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The Evolution marks a change in Polo design for the smaller players amongst us, and that includes, Youth and Ladies as well as the smaller build Senior players.
Traditionally, polo boat designers have looked at the rules as an excuses to inhibit novel and highly competitive designs, but to date, they've been looking at them the wrong way.
Since the game of Canoe Polo is one of short Sprints and Fast Turns, the days are numbered for the 3m long kayak. Independent paddlers over the years have concluded there is little difference between one boat and another for forward sprinting over a set distance of 20M. It mainly seems to come down to how comfortable the paddler feels.
For the Evolution Series of Polo Boats from Mega, the recommended paddler weight limits are a guide only, since one paddler's weight distribution will be different to another. This will influence the way a boat handles and applies to all kayaks. While some are more forgiving than others, the Evolution Series has been developed to provide a polo kayak aimed specifically at a section of the polo playing market who happen to fall into the recommended range.
Both the Evolution and the XCell have passed the
BCU Boat Checking Committees' Scrutineering procedures and have been approved
for BCU Polo Committee events, this includes the National Knockout and
National Leagues.
The boat specifications used by the BCU Canoe Polo
Committee are exactly the same as those used by the I.C.F. which should
go some way to reassure competitors, that efforts have been made to conform
to the highest regulatory body of the sport of Canoe Polo.
About the Boat Names...
The naming of the Evolution Series
It has been noted that many polo boats have been
named with negative sounding words, and for this reason a conscious decision
has been made to be more positive with the Evolution Series.
The Evolution was named as such because of it marking
a change of thinking in polo boat design, with it's smaller size specifically
aimed to accommodate a smaller paddler and stimulate fast and early progress
amongst youth players.
The XCell was named by Darren Ling of Meridian,
who also helped in the development of the second in the series.
As it's name suggests, players who fall into the
weight category of the XCell can expect to excell in their performance with
it's fast sprinting and high maneuverability which like the original Evolution,
stems from it's smaller overall size than other existing polo boats.
The Raptor was named as a collective result of discussions
between Darren Ling, Neil Parker and the Mega Man (Malcolm Pearcey) at
the 1998 National Championships at Stratford, while thinking along the
lines of a highly maneuverable predator.
Because this boat has been design for a smaller / lighter paddler, it's not only highly maneuverable, but is fast too.
So, what about the turning side of things...
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Deep pivot turns are usually the only other way most paddlers decide whether or not they like a boat, and that being the case, they'll not be disappointed with the Evolution. |
With reduce "winged" edges the paddler is no longer limited to rely on the kayak for support, but their own ability to maintain extended balance.
The reduction in length makes the Evolution turn
exceptionally fast allowing the paddler to control the front as well as
the rear of the kayak for more skillful kayak tackles and marking. Furthermore,
since the kayak has effortless handling, the ease of losing a marker now
makes the smaller paddlers in a team much more competitive than ever before,
even against their larger counterparts.
| Since the Evolution is smaller compared to any other existing polo kayak in nearly every dimension, the overall weight is also small. For the standard Carbon/Kevlar construction, the Evolution is usually around the 7.5Kg mark even when fitted with full length foam, seat and foot rests. | 
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With a smaller cockpit, the Evolution provides a more comfortable fit for the smaller paddler, but still allows either a standard kayak spraydeck or a Felix Volta sized deck.
This polo kayak will almost certainly enhance anyone's playing performance if they are within the weight limit !
Like it's little sister the XCell is smaller than the more traditionally sized polo kayak, only this time it has a little more volume along it's length to support up to another 10Kgs in weight.
This New Polo Kayak is for medium sized paddlers who recognise the enormous advantages of the Evolution, but suffer from excessive drag due to being a little too big for it. The other recognisable problem for these paddlers when turning the Evolution, is that they will turn the boat too deep, sometimes creating a stall.
Following careful attention to the addition of volume and a slight modification in the shape of the hull, the XCell now creates similar performance to that of the Evolution but for the larger category of paddler.
To help accommodate larger paddlers than the Evolution, the XCell has a slightly longer cockpit which accepts a standard kayak spraydeck.
The XCell is:-
The Raptor's lack of flat edges reduces the tendency of impact damage along the flanks, whilst the profile also allows the paddler to maintain their own balance far beyond alternative "slalom" based designs which rely on artificial extra width to provide stability, this is achieved by use of the soft radiused curves.
The principle design ideas were to continue the series for the heavier paddler, whilst still providing a fast turning/sprinting kayak with superior front end control for a more dynamic paddler.
The Raptor is:-
So just call if you would like to arrange to try the demo boats.
Mega’s own version of the Italian styled seat has a special back return on all the side and front edges to massively reduce the chances of tearing. Also with the single front flange, there is increased overall stability and strength of both the seat and the bonding to the kayak. This is yet another unique feature offered through the partnership of Mega and Clyde.
Unlike some other boat manufactures, the price of
Mega's own Italian style seat is included in the cost of the boat.
Also available is the smaller fitting Italian style
seat that compliments these innovative polo kayaks.
So now there really is a choice for all sizes
of polo player...
| Mega
International Group
Factory Tel/Fax: 01903 717150 C4 Ford Airfield Industrial Estate, Ford, Nr Arundel, West Sussex, BN18 0BE Mobile: 07774 244649 |