Bell gave me this boat for the summer and I had it on many different
runs, from low volume to big water. I think that especially larger paddlers would have a dryer run in this boat compared to the small version.
Where would you say the Prodigy/Prodigy X fit into the line up of other boats?
I understand Esquif's Vertige/Vertige X is for a more intro market, a la Dagger Impulse. Is Bell's Prodigy more performance oriented? (You sure put it through the test!)
Would the Prodigy be somewhere in between the Outrage and the Ocoee in terms of its chines/responsiveness? Seems like the Prodigy has a neat design for stern edge. I wonder why it has realtively less depth and rocker in the stern than the Outrage (more rocker in stern) or Ocoee (symmetrical)? In other reviews, I've heard people comment that the design is quite wet.
Lineup?
the PX is very different. The most prominent feature is glide and ease of keeping speed. This is due to differential rocker. It has to be paddled pretty agressive, means, always keep ur speed up.
It then carves turns nicely and can be paddled very precise.
It is not a playboat it is a river runner.
I needed some time to adjust and the speed astonished me quite a bit. I would not compare it to an Ocoee at all. very different boat.
I also don't like to call boats like the Vertige/X or Prodigy/X beginner class boats. Yes, beginners can maybe handle them which is also true for creeker kayak hulls. However, on hard and pushy whitewater (what that means depends on your
perception, I guess), both hulls would be great. (I have only paddled the VX once very briefly in ocean surf)
I think if you want to boat hair, the PX as well as the V might be a great boat. It really depends on your style as well though.
Boofing becomes very hard in big boats and boofing opens the door to steeper creeking... That is why I would choose a short, extremely rockered boat for that.
I think you can get a lot of performance out of a PX as long as you do not want to playboat but rather river run (my favorite paddling).
I had a blast in the boat on hard class 4. And it sure is a cool feeling if you boof a big pourover and the whole boat is airborne.
Dryness: I think the P is for really small paddlers, the PX would be for most paddlers. From my experience, the PX runs somewhat wet
in long wavetrains. I would always put a better deck onto the boat. The ones it comes with are way to small.
For reference some runs you might know: If my paddling was good, I could run stuff like the Nahatlatch Canyon (hard 4 on the last drop) or the Chilliwack Canyon (3 with a couple 4 drops) pretty dry.
I am 180 lbs.
