Beau Lake Vilebrequin iSUP Review – Designer All-Around Paddling | 2025

Beau Lake Vilebrequin iSUP Review – Overview

Looking good is at least half of doing anything well, and stand up paddle boarding is no exception.

We’ve all got different styles, and if the basic two-tone look of most iSUPs isn’t doing it for you, Beau Lake has you covered with an iSUP collaboration with designer beach and leisure-wear company Vilebrequin.

The Beau Lake Vilebrequin is a beautiful all-around inflatable paddle board with design inspiration from Polynesia to keep you looking timelessly sharp on the water.

— Beau Lake Vilebrequin iSUP Review Summary and Ratings —

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Beau Lake Vilebrequin iSUP Review – Construction and Durability

The Beau Lake Vilebrequin iSUP is built with two layers of PVC and a triple layer rail construction for maximum longevity and durability.

Inside the Vilebrequin iSUP is a drop-stitch core made with a woven base layer fabric and a standard drop stitching pattern. The woven fabric layer helps reduce weight while also reducing stretch to make the board lighter and stiffer than those with knitted fabrics.

The top and bottom base layers are connected with thousands of fibers in a standard V-shape drop stitch pattern. This differs from Beau Lake’s other iSUP, the Newport, which uses an X-shape “cross-woven” drop stitching pattern. The actual difference between the two is fairly minimal, but in our experience the cross-woven patterns help marginally reduce weight and increase stiffness compared to the traditional V-shape.

The shell of the board is made with a dual-layer fusion PVC material. This uses a layer of PVC and a layer of reinforced PVC tarpaulin that are machine-laminated directly to each other and the base layer of the core using heat and pressure. Fusion construction essentially bonds all three layers into one single piece of material. This helps increase rigidity and reduce any potential for air gaps between the layers.

Lastly, the deck and hull of the board are joined together with a triple layer rail system. While we’ve seen similar body constructions, this rail system is definitely not a common method. There is an inner band of PVC material heat-welded to the top and bottom of the board. This creates the airtight chamber for the board and it’s technically ready to hit the water at this point. But, Beau Lake adds a second welded layer to the first, and then covers those inner layers with a third outer layer of PVC glued on top.

The total weight for the Vilebrequin (after all of the board features are added) is just 20 pounds even on our scale. Beau Lake lists a maximum inflation pressure of 20 PSI on their website, however the board itself is labeled as only having a maximum pressure of 15 PSI. Beau Lake has told us this is simply a precaution against overpressurization in the board on hot days, and their maximum pressure is 20 PSI. However, out of safety concerns for our testers and as a reasonable expectation of what anyone will see while inflating their board at the beach, we will only ever test a product at its highest pressure rating according to what is printed on the product.

At just 15 PSI, the Vilebrequin iSUP still did quite well in our static bend test. With 170 pounds placed in the standing area of the board, the Vilebrequin bent just 1.46”. That’s a little better than our running average of 1.61” for more than 130 different iSUPs. We have found that increasing pressure from 15 PSI to 20 PSI has a recognizable improvement in rigidity, so it would be nice to see Beau Lake reconcile the listed maximum pressure on the board with their website.

On the water, the Beau Lake Vilebrequin felt exactly as I expected. I didn’t notice any flex in the board while standing and paddling normally, and I only noticed flex when paddling hard while I was looking for it.

Bouncing on the board did generate a moderate amount of flex, and it did have a tighter/springier rebound as it settled down. I’ve found this to be common in iSUPs that are both lighter and more rigid than average.

Overall, the Beau lake Vilebrequin iSUP is built well. The dual layer shell and triple layer rail keep the board rigid and lightweight without any concern for durability or longevity.

Specifications

Beau Lake Vilebrequin iSUP Review – Features, Accessories and Versatility

The Vilebrequin iSUP is an all-around paddle board with a core set of features and accessories that allow you to focus more on the design of the board than how many things you can attach to it.

The Beau Lake Vilebrequin comes with a complete accessory kit including:

• Wheeled carrying backpack
• Carbon fiber three-piece paddle
• 9” all-around fin
• Coiled ankle leash
• Double-chamber/triple-action hand pump
• Repair kit

The Beau Lake wheeled bag is also co-branded with Vilebrequin and is made of recycled plastic material. The Vilebrequin does get an upgrade in its accessory kit with a double-chamber pump (compared to the Beau Lake Newport’s single-chamber pump), and the coiled leash is much easier to manage when paddling on flat water.

