The "MAX"
Live life to the full Surf to the MAX !
Our test pilot thinks it may be the "Best Cross over Boat yet"
It will happily pull blunts, helix's cartwheels as well as surf it's heart out!
It is 6'8" Long (2.05 mtrs) and 26 3/4" Wide (68cm)
REVIEW
When coaching people to kayak people often ask what's the most important thing relative to kayaking in the surf, and the answer is always the same, FUN. If you're enjoying your boating the rest of the skills look after themselves, and it's been often quoted that the best surfer in the water is the one who's having the most fun. And that is exactly what the latest boat from Mega is. There is no other way of describing it, everybody who has had the opportunity to paddle it has said “that was so much fun”, “That boat is such a laugh” and “I haven't smiled like that in a kayak for years”. So why is it so much fun?
When I first saw it I was sceptical as to its performance possibilities. I thought: “It's ridiculously short; coming in at about 6'8 inches so therefore is going to be a nightmare to paddle out and charge down the line. It's pretty wide so won't transition from rail to rail easily, and has got a massive cockpit so will drag on all the bottom turns”. Wrong, Wrong, Wrong. First paddle out was exactly as I expected short boat equals slow boat, so slow in fact that a 12 year old overtook me in his boat (I've since insisted on him paddling with a helmet dragging on the back on the guise that it's “developmental”).
Take off on the first wave was earlier than I expected due to the width and after that it wasn't like anything I've surfed before. Fast really fast almost falling down the wave, then does a super tight carving turn with no effort at all, point it down the line and it's twitching from left to right waiting for you to do something with it, while it's twitching it's developing speed ready for the next move, point it straight down the wave and bounce into a blunt and then reverse into a back stab. Wave one done and things are looking good. This is a surf kayak that feels like a freestyle boat to sit in and at the flick of technique from the paddler will behave like one, then with another flick goes back to surfing like a surf boat.
Fundamentally clever design has allowed this, the width has been compensated for by the aggressive vee in the tail, and the flare on the knee bumps is combined with the width, so that you rarely catch the cockpit on any turns. For those of you reading this that surf boards it's the kayak equivalent of a fish, short, fast and loads of fun. As yet it has no name “fat fish” would describe it's plan shape “personality disorder” would highlight the fact that it can swap between two different boating styles, but probably most appropriate would be “smiler” because that's what it'll make you doGlyn Brackenbury
MaX-Factor!
What's the maximum number of times lightening can strike the same boater? That was the question.
First strike, I win a boat. These things never happen, even in my MAXXED OUT dreams. But the announcement is there on the World Wild Web, so it must be true!
I've named Mega's most radical design yet - the Mega ‘Max' – Surf to the Max! LIVE LIFE TO THE MAX! The Mega ‘Horse Fly' and Mega'Wind' have been blown away…. MAX is the name that's been chosen. My name. My boat! How MAXtastic is that?!
Just so happens, I'm planning a trip to the West Country the very next weekend - so is there any chance I can pick up my new Max before I Max off?
To my aMAXmazement, the answer is ‘Yo!' Strike Two! Disturbing! Surely something must be wrong with the world.
But no. As soon as I clap eyes on my freshly baptised ‘Max ‘in aqua blue marble body and carbon hull I can see that it is real and I am smitten. Strike Three!
Some old school purist green-wave riders might be troubled by the extreme shortness and wideness of this design, but to my weary river playboater brain it makes perfect sense immediately. Flip it over and I am looking at a radically fat wave board with fins under the butt, but I don't let that trouble me. Sit in it and I am transported straight back to a warm and comfy place. The new seat feels like home… the back-rest gives the right support and the high and wide knee position is practically the same as I get in my river boat. I'm not sitting on it, like I sometimes feel with my Maverick and a lot of other surf boats I have tried – I'm IN it and OF it and it's going to take a hurricane to get me out again….
