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| EO SUP Nebula FW |
In May I travelled across Sweden, through Lithuania and then into Latvia to meet the team at EO SUP in their base in Jūrmala, near Riga. I left them with one of their test boards, a Nebula FW 14 x 23” and this is my first look at this flatwater speed machine. You can read a little about my trip in my Latvia blog post that you can find here
About EO SUP
EO SUP are a small, family-run business based in Latvia that make custom SUP race boards and paddles. Boards are designed in-house by Artis and Maris then Maris makes them in the workshop space his carpentry business is based in. Equipped with a huge CNC machine and the knowledge to use it they can make pretty much anything!
EO SUP have been supporting SUP My Race, the longest running virtual challenge group on Facebook for Stand UP Paddlers for several years now, I am a huge fan of their paddles and now I am getting to know their red and carbon flatwater race SUP.
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| EO SUP Nebula FW |
About the Nebula
The Nebula is the third board in the EO SUP range after their Nova all round board and their first fast board, the Lucius. There are 2 boards in the Nebula range, Flat Water (FW) and Choppy Water (CW), both are boards born from testing on EO SUP’s home waters, the river Lielupe and the sheltered waters of the Baltic Sea.
This Nebula is a test board, on long-time loan from EO SUP HQ and was not custom-made for me. It is 14’ x 23” and has the stock 260l volume and is finished in a red/carbon abstract design. It tips the scales at 11.3kg with a prototype fin.
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| Nebula at Kalvö in Kungsbacka Fjord |
A board made for a customer will be finished to the customer's specifications and budget. And because EO SUP make a true custom board for each customer parameters can be tweaked to fit their needs, this is not a board designed by a committee for an average paddler. EO SUP make boards designed for one paddler, the customer.
The Shape
Starting at the front the bow is sharp, an elegant design that cuts through the water like a knife. The shape is such that it copes well with small waves from any direction with no perceived loss in speed and no deflection from your course. It also works well in heavier, rougher water, slicing through waves effortlessly on mini-downwinders (also known as downbreezers) but that is not what this board is designed for.
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| Nebula bow |
Moving back the top of the hull is low and flat, there is no deflector for water that comes over the top of the bow because that is not what this board is about, there is a subtle, raised EO SUP logo, a gore-tex vent and nothing else, if needed GoPro / FCS mounts can be specified as well fixings to carry a water bottle or a cargo net.
The Nebula is a dugout design and the deck is low, I am confident that I have not paddled another board where my feet are this close to the water. There are 2 pairs of drains, one pair in the middle of the board and another slightly further back, one-way valves were supplied for each drain if needed. I have the front two valves fitted as I am ever so slightly heavier than the 95kg weight limit and my feet have stayed dry, even when used on the sea in the Gothenburg archipelago.
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| Nebula deck |
The deck pad is custom, of course, on this board the main standing area is smooth and grippy with the sections towards the stern cut away with the EO SUP logo. This feels good underfoot and is a useful indicator when stepping back for a turn.
The deck rises towards the stern where there is a kickpad and a single leash attachment point. A forward leash point can be specified upfront if needed but I have used the carry handle to attach my short leash and this works well.
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| Nebula deck with Fortis paddle |
A single carry handle is in the middle of the board, and when picked up, with a fin and leash, the board is perfectly balanced. There are no alternative mounting points for other handles.
The hull is where the magic happens and it is very simple, no massive concave or complex shaping. After a spine from the elegant bow things flatten out and there is a very square, flat tail designed to minimise the wake and give little help to anyone drafting.
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| Nebula stern |
The rails are harder to describe, the flare from the bow fades into a not quite square rail in the mid-section which continues to the stern. Simple, Elegant. Fast.
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| Nebula hull, Fortis paddle and VMG fin |
The only feature on the hull is the fin box. This is simply the best-finished fin box I have ever seen, a tiny cutaway to get the plate in for a fin bolt and a perfect slot for the fin. I have never seen a fin box like this and I suspect that it is made in-house.
A VMG Mako 37 fin was supplied with the board, a big fin to match the big paddler but the board is so stable that I have not used the Mako much preferring a beautiful prototype fin from EO SUP, this is made from a carbon/wood laminate and it is far too pretty to be stuck under a SUP board! It also works very well, more details on that if it goes into production. I have also been using a FCS II Slater Trout which suits the board very well.
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| Nebula hull |
The need for speed
The main reason a paddler invests in a flatwater special is speed. And that is exactly why I reached out to Maris, I wanted to see how fast I could go.
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| Time Trial morning at the lake |
Back in Sweden, my first few paddles were to get to know the board and it felt really good, paired with the prototype fin from EO SUP the board was super-stable and felt very fast. I am not at all sure how Artis, the engineer/designer at EO and Maris, the craftsman who makes the boards have managed to create a narrow board that I can paddle slowly on a social breakfast paddle in the sea and then turn the volume up to 11 maintaining very high speeds when training at the lake.
It is a remarkable design. And very, very fast.
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| EO SUP Nebula first time trial |
Testing - the race of truth
In cycling the Time Trial is sometimes called the race of truth, a simple test against the clock testing an athlete's fitness and equipment. And this is the same test on a SUP, a time trial is a clear test of a board and paddler, there is no hiding from the clock.
And the Nebula passed the first time trial test with flying colours, an A++ pass. The SUP My Race time trial is an out-and-back challenge over 5km or 10km. That 5km time was a lifetime best by 91 seconds, with an actual average speed of 9.83 km/h. That is nearly 0.5 km/h faster than my previous best which might seem like a small increase but this is a relatively slow sport and a 5% increase in speed is huge.
Moving forward, rapidly
The EO SUP Nebula FW is a very well-designed, very well-made, very fast flatwater SUP. I think that TT demonstrates just how special this Nebula is and I am looking forward to getting more time on board this fantastic machine. It is so fast that I have had to reset my goals for the year, stay tuned to see how we get on…
You can follow my progress with this EO SUP Nebula on SUP My Race and with my regular training with Michael Booth blogs here.
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| EO SUP Nebula FW and Fortis paddle, Gothenburg Archipelago |