The BOTE Rover, a stand up paddleboard boat, took top honors at this year's ICAST fishing tackle show, winning the Best in Show award. Why? Check out this short video, and you'll understand it in no time.
Okay, so you can call it a paddle board, but this thing really is a boat. It's 14 feet long, can carry up to 500 pounds, has a maximum horsepower rating of six, breaks a plane to hit speeds up to 16 miles per hour, and has a V-shaped bow as opposed to the usual surfboard-like shape of a paddleboard. Construction is totally high-tech, with a honeycomb-cored epoxy fiberglass structure. The seat is a KULA 5 cooler, which also has rodholders. You can add a Power Pole Micro, a Grab Rack (with two rodholders), a wheel rack, and ConnexSUP plugs to mesh with RAM or Scotty mounting accessories.
Naturally, it's also heavier than the usual SUP (105 pounds for the board alone, before you start choosing accessories), and doesn't paddle like one. Then again, with that outboard doing the heavy lifting most of your paddling will take place once you've already arrived at the hotspot.
While noting that having a motorized SUP sort of defeats the entire purpose of having a SUP, from a strictly fishing perspective (as if there were any other) this thing looks pretty dang cool. It's not cheap, with an MSRP starting at $3,500 for the board alone, but many high-end fishing kayaks cost just as much. The bad news is that you can't even get one just yet - BOTE says the Rover will become available "some time this fall".
Quick Facts:
LOA - 14'0"
Beam - 3'4"
Draft - 3"
Displacement - 105 lbs.
Fuel Capacity - Variable depending on the size fuel tank you get, and beyond that how energetic you're feeling.
Max HP - 6
For more information visit BOTE, or talk with your local dealers: Annapolis Canoe & Kayak, Annapolis, (410) 263-2303; DelMarVa Board Sports Adventure, Rehoboth, DE (302) 260-9008; Dare Marine, Yorktown, VA (757) 898-3000; East Coast Paddleboards, Virginia Beach, VA, (757) 426-4878;