Beau Lake Vilebrequin iSUP Review – Paddle

Beau Lake includes an extremely high-quality three-piece full carbon fiber paddle with the Vilebrequin iSUP.

While first unpacking the Vilebrequin from its shipping box I was stopped dead in my tracks when I picked up the paddle. Even with its protective packaging still on I could feel how light it was in my hands. I stopped what I was doing and weighed it. Twice. 20.7 ounces.

Now, that may not mean much to you, so let me put it into perspective. First, Beau Lake is the only company I know of that is shipping full carbon fiber paddles as “kit” paddles with their iSUPs. So a lightweight “kit” paddle is about 29 ounces. That’s a full half-pound heavier than Beau Lake’s. My travel racing paddle – designed to be as ultimately light as possible – is 19.3 ounces, and it cost twice as much as buying Beau Lake’s paddle alone.

So, when I say it’s incredibly lightweight, I mean incredibly lightweight. The whole paddle is made with carbon fiber from the handle to the blade, and the blade is finished off with a walnut veneer and turtle design that matches the bottom of the Vilebrequin board.

The blade is a medium-large teardrop shape and since it is made of carbon fiber, there is very little flex. These two together lend the paddle to best being used at a slower pace or you are going to feel it in your body later. But, the same combination also goes a long way in the Vilebrequin’s speed test results below.

The handle section (also carbon fiber) has a length scale and an indexing groove, so the handle will always be aligned with the blade.

Beau Lake Vilebrequin iSUP Review – Stability

The Beau Lake Vilebrequin has average stability for its actual, the problem is, it’s listed as a 34” wide board, but it measures 31” wide. As of December 17, 2024, Beau Lake still has the Vilebrequin iSUP specifications showing 34” width. We have contacted Beau Lake about this and they responded indicating that the listed width is incorrect and the specified width is 32”. We’ll keep an eye on the Beau Lake website to see when this specification gets corrected.

Width is one of the biggest factors when it comes to paddle board stability. Some variance in width is expected, and we ignore any difference in specified versus measured width if it is less than 0.5” different. However, any difference 0.5” or greater we indicate in our own specifications (listed above) and again if it impacts board performance.

In this case, the Beau Lake Vilebrequin is 1” narrower than the confirmed specifications (31” measured vs 32” specified), and 3” narrower than the listed specification (34”), and that noticeably changes stability in either comparison.

On the water, the Vilebrequin iSUP does feel exactly like what I would expect from a 31” wide all-around board. It’s slightly less stable than your standard 32” wide iSUPs, but the rigidity and outline of the board contribute to a consistent and comfortable feel on the water.

I didn’t feel the board roll or twitch on its own, but I did note that stability was impacted by small chop from mild to moderate wind (10-15 mph). I could feel the board reacting more quickly in these choppier conditions than in flatter conditions.

While paddling, the Vilebrequin was consistently stable, and I didn’t have any issues holding the board on its edge in flat water thanks to the wider nose and tail. Similarly, walking to the tail for a pivot turn felt consistent, though the narrower overall width did make the board a bit more reactive when I was in full surf stance on the back of the board and lifting the nose out of the water.

Even with its slightly smaller size, the Vilebrequin iSUP behaved how I expected it to. I think it is better suited for paddlers under 200 pounds (even though it has a 275 pound maximum rider weight), especially if you’ll be in more exposed conditions.

Beau Lake Vilebrequin iSUP Review – Speed

The Vilebrequin iSUP is sporty feeling on the water with quick acceleration thanks to the large carbon fiber paddle, but does take some strength to maintain.

In our speed testing, the Vilebrequin iSUP did well overall for an all-around iSUP. A big part of this, though, is the large, stiff, carbon fiber paddle that comes with the board.

At a sustained sprint of 75 strokes per minute, I was able to keep the Vilebrequin iSUP moving at an average speed of 4.8 MPH. But when going all out, I was able to hit a much higher peak speed of 5.6 MPH. I can tell you right away that the paddle played a large role in this peak speed based on how physically demanding it was to reach that speed. Not only is the paddle quite stiff, but it’s also more difficult to paddle at higher cadences with wider teardrop blades. After just a few short sprints I was absolutely feeling the effort in my shoulders and back.

