NSP 10’0” Coco Mat SUP Surfboard Review

The Good

• An Eco-Friendly Profile, Superior Strength, and an incredibly versatile and refined ride are packaged in this handsome and stylish series of boards. More boards need to start using this CoCo Mat tech...AMAZING!!!

The Not So Good

• I've got absolutely nothing negative to say about this board, it's amazing and incredibly user friendly.. A MUST HAVE for this summer! I also highly encourage other SUP manufacturers to look into the Coco Mat or other natural materials that can be used.

No B.S. Review

With summer quickly approaching, we are getting more and more requests to cover Stand Up Boards and gear.  Things go notoriously flat up in my neck of the woods thru the Spring and Summer months and over the last few years I have found Stand Up Paddle Boarding to be a great escape from the insanity that comes with long windows of swell inactivity.  They also help maximize the number of waves caught on more fickle days and more recently, they have even shown their prowess and advantages in bigger, less accessible surf.  We have also seen a monumental industry shift towards greener and more sustainable technologies and readers have been asking us to cover more companies leading the efforts.  To capitalize on these growing trends, we thought it would be a perfect time to reach out to our friends at Global Surf Industries to see what they had in store for this season.  What they had to offer hit on both topics and we are honored to have the chance to spotlight the new NSP Coco Mat line of SUP’s and surfboards.

NSP has been in the Stand Up game for as long as I can remember and they have always been know for their superior quality, user friendly boards, amazing customer service, and competitive prices.  Now an executive brand under the amazing Global Surf Industries umbrella of companies, they are quickly becoming the world leader in the stand up game.  After this review, I now know why they are making such an impact around the world and why NSP patrons are so passionate about the brand.  For the purpose of this review, Global Surf sent us one of their 10’0” Coco Mat SUP’s to put through a proper sea trial and series of field testing.

Coco Mat Technology is just genius and is one of those things that you look at and ask why we haven’t done it sooner!  The process employs coconut husk fibers to reduce both the board’s overall weight, while tackling the amount of harmful chemicals used in the manufacturing and finishing processes as well.  They procure the husks from local sources close to their manufacturing site and the raw material needs very little formal processing before it can be applied directly to the board.  Fibers are individually and strategically placed between the layers of glass and epoxy before the board is finished using traditional methods.  The addition of the coconut husk is meant to increase the overall strength to weight ratio of the board while providing very unique and dynamic flex properties.   It also toughens it up and creates a bulletproof skin.  We have a lot of Stand Up boards in our office quiver and this is by far the lightest SUP we have had in the rack!  Even at 10’0”, I will go on record saying that it is still lighter than some of my 8 and 9 footers!  Crazy!!!  The board is also truly tough as nails.  Compression strength is incredible and even after an accidental drop off the car roof and onto the concrete road below, the board just laughed it off!   The coconut husks can also clearly be seen in the finish and give the board a cool organic esthetic and look that you otherwise could not replicate.  Everyone we walked or paddled by asked about it and thought it was such a good idea and incredibly beautiful!

At 10’0”x 29”x4” the board is somehow just over 20lbs!!!  This drastic reduction in weight gives it the feel of a shorter, more performance based SUP, not to mention a nice break from the norm when hiking down to the shoreline with it in arm!  It’s weight advantages also prove themselves very useful when applied to paddling and more aggressive stick-and-plant turns.  A flatter entry rocker is slowly exaggerated towards the rear third of the board and the long, sweeping rail line comes together nicely with a slightly pulled in squash tail.  This aids in the board’s superior responsiveness and but still provides enough of a waterline to make flat water paddling easy and stable.  A 2+1 set up allows for variety of conditions and performance advantages that single fins just can not compete with.  The hull adds horsepower with a single to double concave feature that generates a crazy amount of lift and effortless speed.  The other standout feature is the integrated tip to tail deck pad.  Most of my other boards just host a mid-deck pad and I loved the freedom, feel, and safety the full deck set up offers.  The handsome grey and black tones used in the pad offset the color of the Coconut Husks perfectly and put the board in a class of it’s own.

Photos not of me!

Testing took place over a few weeks in a variety of surf conditions and locations.  From ankle to head high surf we rode the heck out of this board and got more stoked about it with each hour we logged.  In small surf, you could take advantage of any bump that came your way. It’s light weight made getting up to speed and shredding the smallest micro-waves possible and just so much fun!  In bigger surf, this board really stepped up and opened my mind to what was possible on a Stand Up board!!!  Later drops were a breeze and rail to rail work was smooth, fast, and controlled.  I am admittedly not the most elegant nose rider but I found that the board offered a very stable and forgiving platform for getting you out to the bow and back.  Also of note is rail durability; I am brutal with my paddle and after a few solid weeks of beating on the rails with the blade end of my stick, I can’t find one chip, nick, or hole!  In open, flatter water, I found a smooth and level stage to keep you comfortable and on time while you make up a lot of ground!  We actually took the board to a few local lakes and ponds and even used it to access some untapped fishing holes…just so versatile and fun!

In closing, I have to say that pound for pound the Coco Mat SUP by NSP is the lightest, strongest, and most user friendly Stand Up board that I have ever stepped foot on!  Coming in at: $1,250, I think you are getting an absolute steal at that price!  Considering the technology, performance, ruggedness, and overall “green factor” that Global Surf and NSP has packed into this board, you are getting a deck that can take you anywhere, excel in any conditions, and last a lifetime.  I am hoping that we will be seeing more Coco Mat and similar green technologies in the future but until then, my hat is off to NSP and Global Surf and I commend them for their forward thinking.  The Coco Mat technology has been implemented into an eclectic quiver for the 2012 season which includes SUP’s, longboards, funboards, and fish, check the entire line up out at: http://www.surfindustries.com/surfboards/nsp.php.   Remember, each Coco Mat is individually laid up by hand, creating a one-off, individual look…no two are the same and accept no substitutions!  Get yours today!!!  As always, thanks for reading and be sure to tell a friend…

-           Shaper

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