Sea Gods Ketos ULF iSUP Review – A Fast Touring Shape Meets Unique Designs | 2024

Sea Gods Ketos ULF iSUP Review – Overview

No two paddlers are the same, but one thing that nearly every paddle boarder says as they progress from beginner to intermediate skill is “I want a faster board.” There’s something magical about gliding across the water with near-effortless efficiency as the miles melt away behind you.

The Sea Gods Ketos ULF is an inflatable SUP designed for those paddlers looking to go faster. Its long waterline and narrower outline give it some amazing speed and efficiency on the water. With enough features for day-touring and ultralight overnight trips, enough speed and efficiency for fitness and racing, and (as always with Sea Gods) some incredible artwork, the Ketos ULF is a great choice for scratching that itch to go faster, and looking good while doing it!

— Sea Gods Ketos ULF iSUP Review Summary and Ratings —

Sea Gods Ketos ULF iSUP Review – Construction and Durability

The Ketos ULF is built with Sea Gods’ UltraLight Fusion construction that blends lightweight and durable materials with a unique design and artwork.

Inside the Ketos ULF you’ll find a core made with a woven polyester fabric for the top and bottom layers of the board connected with thousands of yarns to give the board its 6” thickness and keep the deck and hull flat (well, flat-ish – more on that in a minute).

The woven fabric base layer uses less material and has less flex than a traditional knitted fabric used on the majority of iSUPs on the market. This keeps the Ketos ULF extra light while still keeping it quite stiff. The drop stitch yarns use a standard V-shape pattern, whereas the updated Ketos CX (CrossWeave) has alternating stitching that creates X-shaped stitching that further reduces weight and increases rigidity.

The outer shell of the Ketos ULF is made with a thicker, high-density, reinforced single layer PVC material that is bonded directly to the underlying fabric layer with heat and pressure. This Fusion material eliminates the weight and potential errors from hand-gluing the PVC to the core, and it increases the overall stiffness of the board compared to glued layups.

The top and bottom of the board are joined together with a heat-molded seam. Sea Gods has described this process to us as using a high-heat glue, warming the PVC materials, and pressing them into a mold to “pre-stretch” the PVC to prevent it from stretching after the glue has cured. The heat-pressed seam is then covered with another layer of reinforced PVC around the edge of the board. Lastly, two narrow bands of reinforced PVC are glued to the top and bottom edges of this outer rail layer for additional reinforcement.

Normally, this would be the end of the construction process for boards like the Elemental Wave ULF or Diatom ULF. However, the Ketos gets some special treatment with a unique design/construction element in the front half of the board.

Sea Gods has built in what they refer to as a “displacement hull” in the front of the board. There’s some technical reasons why I put that in quotes that aren’t important for this review, but essentially the idea of this design element is to increase the efficiency of the Ketos ULF with a cleaner and more efficient interaction with the water.

To make this hull shape, Sea Gods purposely cuts and re-builds the front of the Ketos in a specific way to let the board inflate to this desired shape. The center of the hull expands down into a V-shape from the tip of the nose almost all the way to the standing area of the board.

This hull shape does create a relatively clean entry at the front of the board and the rounded shape can more gently and consistently move through choppy conditions – particularly allowing side-chop to more easily move under the nose of the board instead of slapping against a hard edge on the rail of the board. In the photo above you can see how far back this displacement hull extends and the effect it has on the overall rocker profile of the board. Because of its large size, the rounded hull is very noticeable while standing on the board (more on that in the stability section below) and it does force the front of the board into a cambered, or reversed, rocker shape (more on that in the speed section below).

With the deck pad and all of the other built-in features added to the board, the Ketos ULF weighs in at 25.5 pounds for the board only. It has a maximum inflation pressure of 20 PSI and a maximum weight capacity of 350 pounds.

Generally speaking, the lighter, longer, and narrower an inflatable paddle board is shaped, the more it is likely to bend. In our standardized bend test the Ketos ULF did fairly well. At 20 PSI the Ketos ULF bent 1.89” with 170 pounds in the standing area of the board.

