Three years in the making, Bonafide’s RVR119 is the long-dreamt river fishing design of boat designer Hans Nutz. Bonafide designed the RVR with three main principles in mind, “hull-ability, transportability, and fishability.” In this video, Nutz provides a complete walkthrough of the all-new RVR kayak.
Introducing The Bonafide RVR119
“For many of us, kayak fishing is about accessing places that are remote places that are new and targeting fish that we might otherwise not get to find.” Hans Nutz, designer at Bonafide Kayaks shares.
“In my home state of South Carolina, there are dozens of creeks and rivers that flow out of the Appalachians, and down to the coast. Each one of these rivers has hundreds of miles of fishable waterways and the fish may never feel the buzz of a power boat, or see the flash of an artificial lure. Those are the fish we love to target. Those are the fish we want to catch. So why would we build the RVR119? We designed this boat uniquely and specifically for those environments.”
River-Centric Hull Of The Bonafide RVR119
“First, we focused on the hull, and it is specific to moving current and moving waters,” says Nutz who goes on to later describe some of the hull design features.
“The bow and the stern have an upturned shape. It’s kind of like a drift boat if you’ve seen fly-fishing guides. Drift boats have upturned bows. This helps the boat whether it’s going upstream or downstream. It helps deflect water in both directions, and so I’ve designed the boat uniquely in this way to help with moving water in both directions.”
Beyond the upturned ends, is the overall profile of the Bonafide RVR119 hull.
“This boat has a rocker profile, and that means the curvature of the bottom of the boat, it’s a rocker profile, is designed to do attainments. Attainments are a great way to fish rivers. You’re going upstream. That’s what you’re attaining. You’re moving up to the next pool, and when you do that you’re sneaking up on the fish. The fish are fishing upstream looking for their next lunch and you’re sneaking in behind them.”
The RVR’s Secret Weapon
“The truth is a hull built for moving water doesn’t track straight. It doesn’t track well and the reason is that you have rocker to allow that boat to pivot quickly in moving water,” Nutz describes in the difference in kayaks intended for flat or open water versus rivers.
“We’ve done something on the RVR that’s really unique. We’ve actually added a skeg. This is like a drop down Keel that’s going to give you that ability to track straight. So if you’re going up a lake to hit a river and you need to paddle straight, or maybe it’s a crosswind, this is going to do it for you.”
Made For Transportability
“We’ve also focused on the transportability, the mobility of the boat. At 11 feet 9 inches and about 85 pounds, this thing is easy to transport.”
Adding the Bonafide RVR119’s width of 35 inches, Nutz believes the boat is well rounded for use and transport.
“We think this is a great mix of capacity for gear storage and it’s also lightweight to help you get there and back.”
Fishability Of The Bonafide RVR119
The last subject of the walkthrough provided by Nutz is what he calls the “fishability” of the Bonafide RVR119. This largely centers around the deck design of the boat.
One of the major changes in the RVR is the seat layout.
“The seat has been designed to be a little bit different from the other Bonafides in that it actually sits a little bit more forward, and it’s closer to 50/50, bow to stern,” Nutz explains. What you’ll see there is that this gives the boat a lot of balance in moving water. And it gives the boat a great drift profile so you have a lot of freedom in how you’re going to use this boat to maneuver.”
Another intriguing feature is Bonafide’s integrations for the Anchor Wizard system.
“We have integrated the anchor wizard system into the RVR because when you’re fishing rivers it’s so vital that you have an anchor at the bow or at the stern to help you get your boat to slow down or to stop in eddies,” Nutz explains.
The RVR119 also features plenty of the more subtle and integral features in the rigging and deck layout which Nutz goes over in depth in the walkthrough video. Keep an eye out for the Bonafide RVR119 at your local kayak shop.
