SUP Karmen FSP Pro

For whom?

It’s the board for the one who doesn’t want any hassles: it works all the time.

It will be perfect for a Pro who wants comfort and high performance. But also for an almost beginner who will find in the big sizes a mellow and progressive board.

Neither wide nor narrow, it is easy to paddle and fast. You don’t need to be a world champion to stand on it.

The range comes in all possible sizes: there is one bound to be yours.

Either you’re a hot head, and you want to size down, or you want a cool board and you’re going to take it with a generous volume.

For what?

The Karmen is the board that does it all.

Small or big waves, soft or hollow, glassy or choppy, smooth curves or radical tricks, it does it all.

What size?

• The 6'10 is best of the line for pros up to 65kg.
• The 7'3 is best for pros up to 75kg.
• The 7'8 is best for experienced riders up to 85kg.
• The 7'11 is best for experienced riders weighing up to 95kg.
• The 8’4 starts to be more gentle, perfect for athletic riders up to 90kg.
• The 8'9 is cool for those under 90kg who are not very sporty and want comfort.
• The 9'2 is "easy" for those under 100kg who are not very sporty and want comfort.
• The 9'10 is super easy for everyone.

Quiver partners?

The Karmen sits at the center in a SUP quiver. It's self-sufficient and goes with everything. It’s often the board we take when the choice is not obvious. If hesitating: Karmen!

When the conditions are ideal for a Noserider, it’s obvious. We will hit the line-up with a NFA or a Noserider even more typified like the Soul or the Neverstick.

If we want more explosiveness, we’ll complete this Karmen with an Alley. And if we want more explosivity in the soft waves, we’ll get a Mob.

The Karmen will not have a hard time finding its place in a surfing quiver because it’s a board that does everything or almost everything. It will then be an alternative, but not a complement.

Which fin set-up?

Tri-Fin is the best option for nice curves on the Karmen.

The Quad works very well, especially on the bigger sizes to maximize the grip of the tail and boost the top speed and acceleration.

All the classic setups work, no particular gain in performance if you’re trying to get exotic. A good set of Performers will be perfect. Switch to Carvers if you want more directional stability (control).

To go further in the performance, Toledo and Wilson are top of the line, Fanning are more powerful for the same size. These Fins are only sold as a Tri-Fin set. To be completed with separately sold rear quads if you want all the configurations.

Take your recommended Fin size or just above. No less. You will need grip to harness its potentiel.

Reminder of the recommended FCS2 Fin sizes:

• XS for those under 55 kg / 120 Lbs
• S for 55 kg - 70 kg / 120 Lbs - 155 Lbs
• M for 65 kg - 80 kg / 145 Lbs - 175 Lbs
• L for 75 kg - 90 kg / 165 Lbs - 200 Lbs
• XL for those over 85 kg / 190 Lbs.

 Note that before the shape, it is the material of the fins that makes the performance. Remember that the stiffer the fins, the better it works. Yes, a pro needs good fins, but an amateur also needs to go fast because speed is the basis of all maneuvers.

Never take shorter, unless perhaps for kiting.

A surfer who wants more speed, more beautiful curves, cleaner surfing, working on his speed gain, will take one size above the recommended size.

How to compose a Quad that suits you:

In a setup that mixes sets, consider that the front side fins do the grip and the acceleration; and the rear ones do the pivot, the drive and a little bit of grip. So, focus on good side fins adapted to your need for power and speed.

Flat inner-sided quad rears have more grip and less glide. A stronger grip, but a top speed and a handling one notch below the curved inner faces (20/80 for example). Favor the flat sides despite everything.

And too big quad rears totally block the handling of your board, giving you the impression that its tail "floats" too much in the curves. Hateful. Better too small than too big.

In 9'10 the Karmen fin set-up is 2 + 1, so two FCS2 side fins and a US center fin. The goal is to increase the size of the center to give more drive to this big board. To make it more maneuverable, you can equip it with a sharper fin than the standard one. You can keep two big side fins and mount a 6" or 7" Clique, or Connect center fins, which will give you more smoothness in the rail to rail, and make the rollers go in automatic mode. The front of the center fin 1cm behind the tips of the side fins for maximum maneuverability and 5cm behind the tips of the side fins for maximum control.

Some major assembly guidelines:

• Side fins of 115mm + center fin of 6": not enough drive, it’ll skid out a lot.
• Side fins of 115mm + center fin of 7”: ideal for a maximum of handling and freedom in the curves.
• Side fins of 115mm + center fin of 8”: perfect turn management and nice curves.
• Side fins of 115mm + center fin of 9”: a lot of drive, probably too much.
• Side fins of 115mm + center fin of 10”: too much unless you weigh 120 kg.

The front of the center fin 1cm to 2cm behind the tips of the side fins

How long should your paddle be?

Between your height and your height + 5cm, ideally in the Pro version for its weight. You can take it a bit shorter if you are into a more radical drive. Some cut it at the height of their eyebrows.

Which leash?

Take the length of your board: 7’ to 10’.

Take the length of your board and a 10’ for the 12’. Under shoulder high waves, reduced diameter (6mm) will make you gain a lot of speed. Above you must have a minimum of 7mm.

Check its condition before each session and change it every year. This is your life jacket.

