NSP are the new sponsor for SUP My Race, and they have provided me with a new board, the Carolina Evo in the largest size, 23,5".
I have had the Evo for 10 days and approximately 100km of very varied paddling. In that week, I have had so many questions that I have decided to hit the keyboard to give an early review.
If you don’t have time to read, here is the TLDR version … I like it!
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| Image - Thomas Varcher |
The Begining
This story started after a cheeky comment from Chris Chamberlain on a post I made in SUP My Race last autumn, when I shared some stunning images from the Kattegat, the body of water between Sweden and Denmark, where I frequently paddle.
At the time, I was working with EO SUP in Latvia and, when that arrangement came to a natural end, I reached out to Chris to find out if he was serious.
He was, and here we are.
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| NSP Carolina Evo at rest in the Kattegat, Sweden's west coast. |
The SUP My Race Carolina Evo
The 2026 NSP SUP range was launched at the World SUP Festival in Santa Pola, Spain, in May 2025. This board was at that event for paddlers to try, and was then used as a demo board for a while before it moved from Spain to Portugal. There, it got a little lost waiting for its northern migration to Sweden before it arrived at the end of August 2025.
This 23,5” version, after a thorough clean, looked as good as new. It was worth waiting for.
Why an Allwater board for SUP My Race?
Good question! I had anticipated a Ninja from the NSP stable, but Chris wanted me on the new Carolina Evo, a one-board to do it all. Before this, the SUP My Race boards have all been aimed at flatwater paddling; the McConks Go Race inflatable, McConks Go Race Carbon, and the EO SUP Nebula are all flatwater race boards. And I love paddling on flatwater.
But
Flatwater boards have their limits in rougher conditions, as does this paddler. And as a result, I have several very capable boards in the garage, which sometimes gives me a fantastic problem, which board to take with me, particularly on a trip somewhere new or when the weather forecast is less than perfect. And I love paddling in conditions that are less than perfect!
The Carolina Evo might solve that luxury problem. Could this board be a one-board quiver?
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| My new training partner, the 2026 Carolina Evo |
Unboxing the Carolina Evo
Before getting into the details about the board, the box my Carolina Evo arrived in was decorated with several boot prints from someone who appears to be a giant. It was a relief for the delivery driver and me to open the packaging and not find a crushed board! Delivery stresses aside, it does go to show that this is a tough, well-made board; I have no plans to further test its strength in this way.
Also in the box was a smaller box containing the fin, fin screw (Torx fitting) and plate and three handles with screws. One long handle for the centre of the board and one for each side.
Construction
NSP do a better job of describing the construction than I can, so here is a graphic and some words from their website
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| NSP Carolina Construction from the NSP Website |
– Cutting-edge aerospace carbon fibres and ultra-light core materials are combined with our unique vacuum construction, making Pro Carbon the lightest, stiffest and fastest racing construction technology available
– Featuring a PVC reinforced deck for integrity, plus carbon rails for stiffness, reducing flex and making the board ultra-responsive
– Carbon Innegra™ reinforcement adds impact protection in the nose and tail for close-quarter battles at race starts, beach race finishes and buoy turn sections
– Pro Carbon is NSP’s most high-performance construction, developed for the most elite athletes in our sport. NSP International Team Riders like Christian Andersen, Titouan Puyo, Duna Gordillo and Ty Judson and many more riders use the exact same boards in some of the most gruelling races on the tour.
The result of all those words, a good-looking board with a great paint job that appears to be rugged enough for everyday paddling.
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| In between intervals on the Göta Canal, Sweden |
The Carolina Evo
I like the colour, the pale blue over pink (maybe Cyan but it’s a shade of pink), white and grey make for a crisp, fresh look that stands out on the water.
The colour scheme extends to the deckpad, which is off-white and, from delivery experience, easy to clean. The rise from the deck to the tail is covered in a darker blue kick pad.
There are multiple points to attach handles, one on each side in front of the dugout, one on each side in the middle of the board and one in the centre of the board, which is the one I have fitted. There is one FCS-style mounting for a GoPro or similar and an air valve.
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| SUPer deep dugout, recess for feet and a big comfortable carry handle. Nice paddle too! |
The dugout is extremely deep, deeper than any dugout I have paddled, which includes Sunova, Starboard, Infinity, ONE SUP, and, of course, EO SUP. I have plenty of dugout experience. The dugout walls are as wide as they need to be to have a pair of handles fitted to them if you need them, and to further help the paddler, there is a recess for your feet at the bottom of the side wall in the middle of the board, allowing you to put your feet as far apart as possible when needed. The interior width of the standing area is 21,25” or 54,5cm. The external width of this board is a fraction over 23”.
The deckpad on the main standing area is lightly textured, enough to be comfortable under bare feet and grippy enough for neoprene. As you get towards the tail, the standing area slopes up and the deckpad changes to a diamond design in dark blue.
