Introducing the Rama!

There has been a careless whisper floating around for some time that part of the delay to our latest project was due to Graham (Pyranha Managing Director and all-round top bloke) having his ‘do not disturb’ sign up on his office door. While we all know you don’t mess with the king of the jungle, eventually a passing Team Paddler was sent to ask the preacher man what was going on (from a distance of at least 2 metres).

Graham had been working on a secret project, taking the best bits from the previous three best selling, award-winning kayaks (Machno, Ripper & 9R II) and combining this pedigree to craft a boat that left paddlers wanting more, more, more! ‘I can’t help it’ Graham said. ‘It was the last thing on my mind, but I knew that we could turn this cruel summer around, and develop something more than physical, that gives paddlers a hotline to heaven’.

As soon as some Team Paddlers heard this, they immediately got together (over Zoom, of course) to help! As with all design meetings, love, truth and honesty are the only briefing points given. A working title of venus was given to the project, after the Roman goddess of love and beauty.

The first prototype felt a little like a long train runnin’, and as we weren’t trying to recreate the 12R, we went back to the drawing board! Movin’ on from the initial concept, we decided to live out the wild life and show some rough justice to the prototype! Remembering the mantra ‘tain’t what you do (it’s the way that you do it)’, an ethos that our Team Paddler, Aie a Mwana introduced to the design process, we had a good look on the floor for ideas we had rejected already. Incorporating some changes to the waterline, rocker profile, and hull chines, we were ready to gather some more of the UK team for another round of testing. When we undergo prototype testing, we gather qualitative data, which we often keep secret. This is mainly as most of our test team are shy boys. In this instance, however, they have all agreed to share their initial thoughts:

Dan Wilkinson, CEO, Dan Wilkinson Coaching

“I felt like I was tripping on your love for this boat. Now I’ve been in it, and experienced a boat for the first time that truly does move in my direction, I’m genuinely really excited to get my hands on the finished version!”

Pete Catterall, British Canoeing:

“This boat really made me feel young at heart again. Love comes in many ways, but this has blown my mind”.

Paul Smith, CEO, Rock and Water Adventures:

“I heard a rumour that there was something special being cooked up in Runcorn, but I certainly didn’t expect this”.

Chris Eastabrook, Expedition Kayaker:

“Despite every time I see an Everest I think to myself ‘I want you back’, I feel as though I have developed love in the first degree for this new boat!”

Dave Kohn-Hollins, CEO, River Flair:

“After my first session on the water my first reaction was ‘Baby, it’s Christmas!’ I thought it may be a trick of the night [ed’s note: all initial prototyping takes place after dark to protect our proprietary property] but after my second session I’m sure I found love!”

David Bain, Expedition Kayaker:

“I first heard rumours of this boat from Nathan Jones. A lot of people say he’s got tact, but when it comes to this boat he was really sayin’ somethin’”.

Tom Parker, CEO Tom Parker Coaching:

“Robert De Niro’s Waiting…”

The Rama name is one that has a long history within Pyranha Kayaks. As far back as 1989, there was a prototype boat that had the working title ‘MegaRama ‘89’, but it was felt that the world wasn’t ready for boats to be named after deities. With the word Rama translating from Sanskrit into ‘pleasing, delightful, charming, beautiful and lovely’, it was felt that the time was right to set on you our homage to the eastern gods, following on from the Shiva & Varun. [Ed’s note: our initial attempts to translate Rama from Sanskrit into English gave us the translation, ‘Na na hey hey kiss him goodbye’. We’re good at kayaks, not so good at computers!]

The Pyranha Rama will be available to pre-order from your local dealer soon in every shade of blue!

Only your love keeps us motivated to continually push the boundaries of kayak design and innovation. From all of us at Pyranha Kayaks, a big ‘cheers then’, and remember: Love don’t live here, it lives inside all of us on the water!’.