Now, while that doesn’t sound very comfortable, the good news is that the larger blade is much more comfortable to use at lower speeds.

At 25 strokes per minute, the Vilebrequin iSUP easily cruised along at an average speed of 3.5 MPH with very little effort. That is on the faster side of average for all-around paddle boards at this pace. And while paddling at a cruising pace, a single paddle stroke was able to move me about 20 feet before I felt it slow down giving the Vilebrequin kit a gliding ratio of 1.9 board-lengths per stroke. That’s what we expect to see in dedicated touring boards.

The power of a larger, and stiffer, paddle is quite evident here. There’s not much difference in shape between the Vilebrequin and many other all-around iSUPs with much lower efficiency scores, but there is a big difference in paddle size and stiffness.

Beau Lake Vilebrequin iSUP Review – Maneuverability and Tracking

All-around iSUPs are meant to be easy to paddle in a variety of conditions and uses. That means a good balance of maneuverability and tracking. The Vilebrequin iSUP handles both quite well.

The Vilebrequin iSUP passed our maneuverability testing without breaking a sweat. Using forward sweep strokes, it took just 5.5 strokes on average to turn in a complete circle. An “average” all-around board will take a bit over 6.

Throwing the paddle in reverse will spin you around even quicker, needing just 3.5 strokes on average to make the same 360-degree turn.

While casually paddling the Vilebrequin iSUP, I found that it turned quickly while underway, especially for the first 90 degrees or so. Walking to the tail for a quick pivot turn felt OK, but did take a bit more concentration once the nose was out of the water. However, once the nose was lifted, I could easily and quickly spin the board around with just a few quick strokes.

Our tracking test results were good for a 10’6” board, but fairly average overall. After 10 paddle strokes on a single side, the Vilebrequin iSUP was off its original course by about 16 degrees. Now, that is a little better than average for an all-around board, but not quite the same level of “better” as its maneuverability performance.

While actually paddling the Vilebrequin iSUP (not during the tracking test), I found it to feel pretty “normal.” I could keep it moving straight when I wanted with just a little bit of steering input. I didn’t feel like I had to change sides more frequently, but I could tell that I needed to do more steering work if I wanted to keep paddling on one side for longer than usual.

Beau Lake placed a single fin box under the tail of the Vilebrequin iSUP, but rather than using a US (Universal Standard) fin box like they did on the Newport, they opted for a proprietary clip-in system. This means that you won’t be able to adjust your board’s performance (or draft for shallow water) by changing fins.

On one hand, the clip-in fin is very easy to install and remove, and requires no tools for either (just press the button on the back of the fin box). On the other hand, a proprietary fin box can lead to other issues. There’s no way you are finding a handy replacement for this fin if you lose or break it, and the spring mechanism in the box will be more prone to damage and degradation from salt and sand over time.

Beau Lake Vilebrequin iSUP Review – Warranty and Customer Support

Beau Lake offers a 3-year warranty against manufacturing defects for the Vilebrequin iSUP. Their paddles are covered under a 5-year warranty, and all other accessories are covered for 1 year. Additionally, they do have a 30-day return period for unused equipment. You can reach Beau Lake customer service online through their website chat feature or web form.

Beau Lake Vilebrequin iSUP Review – Final Thoughts

Blindfolded, I would put the Beau Lake Vilebrequin up against any other standard size all-around iSUP and have a hard time telling them apart. The rigidity and performance on the water are good, and while it’s a little less stable than a 32” board, it’s exactly what I’d expect for a 31” iSUP.

What sets the Vilebrequin iSUP apart is in its name. Literally. It is a designer paddle board, and as such, has a designer price tag. At $1400 retail price, this is the most expensive all-around board we’ve ever tested by a good margin. Now, part of that is the board’s construction and the excellent paddle it comes with. But you are still paying significantly more for the Vilebrequin name and Raiatea pattern. If that exact pattern isn’t going to be the deciding factor for you, though, then there are many similarly-performing all-around boards we can recommend at various price points. But, if that is what calls to you and enhances your experience on the water, then I give the Vilebrequin my blessing as a solid choice for an all-around iSUP.

Beau Lake Vilebrequin iSUP Review – FAQ