While this is a bit below our running average of 1.62”, considering the Ketos’ size, shape, and weight, it actually did quite well. But what is more important is how the board feels on the water.

On the water I did not feel any noticeable flex or bend in the Ketos while standing on the board or during normal paddling up to a moderately fast speed.

While turning things up to higher speed, I did notice some flex in the board when I was looking for it, but not enough that I felt it was greatly impacting the Ketos’ performance.

Walking on the board likewise generated very little flex, but bouncing on the board did generate a moderate amount of bend. Once I stopped bouncing up and down, the Ketos ULF settled down with a very smooth-feeling rebound.

Sea Gods’ ULF construction has been an excellent product for many years now. The Ketos stays relatively light and rigid-feeling on the water, and the double-reinforced seams are designed to last. My only durability concern for the Ketos is with the additional seam created by the shaping in the hull, however with basic iSUP care it should not be an issue. Always remember to reduce the pressure (or completely deflate) your board if it will not be used for an extended period of time.

Specifications

Sea Gods Ketos ULF iSUP Review – Features, Accessories and Versatility

The Ketos ULF is designed to be a fast-touring and light racing iSUP. It’s built with enough features to hold everything you need for a race across the bay or a longer expedition trip with lightweight equipment.

As a touring/racing paddle board the overall feature set of the Ketos is designed to offer just enough for what you need on the water without unnecessary additions. It easily holds everything you need for day touring, fitness paddling, racing, and even some light expedition paddling if you have some smaller, ultralight-style, camping equipment.

The Ketos comes with a complete paddle board kit with everything you need to hit the water except for a well-fit PFD/Life Jacket. In the Ketos ULF package you receive:

• Sea Gods Ketos ULF Touring/Racing iSUP
• Wheeled transportation backpack
• 3-piece Carbon Fiber/Nylon paddle
• Coiled ankle leash
• Double-chamber/triple-action hand pump
• 9” touring flex fin
• Maintenance and repair kit

The Sea Gods accessories are high quality items that work well. I particularly like how well made and comfortable the wheeled backpack is. Many paddle boards come with a bag that barely fits everything it comes with, much less anything else, but the Sea Gods bag is spacious, durable, easy to use, and even compresses well to keep everything in place during transportation.

Sea Gods Ketos ULF iSUP Review – Paddle

The Ketos ULF comes with Sea Gods’ three-piece carbon fiber/nylon hybrid paddle. This paddle is great for cruising, but does leave room for improvement for distance touring, fitness, and racing.

The Sea Gods 3-piece carbon fiber paddle has a high quality carbon fiber shaft and handle section paired with a fiber-reinforced nylon blade designed for all-around use.

The carbon fiber shaft is lightweight and has a medium-stiff profile on the water. The 3K carbon fiber twill has a great look and feels very comfortable in your hand. What really impresses me about the Sea Gods paddle is the comfort of the molded carbon fiber handle. The T-grip design has a medium size top that fits nicely in the hand with a deep, asymmetrical shape to fit flat against your palm with a large area for your fingers to securely grip the handle without needing any texturing. The molded carbon fiber construction makes the handle seamless and feels great.

The front of the handle section has length markings to easily set the paddle to your preferred height, and the back of the handle section has an indexing groove to align your handle with the paddle blade.

Normally an indexing groove like this is a very nice addition to a paddle that makes setup even faster and more accurate. However, over the last few years we’ve noticed that a little over a third of the paddles we’ve received from Sea Gods have had misaligned indexing. Some as little as a few degrees, and others up to about 30° off. This is a manufacturing defect and is covered by Sea God’s warranty, but it is disappointing to see so many of the same defect in a relatively small sample size (about 15 board kits in total). Make sure to check your paddle alignment when your kit arrives, and if there are any issues, contact Sea Gods for a replacement.

The blade on the Sea Gods paddle uses a fiber reinforced nylon material for durability. Combined with the medium-large teardrop size to provide more power in a single stroke, this does make the paddle a bit heavy and off-balanced. While this is not an issue for casual cruising on boards like the Diatom or Elemental Wave, the Ketos is designed for fast-paced and long-distance paddling.