• Rocker: important for managing the slope and turning short even at full speed.
• Rails: vertical and hard at the tail then soft at the front for a real shortboard feeling.
• Volume: the bare minimum for a given size in order to maintain comfort when paddling AND surfing for a lightweight.
• Outline: Moderate widths at the ends to ensure comfort and stability.
• Deck: flat for more stability.
• Bottom: single concave to double concave to light V double concave.
• Tail: sleek diamond square tail for limitless aggression.
• Nose: bullet nose.

Two main areas of work guided the development of the Karmen: the bullet nose and the hull in single concave (under the paddling position) then double concave (between the feet in surfing position) ending in a V (under the rear foot).

The Karmen's bullet nose provides the useful surface area to relax when paddling . Both when you put it on the water, you really feel its helpful surface area, but especially because this nose tightens the front lines of the board. The width is felt from the toes when paddling because the outline line is a bit wider from the mid beam. Finally, these outline lines of the front third are more parallel than on a point nose, which prevents the board from making mistakes when you dig in a little at takeoff. This nose is more comfortable in every way.

The shape of this thin nose focuses on the surface area to carry you. The volume is concentrated towards the center of the board, where it is most useful to you. This new distribution of the volume/surface ratio thins the board and allows for more aggressive, but also easier, surfing . Stability is better than with a point nose, so you can choose the volume as precisely as possible without fear of repeated falls as soon as the water gets choppy.

The hull is particularly well-designed, in line with all the other parameters. A flat nose for carrying without making mistakes . The concave in the center of the board gives a lot of stability when paddling and acceleration at the bottom. The double concave in front of the side fins distributes the water on these fins dedicated to acceleration and creates a central V as a rail-to-rail tipping point. Finally, the tail ends in a pronounced V to assert the rail-to-rail and free the board in the turns.

The centered midplane provides tight turning radii and great liveliness. The board feels light underfoot. This midplane placement encourages you to move your feet back to take full advantage of this shape's maneuverability.

The diamond tail is buoyant to maintain relaunch in soft waves. It carries a little less than a pure square tail, and gives more rail-to-rail riding. You really feel the board lighter under the supports. But this width extended to the tail will stretch the outline line behind the back foot and stabilize the board at high speed. The opposite of a round tail, for example, which would have given too much maneuverability, to the point of losing a lot of control and docility. This diamond tail counterbalances the set-back main beam to balance the overall behavior.

This pure shortboard rocker is relatively pronounced to provide security on slopes. Since the bottom captures a lot of water to make the board spin, the rocker can be more pronounced without losing lift. And the central concave tightens the central rocker line for more speed and acceleration. We have a board that turns short as soon as you put it on the rail, and that spins on flat sections.

The rails are round and smooth up front and clearly aggressive from the mid-beam. This is a modern board that likes to surf with speed and explosiveness.

The volume is delicately distributed with a dominant position around the handle to maintain a thin tail and distribute the liters where you need them. No worries about the thickness of the rails at this level because the domed deck plan erases the volume near the rails on this wide board.

Delivery delay

We indicate a preparation and shipping time of 3 working days. In reality, the majority of orders are shipped within 24/48 hours.

The delivery time, i.e. delivery time of the package to your home, then depends on the delivery location and the carrier.

We work with reliable and efficient carriers. 99% of shipments go perfectly and quickly. In the case of the remaining 1%, rest assured that we will do what is necessary with the carrier.

Shipping fees

Unlike other sites, shipping costs are not hidden behind the price of our products. You know exactly what shipping costs you, and you are not disadvantaged if you choose to collect your order at our GONG Space Center.

Shipping costs are calculated based on the weight and volume of each package, and your delivery address.

Tracking your package

Delivery tracking is managed directly by the carriers to whom we have entrusted your packages. They will contact you by email or SMS to allow you to choose delivery methods and follow the route of your package.

Carriers

We work with the best transport societies to deliver to you throughout Europe and the world within very short deadlines. We chose them for their quality of service and their compliance with deadlines.

For mainland France, 80% of your orders arrive at their destination in less than 48 hours of processing.

For Europe, delivery times vary from 3 to 6 working days, depending on the country of destination.

For the rest of the world, delivery times depend on transit time and customs clearance time. This delay depends on customs and can last from a few days to a few weeks depending on the destination and seasonality.

Please note, transport time is added to preparation/shipping time. Two companies collaborate on your order (GONG and the carrier). Each one masters its activity and is committed to optimizing its deadlines so that you are delivered as quickly as possible and at a reasonable price.

Eco-responsible packaging

Preserving the environment is an absolute priority. This is why we do everything possible to reduce our ecological footprint.

The most important thing is to sell quality, durable products that will be repairable and will please you for a long time.

For our shipments, we use:

Scotch craft paper.

Final packaging in high-end cardboard.

For rigid boards: Flexi-Hex, very high resistance ecological packaging.

This means:

Reusable and recyclable packaging.

An almost total reduction in single-use plastic.

Maximum protection and impact resistance for rigid boards thanks to the innovative Flexi-Hex honeycomb design (35mm thick).

Receipt of your product

Upon delivery, check the condition of your package in the presence of the carrier. A complete explanation email on the procedure to follow will be sent to you when your order is shipped.

Despite our requirements and all the care we take in the packaging and protection of your product, transport hazards may occur, and your product may suffer more or less significant transport damage.

Note that the products are protected in their carton. If you have any doubts, simply refuse delivery and contact us.