterproof cell phone case: the included waterproof cell phone case has a very simple operating principle, but effectively protects against the water.
- Bluefin Cruise Carbon kayak seat: The kayak seat can be attached to four D-rings in the middle of the board. This turns the paddle boarding into a kayak in no time.
- Bluefin Cruise Carbon Repair Kit: With the repair kit, small damages to the iSUP can be quickly and easily repaired by yourself.
- Bluefin Cruise Carbon Carrying Strap: The carrying strap can be attached to the board so that you can hang the strap over your shoulder when carrying.
FAQ
Finally, we’ll address questions that readers have emailed us or that have increasingly come up in discussions.
How much PSI is the Bluefin Cruise Carbon inflated to?
The two air chambers of the board are inflated to 12 to 15 PSI. This takes about 6 minutes with the included triple action air pump. Learn more about the Bluefin Cruise Carbon.
Is it possible to ride the Bluefin Cruise Carbon with more than one person?
Both size variants of the Bluefin Cruise Carbon offer enough buoyancy for two people. However, if you want to tour often and properly with two people, you should rather go for the Bluefin Cruise Carbon 12′.
With its higher carrying capacity, the Cruise Carbon 12′ offers more room to maneuver. For regular and longer tours for two, Bluefin even offers the Bluefin Cruise Carbon Tandem as an extra model.
Learn more about the Bluefin Cruise Carbon.
What is the difference between the Bluefin Cruise and the Bluefin Cruise Carbon?
Different accessories: The Cruise Carbon comes with a carbon paddle, while the Cruise only comes with a fiberglass paddle.
Furthermore, the double-stroke pump on the Carbon has been upgraded to a triple-action pump, and the included backpack on the Cruise Carbon is also equipped with additional wheels.
Two air chambers: The Bluefin Cruise Carbon has two separate air chambers. On the one hand, this provides more stiffness and on the other hand, this can be practical in the event of an accident. Since the central air chamber can keep the board afloat alone.
Carbon Rails: The carbon reinforced rails are extremely stiff and provide noticeable improvements in maneuverability and speed.
More carrying handles, D-rings and a second luggage net: Nice extras are the higher number of carrying handles (4 instead of 2), D-rings (14 instead of 8) and the additional luggage net. This facilitates transport and allows more equipment to be attached to the board.
Conclusion
The Bluefin Cruise boards are among the best paddle boarding boards on the market. For lighter paddlers and beginners, the shorter 10’8 (325 cm) version is an excellent choice. Advanced paddlers or paddlers with a bit more weight, on the other hand, prefer to reach for the Bluefin Cruise Carbon 12′ (the 366 cm long board).
The excellent workmanship, the simple, modern design, the sporty construction and the extensive scope of delivery distinguish the boards of the British manufacturer.
The price difference between the Bluefin Cruise Carbon boards and the normal Bluefin Cruise models is quite steep. However, the high-quality carbon paddle already justifies a premium.
The slightly improved handling characteristics, the chic design and the additional carrying handles, D-rings and the extra luggage net also speak for the Cruise Carbon. Especially for touring paddlers, the additional storage space on board and the many options for attaching equipment can be very practical.
The Bluefin Cruise Carbon is one of the stiffest paddleboards in the world. It is more expensive than the normal Bluefin Cruise, but offers more in terms of stiffness, included gear and board features. With its weight, it's not the best model for travelling, but on the water this inflatable paddleboard comes as close to a hardboard as you can get.
Hi.
I read through your reviews on the recommendation of a friend.
I would like to give the Carbon board to my husband, but am not sure about the size.
He was able to test the 10.8 in the summer and did fine with it. However, he is 1.98 m tall and weighs 94 kg.
Also, we have kids who will definitely want to ride, or even drive themselves.
Which one would you recommend?
Love greetings,
Kristin
Moin Kristin,
If I were you, I would go for the Bluefin Cruise Carbon 12. It is really strong that your husband also got along well with the 10’8, but the 12 simply fits even better.
Especially if there are more people (the kids or you sitting) on the board, the Bluefin Cruise Carbon 12 with the higher load capacity and the more space just makes more sense.
Best regards,
Benjamin