Overall, the Sea Gods paddle is a good starter option for casual cruising. I would love to see Sea Gods develop a touring-oriented paddle option for boards like the Ketos and Carta Marina with a lighter and more efficient blade (see the Speed section below for why).

Sea Gods Ketos ULF iSUP Review – Stability

When designing a board for speed, stability is often one of the sacrificed elements. The Ketos ULF has decent stability for its size, but is not recommended for beginner paddlers.

When we talk about stability in an iSUP, we usually focus on the board’s overall outline shape and its width. With the Ketos’ rounded nose hull, we also have to consider the hull shape – something that’s typically reserved for higher end composite SUPs.

At 14’ long and 28.5” at its widest, the Ketos ULF is a little large for a racing-oriented iSUP, and about perfectly sized for a faster expedition touring board.

While 28.5” may seem narrow compared to a typical all-around paddle board (usually around 32”), the overall volume and extra length of the Ketos does help offset some of that reduced width.

When standing on the Ketos for the first time, it has a very unique feeling on the water. The rounded hull under the nose makes the board feel a little bit like it’s rolling side to side. For newer paddlers this sensation can be a little unnerving, but you do begin to compensate for it after a few minutes. It’s most noticeable when you try to hold the board perfectly flat. If you lean slightly onto one side or the other, the board no longer feels like it’s rolling side-to-side. However, it does still feel “round,” and can be a little harder to hold on its edge for long periods of time.

This rolling sensation is exaggerated by the outline of the board. The long tapered shoulders and hips of the board, along with the narrower tail size, don’t have as much rolling resistance as similar size boards with more width in the hips and shoulders like the Hydrus Paradise X (13’3” x 28.5”).

The rounded hull is designed to give the Ketos ULF a more efficient entry through the water first, but it’s also going to help with the board stability in choppy conditions.

By rounding the shape of the hull at the nose, the Ketos ULF has a smoother transition from rail to hull. This lets incoming side-chop slide under the board easier rather than running into a hard edge and corner. This is great for consistently choppy conditions, however on a recent trip to Lake Powell I found the Ketos to be less confidence-inspiring in chaotic conditions where wake and waves were coming from multiple angles at once. This is a pretty niche experience, but the outcomes resulted in the tapered shape of the Ketos feeling as stable as a more parallel-shaped board that is 2” narrower.

When the Ketos ULF does tip side to side the rounded hull gives it a very smooth and consistent feeling as you move from one rail to the other. The longer shape of the board helps draw out the widest section of the board with smooth transitions to the nose and tail. This helps it feel more solid when you are holding the board on its edge. It also gives a consistent change in stability when walking to the back of the board for a pivot turn. There aren’t any sudden changes in stability as you move position, but the overall stability does decrease noticeably as you approach the tail of the board.

While the Ketos ULF does not have a beginner-friendly level of stability, it is still a very stable iSUP for intermediate and advanced paddlers looking for a fitness or fast touring paddle board.

Sea Gods Ketos ULF iSUP Review – Speed

The Ketos ULF is designed for speed. The waterline length is maximized to increase the hull speed and the narrow, tapered, outline is designed to efficiently enter and shed the water as you paddle.

In our speed testing we normally test sprinting and top speed, but ultimately downplay the results in favor of the cruising test results for more all-around paddle boards. But the Ketos ULF is designed for speed.

Using the Ketos with the Sea Gods paddle, I was able to paddle the Ketos ULF in a sustained sprint of 75 strokes per minute (spm) with an average speed of 5.8 MPH. In an all-out sprint (over 100 spm) the Ketos hit a top speed of 6.3 MPH.

These sprinting speeds put the Ketos ULF into the second and third fastest slots among all of the iSUPs we’ve tested (over 120 models, including a few dedicated race boards). In other words, the Ketos is a very fast paddle board.

We do all of our testing with the included kit items. This includes the paddle. As mentioned in the Paddle section above, the Sea Gods paddle is not optimized for faster cadence paddling.

