NSP Performance Race FSL - Progress Through Technology
We all (probably) know the phrase “Vorsprung durch Technik”, the advertising slogan used by Audi since the early 1980s. Probably the best advertising slogan in the World. OR maybe it’s that one. Either way, Progress Through Technology is where I want to focus today, not on Danish beer, but if Carlsberg want to send me some, then I’ll gladly start to test it!
The progress I want to talk about with the Performance Race FSL is not the fin box but the clever stuff at the other end of the board, the dual chamber on the top of the board.
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| Lower and upper limit of nose rocker adjustment on the NSP FSL |
If you have read my previous blog on the Performance Race FSL, you will know that there is a second air chamber covering the front third of the deck. This allows the paddler to change the shape at the front of the board and to change the nose rocker. After that blog, I received a few messages about the nose rocker and why that makes a difference.
What is Rocker?
Rocker is the term used to describe the amount of curve built into a board. Almost every SUP board has some degree of rocker from front to back, and this can be further described with the addition of two words: Nose and Tail.
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| NSP Carolina Evo, Performance Race FSL and Ninja noses. |
On the NSP Performance Race FSL, the nose rocker can be changed by adding or releasing air from the dual chamber. The tail rocker on this SUP, and most race SUPs, is tiny and cannot be changed, so I’m skipping past that to the interesting bit at the front.
Adjustable Nose Rocker
Nose rocker is one of the more important characteristics of a SUP, particularly a race SUP.
The flatter the front of a board is, the faster it will go in flatwater, when compared to a board with the same dimensions but with more nose rocker. This is because the flatter board will have a longer waterline and will move through the water more efficiently. A longer board is faster, and a flatter nose is faster.
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| The extra air chamber is deflated on the left, inflated on the right |
In this image, I have tried to show the difference by combining two images of the PR FSL, one with the chamber deflated and one with it inflated. The image almost works, but working alone on a windy day with one SUP and a phone presents challenges to the paddler/blogger. The difference when paddling is noticeable.
However
As conditions deteriorate, the board with some nose rocker will start to outpace its flatter-nosed sibling.
Getting the balance right
A disclaimer: I am not a board designer. But I have paddled a lot of SUPs from short to long, and this is my simplified view on nose rocker. Starting with a wave.
A wave approaching the front of your board has energy; when the wave reaches the front of your board, some of that energy will act on your board. The amount of energy depends on the size of the wave, and the way this energy acts on the board depends on the angle at which the wave and the board meet and what the paddler is doing at the time.
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| NSP Performance FLS in a wave-free zone. |
Let’s imagine a small wave, maybe the wake from a small boat that recently passed the other way on an otherwise flat body of water and your board will meet it at 90°. Nose on.
- If you are not paddling, then the wave will move you backwards, just a little.
- If you are drifting, then the wave will slow you down, and you might stop.
- If you are paddling, then you will feel the wave hit the nose of your board, and hopefully, you will continue moving forward after the wave passes.
- If you are not paying attention, then maybe the wave makes you fall in… maybe that is just me!
For a single wave, the nose rocker on your board makes almost no difference; if you are paddling, you will continue to move forward with only a little energy lost. In this situation, a board with low nose rocker will continue to move forward at a greater pace than a similar board with more nose rocker. The occasional wave makes no difference to a flatwater board.
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| NSP Carolina EVO on flatwater. |
But as waves increase in frequency and size, the energy required to continue moving forward increases, and the cumulative effect of those waves will impact the progress of the paddler.
Given my example, you would not be alone in thinking that a completely flat board would simply push through any increase in the number of waves with ease, and this is the case in slightly rough conditions. But as roughness increases, the advantages of some nose rocker become more apparent.
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| A flatwater board with its nose underwater. |
In my experience, once waves are consistently higher than the front of your board, then progress on a low nose rocker board becomes harder; for race hardboards, this is between 20 and 25 cm. A board with a little more nose rocker will be less affected. One of the reasons you will slow down is the buoyancy of the nose of your board; when that is underwater, it will want to rise; this acts as a breaking force on your progress. The speed difference between the two boards is reduced dramatically as conditions deteriorate.