There are two leash points, one at the front of the dugout and one at the rear. However, there is nowhere to store anything, a modification I will be making so I can carry coffee!
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| Flat bottom, drain shrouds, Vivace paddle |
When you flip the board over, you will find the shrouded exits for the four drain holes and a very flat hull that tapers to a pin-tail-like stern.
After the initial curve at the nose of the board, the hull is flat. Running a straight edge along the hull shows no gaps. At the tail, there is enough rocker for fun in bumps and efficient release of water at the tail.
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| Perfect finbox, Race 24 fin and Vivace paddle |
There is a single US-style fin box that is very nicely finished; the supplied Race 24 fin is a perfect fit; it needs a gentle push to get the fin in, and there is zero wiggle. I have tried the fitment of different fins from my collection: VMG, FCS and from some other brands. An FCSII push-in fin was too wide to fit; maybe I could have forced it, but I like this board, so that will not happen. All the others went straight in, except one, from a major brand that simply refused to go; it appears the pin position in the fin base for that fin is a fraction of a mm different to others. I take this as a sign that the NSP Fin box was made with very fine tolerances, which is why the NSP fin doesn’t wiggle at all.
The NSP Logos and Carolina EVO branding are clear, great for images, and not at all overbearing. This board is not over-logo’d.
The shape
This is the first NSP I have ever paddled, long overdue for such a popular brand, and this means I have no way to compare it with previous versions. Luckily, the NSP Team riders are as good at describing the boards they use as they are at racing them.
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| NSP Paddler Christian Andersen with Mathieu from TotalSUP |
At the launch, Christian Andersen was there to talk through the EVO with Mathieu at TotalSUP, and you can watch that conversation using this link https://fb.watch/BUfbr1DCWl/
In short, the Carolina Evo is a board that sits between the Carolina and the Ninja. The Carolina EVO nose is sharper than the Carolina, making it faster on the flat and upwind than a Carolina and more capable in rougher water than the Ninja. The Carolina remains in the NSP Range for those who paddle more regularly in rougher conditions.
Specification
The specifications for the Carolina Evo can be found on the NSP website here
This board is available in one length, 14 feet and three widths, 20,5”, 22” and 23,5”, with volumes from 235 to 268 litres.
Weights on the website are estimated, my board comes in at 12,4kg on my scales, with no handle and no fin. The long centre handle is 100,4g, the short handles supplied are 79,2g each (handle weights including screws), and the fin, with screw and plate, is 214,5g.
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| First paddle at my training lake in Sweden |
Getting the Carolina EVO wet
This board arrived on Wednesday morning, and it was on the water that afternoon at the lake.
Before I go further, some important figures: I am 194cm tall and currently weigh 95kg, add a few kg for appropriate clothing and a waist pack with fluid for my on-water weight of around 98kg. I am not a small paddler.
I took some photos, put my leash on and knelt into the board to move away from the pontoon, a force of habit from starting on tidal water with flow. And my knees got wet as water came into the board. When discussing the Carolina Evo with Chris at NSP, my concern was my size, I would be too big for it. However, he was confident I would be more than happy with it …
My first thought was "Oh no! I am too big for this!!!!" But then I stopped thinking and got on with my job, which is to paddle it.
And my feet were dry in no time at all. And they stayed that way until I stopped paddling.
I did a few KM before heading to a photo/drone shoot further down the lake, where the same thing happened with a lighter paddler. Water in the dugout when stationary, then dry when moving.
This prompted me to talk to Chris at NSP and Boothy, and this is where I learned something important about NSP boards. There are many ways to design a board, and Alain Teurquetil likes to make stable boards with a low centre of gravity. To achieve this, he places the paddler’s feet as close to water level as possible, and that means a very, very low deck. So low that when you put a big weight on it at rest, some water will enter the dugout.
This was a bit of a change for me, and it will be interesting to see how we get on in winter. I see it as motivational, paddle fast and stay dry, if I get lazy, the board will remind me to buck up my ideas! And I may need to drink some wine to get 4 corks sorted out, or get some tape as suggested by Boothy, Chris and April Zilg.
The most noticeable difference between this design and other, less dugout boards is that this one never feels like you are bobbing about. The board feels planted, like it is on rails.
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| Image - Thomas Varcher. |
Now, I have nearly 100km paddled on the EVO, I have stopped thinking about water and started to think about agility, speed and stability. Oh, and that Chris at NSP was right, I am more than happy with the Evo.
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| Exploring Hamburgsund on Sweden's West Coast |
Agile
This board turns rapidly! If you have read my blog before, you will know that I am not an agile paddler, I am not a pivot turn expert, I turn like Zoolander to the left. Elegant is a word that has never been associated with my paddling.