I did repeat all of the Ketos’ speed test with a mid-price paddle upgrade. This is a full carbon fiber paddle (including the blade) with a narrower, rectangular shape that is more efficient for higher cadence and longer distance paddling.

In the Sprinting tests, the upgrade paddle gave us the same 5.8 MPH in a sustained 75 spm sprint, but it noticeably increased the top speed of the Ketos ULF to 6.5 MPH in an all-out sprint. However, the most important thing that happened with this change was in the overall comfort and feel. The upgrade paddle is 6 ounces lighter, has a better balance point closer to your hands, and has a slightly smaller blade surface area along with the change in shape. All of this works together to feel easier to paddle at all cadences.

A paddle upgrade is almost always a good idea, and it is a must if you are wanting to maximize your speed on the water.

At a more casual cruising pace, the Ketos ULF is also quite quick. When paddling at 25 strokes per minute with the Sea Gods paddle, I was moving at an average speed of 4.1 MPH, putting it into the fourth place position out of all of the boards we’ve tested to date. Using a higher quality touring paddle at a cruising pace also lifted the average speed to 4.2 MPH while increasing overall paddling comfort.

With a single paddle stroke at cruising speed, the Ketos ULF traveled around 27 feet before I felt it slowing down. That gives it a gliding ratio of 1.9 board lengths per stroke. That is right where we expect a high-efficiency touring board to be, and gives you a very smooth and efficient feeling when paddling long distances.

SUP NERD ALERT – these next few paragraphs are all about digging into the shape of the board and potential benefits and pitfalls. Skip to the next bolded paragraph for the bottom line on the Ketos’ speed.

How much does the rounded hull shape of the Ketos ULF help? Well, that’s a really good question. Without an exact copy of the board without the rounded shape to test it against, it’s quite difficult to say. However, in both my experience, and as we explored with the Red Paddle Voyager, I don’t think it makes a significant difference in overall speed or efficiency. Where I do think this shaping can help is in reducing the impact of waves and chop that come in from the side of the board in both stability and tracking. But as far as speed and efficiency are concerned, we’ve tested “flat” hull boards with faster speeds and more efficient glide.

I do believe that the displacement hull shape on the Ketos ULF may be a bit extreme to the point where it possibly negatively impacts the board speed. This nose shaping forces the board to bend down in a cambered shape (reverse rocker) when viewed from the side. It’s very apparent in the profile photo in the construction section above, and can be seen while on the water. Combined with just a small amount of bend under foot, it creates a “W” profile for the board. Camber will cause the board to essentially suction down onto the water, and the repeated changes in profile can add turbulence drag through the water. Comparatively, the Red Paddle Co V-hull design is much smaller and does not cause a cambered profile in the nose. Again, it’s hard to tell if this design is impacting the board speed without testing a control version without the displacement hull, but general boat-building practices point to a potential downside regarding speed. Additionally, the reduction in stability from such a round hull means a paddler must put more effort into staying upright compared to a similar size and shape board without the rounded nose.

I think there is some merit to this design, but it could be refined and built into a smaller section of the board in both length and width to help improve the rocker profile and overall stability.

The Ketos ULF is a very fast paddle board regardless of any impact of the displacement hull on its speed one way or the other. With top-tier sprinting speeds and cruising speeds, the Ketos ULF is a great option for covering large distances quickly, fitness paddling, and getting started in paddle board racing.

Sea Gods Ketos ULF iSUP Review – Maneuverability and Tracking

Part of going fast is making sure that you can get from one point to another in as straight of a line as possible. To that, the Sea Gods Ketos ULF is optimized for excellent tracking ability, but does struggle with maneuverability.

In our maneuverability stress test, the Ketos ULF performed exactly as I expected it to. Longer touring boards are typically much less maneuverable than a shorter all-around board, and that’s for good reason. When traveling long distances you want your board to be as easy to paddle straight as possible.

