Picked up my new 10.0 NSP coco mat sup this week and WOW !!!
First impressions: holy shlt ! how light is this thing -and it looks insane. It was certainly the centre of attention as we unpacked it in the shop, and had a heap of very curious and jealous onlookers.
Had a couple of paddles on the river during the week with the mutt up front and the board definately felt way different in the water to the standard E2 construction - obviously due to the significant reduction in weight.
Headed to Byron this morning to catch up with 62mac and asea and figured "what the hell, the pass looks like a good place to christen it !" Paddled out from Clarkes and straight away I knew this was gunna be fun. The board didn't feel at all corky, considering how light it is, and it just punched straight through the first wall of whitewater and before I knew it I was on the point and into it.
The board was so quick to paddle due to the beautiful rocker and insane bottom shape and I couldn't believe how easy it paddled into, even the tiniest of waves. Its very very fast on the wave and with the reduced weight is at least twice as easy to turn and throw around than the standard construction - I actually overpowered the first few bottom turns and the board just launched out over the top with me left pretty much where I initiated the bottom turn - DOH ! Didn't take too long though to adjust and then everything was just too easy and I very casuallly got my 100 waves up and ever so discretely left the scene a very happy sup'er indeed.
Overall a really lovely board and a huge improvement over the standard construction - and trust me I am a huge fan of the standard board. I pretty much used my old 10.0 as my river paddler and surfed it only really in places that required a long paddle out or on very fat days - that may change now cos this is definately a light enough and responsive enough board for everyday use, even on a punchy beachy, where I would normally only use my 8.5. I really couldn't fault the board and I am confident that anyone under maybe 85kg would fall in love with this baby. Over 85kg I reckon it would be a bit of a handful cos it's quite low volume for a 10fter.
Oh and finally - thanks for the coffees Mac - you are a champion mate (for a mal rider)
The incredibly interesting and exciting thing about the Coco Mat is that it is about 50% stronger than the standard construction and about 30% lighter.
As you know already, the standard NSP construction is the benchmark for durability. There's not much stronger than an E2 NSP, except Coco Mat....
Coco Mat is ridiculous. There is so much more to come from this new technology.
Isnt the coconut husk porous ? How does that not suck up and require more resin then and add weight ?
So how much mat is there in the board ? - just that superficial layer all over or what ?
For anyone who hasnt seen this stuff in the flesh - it is beautiful - veneer/bamboo/cork look positively dull and boring in comparison.
OK, one of the reasons why the factory where NSP are made quite simply makes better product than most others starts with the core. Rather than simply cutting blanks from big blocks of loosely fused EPS each blank is pressure moulded individually. This limits wastage and land fill, these blanks are fused completely.
In Coco Mat you take this fused blank and then add a layer of glass, then Coco Mat in a random and discontinuous fashion, then another layer of glass. This is then laminated and with vacuum pressure moulding all excess resin removed.
Yes, coconut fibre absorbs resin. What this does though is makes this incredibly light and strong material much much stronger. Due to the random discontinuous nature of the strands and the distance between the layers of cloth it creates I Beams in every direction. The Coco Mat creates what is the strongest board per weight in the world. It's a big claim but the lab tests prove it.
It is seriously one of the biggest advancements in surfboard composites in a long time.
but that probably wouldn't put me off buying one.
Great construction idea but I'm not sure about pretty.. IMO it's as pretty as a piece of chip board... I like the idea but would rather see it covered up.
DJ
Can you tell me whos got the demo board B B keen to have a go while on the GC.
TB - surf fx have a demo 10.2 and I have the 10.0 which you are welcome to try if Im around when you hit town.
Thanks BB may see you down the alley or some were
