CENTURY’S CARBON BRILLIANCE
When it comes to pushing the boundaries of beach rod design, the launch of the Eliminator T700SGT sees some serious innovation from a company intent on raising the benchmark
CENTURY ELIMINATOR T700SGT RRP: £499
Century, based in washington, Tyne and Wear, has, yet again, launched a beach rod that firmly cements this innovative company’s place at the forefront of British design, build and quality.
The new T700SGT sees the company’s carbon technology being exploited to the absolute maximum as the family of Eliminator rods steadily grows.
When I first got my hands on the 15ft, twopiece outfit, it was immediately noticeable how incredibly light it felt. A blank weight of just 500g is down to Century adopting Graphene resin technology in the design, and I’ll endeavour to explain that later.
There was, however, some interesting advice attached to the rod that certainly left me scratching my head with curiosity.
According to Century, the Eliminator T700SGT has been developed for use at clean and snag-free venues, with perhaps a mixed-ground mark too. No dramas there. Interestingly, though, it’s not recommended for pendulum or extreme power casting styles either. Instead, off-the-ground (OTG) and overhead casts are advised – and it’s the first time I’ve seen that tagged to a Century beach rod; I was itching to get on the beach and put it through its paces.
OUTSTANDING
Cosmetically, the rod is outstanding in appearance. It’s lined with Fuji titanium ‘K’ guides that are impeccably finished with over and under steel grey and silver whipping. The butt section is covered with Japanese shrinkwrap, while an adjustable Fuji screw-winch fitting allows you to lock the reel securely in your desired position.
At the join, Century continues to use Japanese shrink-wrap grips to enable the rod to be parted in wet conditions, and it works a treat. Also, the now ever-present Century metal band at the head of the butt remains in place. Another neat touch is the padded rod bag that protects it superbly, which Century provides with all of its beach rods as standard.
I opted to couple the rod with Okuma’s ALC Mag 20 multiplier, which was loaded with 18lb mainline and a tapered shockleader; typical of what I would generally use when beach fishing.
The lightness of the rod is incredible, and with the reel attached, balance is excellent too. I had a dilemma, though. Should I ignore the advice and go for a pendulum hit? I decided to have a few OTG casts to get the feel of it loading and to decide what sort of power I was dealing with. Interestingly, Century’s advice didn’t quite compute with me after a few initial hard chucks; it’s actually quite a powerful outfit, but very easy to load.
The fact it’s so light means you have the ‘feel’ of the sinker throughout the whole of the cast. It’s not so powerful that it pulls your arms, but, the ease of which the rod comes through on the hit and then final release is really satisfying.
Using a 5oz lead weight, and with the rod rated to cast 3.5-6oz loads, I then made a conscious decision to at least try a pendulum cast.
I’m not an excessively powerful caster, but a rather moderate one, and a 15ft rod certainly allows me to slow things right down and experience the rod loading from the butt, middle and eventually the tip, when swinging the lead.
As I lined up, I couldn’t help but remind myself of Century’s advice. If things went wrong, then I would be entitled to be slammed with “we told you so!” from them.
The rod loads so well and is evidently progressive too. The tip has S2 glass in it and has been developed with Generation 2 AntiTwist Technology (AT-T), which, basically, means that any twist during the cast is totally eliminated. This, in turn, improves stability, sensitivity and accuracy, while reducing dreaded line fraps during the cast.
I was becoming more confident with each cast I made as my timing and feel of the rod improved, and the T700SGT was performing brilliantly. However, as Century advises against pendulum or excessive power casting with it, perhaps it’s wise to take note for warranty eligibility.
The Eliminator T700SGT is a wonderful bit of kit, and with so much technology rammed into its walls, warrants its £499 price tag.
Typically, it will suit anglers who need a rod that is easy to load for targeting species like rays, cod and smoothhounds at range. Also, with many anglers now adopting the fixed-spool and braid approach, this rod certainly merits their use.
If I was to have a moan, though, it would be regarding the unprotected decals. A rod costing this much could (and should) at least have a slight coating of rod varnish over them. I would like to think that my prized rod will look the same in three or four years after purchasing it, rather than the labelling disappearing after a few weeks of using it.
GRAPHENE TECHNOLOGY
So what is Graphene technology? I asked the guys at Century to explain it to me, and this is their response:
“Century has developed a bespoke combination of the resin matrix and Graphene. The resin matrix carries the loadings generated on the rod by casting, and, when fortified by Graphene creates resilience and toughness.
“Graphene is a form of carbon in a monolayer of honeycomb lattice, and its discovery was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics. When properly incorporated in the resin system, it has the capacity to significantly increase resilience far more effectively than one-dimensional (such as nanotube) and zero-dimensional (such as nanoparticle) fortifiers, so, we can make rods lighter and stronger with a toughness you expect of a Century rod.
“When Graphene is combined with Autoclave Technology (AT-T), the results are a unique, high- performance rod.”