Unfortunately, I am still in Mega's workshop… So reluctantly, I climb out of my new boat and carefully load the beast into my van for the big trip to the waves.
The worries resurface on the drive down. I've read the spec and named this boat the MAX. MAX DESIGN For MAX FUN! But will the MAX surf kayak live up to it's new monicker? Or will it be a Max Clifford – good PR but all spin?
The surf around Newquay is not ideal for a demo. Messy and an off-shore wind that is drifting along shore. It's the sort of conditions when I might consider switching to my old playboat for comfort and security… but there are some long- boarders catching the odd good wave out back and I'm here to take it to the MAX….
The first thing I notice is the boat is easy to carry – light because of the carbon and glass construction obviously, but the shortness and fatness make it highly manageable in a stiff breeze – not a major issue, perhaps.. but it puts me in a good mood before I even reach the tide line.
Getting in the boat is another plus… I've made no modification to the factory set up, but I slide in and get the deck on with ease… not getting swamped before I've even started. Again not a huge issue, but everything so far is building my confidence in this new boat.
I'm expecting the honeymoon to be over as soon as I attempt the paddle out through the impact zone… Short boat equals slow, right? Will I be blown back to the beach?
But here I am pleasantly surprised… alright the MAX is too short and fat to win any major sprints, but the nose is turned up just right to lift me over the white stuff and the big bump at the back gives the buoyancy to stop the boat flipping backwards. Here the width helps too, because when it gets messy , with waves breaking from all directions, I can still keep it up-right. The knee position helps me keep my balance – I don't feel like I'm doing sit ups with my carves strapped to a plank! I am actually smiling rather than wetting my pants! Strike Four! I'm in the thick of the soup and loving this boat still. I almost forget to keep paddling out I'm enjoying myself so much.
Instead, I catch a few waves on the lip just to see what develops and I am in total heaven. The power pod thingy at the back rockets me out of trouble every time and, once I get settled to the snappy response, I can do tight or controlled turns , take off backwards, whatever … All the cheats I can pull in my river boat, but when I want I can lift a knee and carve fast lateral rides to get me to the next section or stop me drifting up the beach.
Strike Five! The Max is living up to its billing – everything you want from a playboat in terms of looseness , manoeuvrability, comfort etc but still fast and tucked on its edges on the wave.
But is this really a surf boat? By which I mean can it take off from the deep green like my Maverick and really piss off the Boardheadz who have to wait in a queue further in shore?
Strike Six! The answer is yes! It's hard to tell how well the Max would deal with a classic clean beach break because today everything gets steep pretty quick. But I had no trouble taking off, and what I lost in early speed was more than compensated for by the turned up nose (that stopped me digging in if I went too straight) and the width and stability that made it much easier to adjust my position once in motion….
Which left me with one final test. Wide boat – big lump at the back. Could it be hard to roll? I have to confess my roll is not the strongest. But this boat is so stable that in two hours of paddling I had not flipped once. No sooner have I had the thought than I get hit by two waves at once and go over. I'm a long way out and I really do not want to swim at this point. But I stick out my paddle and come straight up. Strike Seven! I should never have doubted. With all the buoyancy in the centre and the shaping of the cockpit area, this is boat is as combat ready as any good river playboat. Sorted!
As I carry my new Max up the beach, I can't believe my luck. All my life I have been looking for a boat like this: a genuine surfboat that works for a part-time river runner who likes to play in the surf. A boat that is easy to transport, comfy to paddle for two hours or more, can take off in the green but can cope with the variety of mess and dumpy waves you have to live with on the South Coast.
Until this day I have always had to travel with two boats. My Mega Maverick for when it's clean and green, and a plastic play boat for when it dumps. From now on, I'll only be taking one boat in all conditions. The MAX!
I imagine there are lot of boaters out there with similar desires. If you are thinking of making your first step towards carbon, or just want to have some real fun, then I urge you to try this great little boat asap.
Strike out for the Max!
Chi Flyer