The Carolina Evo challenges that, and maybe for the first time, I have placed my foot on the kickpad of a 14’ board. And stayed upright. Even more surprisingly, this was repeatable. Of course, I eventually fell in; that is what happens when you test the limit of a board, but the simple fact is that I need to get a thesaurus and find new words for stable.
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| I could stay there all day, the Evo in action |
When I got home, I checked the position of the tail rise. Can we call it a kick pad when it is part of the construction? Anyway, the kick pad on the Carolina Evo starts to rise nearly 36” from the end of the board, that’s 91,5cm for most of us. In contrast, my flatdeck board from another brand has the kick pad 12” from the tail, 12,5cm. My other 14’ boards have the pad closer to the tail than the Carolina Evo. This explains why I could get my foot back there and that is a good thing for handling.
It isn’t just the tail that makes this board agile; it is super-easy to rail steer, too, using the paddler's weight to counterbalance the paddle stroke to go in a straighter line. Cross-bow turns also bring the nose around very quickly, and if you can combine a step back with a cross-bow turn, you will turn as fast as you can think about turning. With this board, you will be doing step back bow turns or any other variation of turn you can think of.
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| Image - Thomas Varcher |
Speed
It’s quick, no time trial data yet, which is, naturally, the best indicator of pure board speed but until I get to grips with a new paddle. The paddle change has presented me with a challenge and a steep learning curve, dropping from a 95 square inch paddle to an 84 square inch paddle. Despite this, my session today shows a lot of promise, a moderately windy day (gusts under 40 kmh) and a side/headwind all the way.
This is not as fast as I would expect to go on a flatwater board, that is after all why NSP make the Ninja and Ninja Evo, but it is faster than the other allwater boards I have paddled recently, using a significantly larger paddle.
What this single chart does not show is that the Carolina Evo accelerates faster than the flatwater board. In all of the shorter intervals, I achieved a higher average moving pace; it was the longer intervals where the benefit of a flatwater hull was at an advantage, as expected.
As you can see, in this session, my stroke rate is inconsistent throughout. I am having to work harder with the smaller blade, and this is part of the challenge of new equipment: learning how to use it properly.
I am still working out how to trim this board; foot position makes a noticeable difference to perceived speed, but as I work on my form through the stroke, my foot position changes. A lot is going on at the moment, and I am learning more with each session on the Carolina Evo.
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| Stable. Image - Thomas Varcher |
Stability
The thesaurus let me down, there is a reason brands like to use ‘stable’, we all understand it as a concept. A concept that the Evo takes to a new level.
The most surprising session I have had was on a rest day when the wind was blowing enthusiastically from the SSW, who needs rest when Mother Nature offers ideal conditions for a downbreezer on the local fjord. This would have been one of those days when I would reach for a wider board and a DW specific fin for some wind-assisted fun, but I have a job to do, and that job means using one board, the Carolina Evo, for as much paddling as possible.
So off we went, me, the Carolina Evo, the Race 24 fin and my new Vivace paddle.
After my first wind-assisted paddle in … 18 months, I can report that this board is fantastic fun! Wind speeds were lower than forecast, resulting in some messy conditions with bumps from both sides, typical for the fjord. There was enough wind and bump action for some fun glides and big smiles. And no swims!
I want to stress this again, I am Reacher-Size and this is a 23.5” SUP with far less volume than my usual ‘play’ board, and I finished the session with a huge grin and dry.
The next day I was back at the lake, averaging 6’24” pace for 20 x 2 minutes of flatwater intervals, that’s 9,38 km/h. On a DW capable board.
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| NSP Carolina EVO tail and go-faster SUP My Race sticker |
The one-board quiver
Many paddlers are able to take a flatwater board to the sea and make it look easy. Many paddlers can take a board designed for downwind paddling and race competitively on flatter water. I think those paddlers are few and far between, for the rest of us choosing a board that suits the conditions we paddle in most frequently requires making compromises, which is certainly what I have been doing since I started to take SUP more seriously.
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| NSP Carolina Evo - The one board quiver |
The evolution of board design has gone through phases as the sport has evolved, and now we seem to be at a point where designers have started to make genuine do-it-all boards, something that gives most of the advantages of a flat water design and a heavier water design in one. And that is a board that will suit more paddlers, more of the time.
The Carolina Evo is a great contender for the one-board quiver, and that is how I will be using mine. I need to order some dust sheets for my other boards.
About NSP
NSP are one of the world's most successful SUP and surf companies with a huge range of SUP, surf and foil boards available worldwide. And they are one of the sponsors for SUP My Race!
You can find out more about the brand on their website and through their social media - Facebook, YouTube and Instagram
SUP My Race is the best Facebook group for Stand Up Paddlers, or so I am told, and I am proud to be the geek behind it.