With a basic forward sweep turning stroke, the Ketos ULF needs an average of 15 strokes to make a complete circle from a standstill. This is a huge turning radius. But thankfully it’s not a maneuver that is common at all, especially while touring.

Using a reverse sweep stroke (paddling in an arc from tail to nose), the Ketos ULF turns much faster and needs just under 5 paddle strokes to make the same circle.

While it is tricky to turn the Ketos with these basic paddle strokes, I did find that it responds well to steering with more intermediate and advanced techniques. Bow-draw and cross-bow-draw strokes easily turn the Ketos in smaller increments, and changing your position on the board, even by just a couple of feet, also helps it pivot faster. Of course a full-blow pivot turn is the fastest way to spin the Ketos around. Walking to the tail of the board for a pivot turn is harder than on a wider SUP, but the change in stability is smooth and consistent. The tail is very narrow overall, so the board reacts quickly to tilting input from your feet, but it is fast and smooth to slice through the water.

When it comes to getting from one point to another on your paddle board, tracking performance is key. The Ketos ULF is an absolute beast when it comes to straight line tracking and crushed our tracking stress test.

After 10 paddle strokes on a single side of the board, the Ketos ULF only deviated off course by an average of 5°. It was incredibly hard to measure and honestly, 5° is still being a little bit on the “safe” side of things rather than over-hyping.

It is incredibly easy to keep the Ketos ULF on course. When paddling for distance, fitness or racing I’ll often paddle 20-30 times on a single side before switching. I didn’t have any issues maintaining this paddling style while still heading in the right direction.

This seems quite short compared to the other sections in this review, but that’s because the answer is incredibly simple. The Ketos ULF has top-notch tracking performance.

The reason the Ketos ULF tracks so well is two-fold. First is the length of the board. At 14’ long, there is a whole lot of board in the water to resist turning while you paddle forward.

Second is the fin system. There is a single Universal Standard (US) fin box located at the very rear of the board, and the Ketos comes with a 9” touring-style fin.

This long, broad fin and rearward position of the fin box maximize the Ketos’ ability to resist turning.

The included fin is a flex fin, so if you do happen to run across something in shallow water, the fin will deflect and help protect the fin box. The downside with this is that the fin doesn’t resist turning quite as well as a stiffer composite fin. But, with the Ketos’ excellent tracking performance already, the difference between a more rigid fin and this flex fin will be hard to feel.

Of course, the US fin box does also allow you to swap the included fin for any of hundreds of different varieties to best suit your paddling conditions and style. For instance, if you are entering into a technical race with lots of buoy turns, you can swap to a shorter fin with less surface area to improve maneuvering performance. Or if you paddle through shallow water frequently, a shallow-draft fin with a high surface area will keep your tracking performance high while letting you pass over submerged objects (like logs or sand bars).

While the Ketos ULF isn’t highly maneuverable, its tracking performance is stellar – and that’s exactly what we want to see in a fast touring and racing paddle board.

Sea Gods Ketos ULF iSUP Review – Warranty and Customer Support

Sea Gods is known for their lifetime warranty on their inflatable iSUPs. If you experience any manufacturing defects over the reasonable life of your board, simply contact Sea Gods for a warranty claim. In addition to the lifetime warranty for the boards, all of the included accessories are warrantied for 1 year, and there is a 30-day return period if you decide that the Ketos ULF isn’t quite what you want. To contact Sea Gods you can reach them via phone, email, online chat, or through their social media channels.

Sea Gods Ketos ULF iSUP Review – Final Thoughts

The Sea Gods Ketos ULF is a high quality and beautiful paddle board. It’s a fantastic day-touring and fitness SUP with high speed and efficiency. I would like to see more storage capacity for true expedition-style paddling, however it looks like Sea Gods has just released a new model (the West Coast) that is exactly that. The Ketos’ speed performance also makes it a great option for the paddler who is racing-curious, but not ready to buy a dedicated racing board.

This specialty paddle board does exactly what it was built for – take you farther and faster than you could ever dream of on your all-around or typical touring paddle board.

Sea Gods Ketos ULF iSUP Review – FAQ