Changing Conditions
As the angle between the board and waves decreases, less than 90°, the impact of the nose rocker is amplified. A board with less nose rocker will be pushed around more by the water, making the paddler work harder to maintain their course, working harder ultimately means slowing down. The paddler on the board with slightly more nose rocker will have an easier time maintaining course as their board will naturally rise over each wave. This saves energy for the paddler and maintains speed.
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| Top: NSP Ninja. Middle: NSP Performance Race FSL. Bottom: NSP Carolina Evo |
I think that this is the easiest way to describe the difference between my Ninja and Carolina EVO in rougher water. When conditions mean that the Ninja will have its nose underwater frequently, then I know it is time to get the Carolina Evo.
Moving away from the flat water example I am using, the nose rocker is easily demonstrated in the sea.
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| NSP Performance Race FSL at the coast |
If you are lucky enough to paddle on a calm day with a gentle swell, you will know how the rise and fall of the sea can work against you, or with you, when paddling into swell. A flatwater board will drop down the back of a bump and bury its nose into the face of the next bump, while an all-water board will go with the flow, riding up the next bump before accelerating down the back of it.
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| NSP Racer, Christian Andersen managing his board in not-flat water |
Paddlers adapt to conditions by changing the trim of the board. Moving backwards and forwards has a huge impact on the attitude of a board, and most paddlers can make a board work in a range of conditions. But even the most skilled paddler will find there is a limit, that point when they know that a different board would be faster in challenging conditions.
This is a massively oversimplified description; the design of the front of a SUP has many more variables than just the nose rocker. But I hope this gives an idea of how nose rocker is related to performance.
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| Three very different NSP noses |
Back to my example, the large body of fairly flat water. For infrequent waves, the flatter board will be faster, punching through with minimal energy loss. As wave frequency and wave size increase or as waves hit the board at different angles, the energy losses increase, making the paddler work harder to maintain the same speed. This is where some extra nose rocker would help, allowing the nose to rise over waves, deflecting the wave energy below the board.
That brings me back to the Performance Race FSL, a board with an adjustable nose.
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| NSP Performance Race FSL |
This feature allows the paddler to set the nose rocker for the conditions they will paddle in most during any session on the water. If you get to your favourite spot and it is glassy flat, don’t put any air in the dual chamber and fly! If conditions are more challenging, pump it up and feel the benefits on the water, getting your training done.
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| NSP Performance Race at a lake |
This feature makes the board very versatile, and I have been paddling it at all of my local spots, on lakes, and in the open sea. At the lakes, I have not inflated the dual chamber any more than needed to fill it; this is only because it looks very strange having no air at all in it!
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| NSP Performance Race FSL at the coast |
Taking a 25” wide inflatable to the sea was a confidence test; my favourite spot has a lot of islands, and these make for interesting conditions as water and wind move around them. One side of an island can be glassy flat, while the other can present a challenge for the paddler on a narrow board. Here is where I put some pressure into the dual chamber to increase the nose rocker and … it works! It works well enough that I accidentally caught a wave on my first sea paddle and then went looking for bumps the second time out. I don’t do that on flatwater boards.
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| NSP Race, Christian Andersen, on his Performance Race FSL |
On race day, this feature is even more useful: a one-board quiver. If you are heading to a race and are unsure of the conditions, then grab a few fins because you won’t want to race with the touring fin that comes with the PR FSL, and decide how you want to set the board up when you get there.
Since the NSP Performance Race FSL arrived in Sweden, I have paddled approximately 200 km, unequally split between my three NSP boards. Half of my total has been on the PR FSL. Naturally, there is some paddler bias towards the new toy in the garage, but I wouldn’t be using the board if I didn’t enjoy paddling it. I certainly would not be training on it if it didn't work well.
We know that the Performance Race FSL is fast, almost as fast as a hardboard. If your competitors have the wrong board for the conditions on the start line, then you will have the right inflatable to beat them to the finish line.
Paddle fast. Have fun!
NSP are one of the leading SUP and Surf brands and are active all around the world. You can find out more about their SUP Range on the NSP website https://www.nspsurfboards.com and on their Facebook and Instagram pages. They have recently launched a dedicated SUP Race Instagram account - NSP Racing.
You can find me running the Facebook group SUP My Race and now, occasionally, on Instagram.