28 Mar Blog 2
‘World’s smallest fishing boat’ ready to hit the water
US start-up GoBoat launches its second-generation compact and lightweight inflatable 'boat'
Its maker claims it’s the world’s lightest and most compact fishing boat. We reckon it’s a sea biscuit with an electric trolling motor. Whatever it is, meet the GoBoat 2.0.
GoBoat, a US company that launched several years ago with the idea of highly portable boating by fitting an inflatable ring with an electric motor to create a cheap and lightweight personal watercraft, has now taken the idea a step further with the launch of the GoBoat 2.0.
The $US1280 ($A1960) GoBoat 2.0 builds on the original concept by replacing an inflatable ring with a three-chambered inflatable disc, while the board the skipper sat on in the original GoBoat is replaced with a blow-up seat.
It is also available in two sizes; a 1.4-metre diameter disc rated for children, and a 1.8-metre version for adults.
The entire thing, motor and battery included, weighs around 25.0 kilograms, while the electric motor that propels it produces around 16.0 kilograms of thrust. The design includes a frame for titling and lowering the electric motor and holding the battery that powers it. According to its makers, the GoBoat 2.0 is “perfect for cruising along quiet backwaters or for navigating urban waterways” at speeds of up to 8.0km/h, or a snip under 5.0 knots.
If you’re looking at the GoBoat as a cheap way to go fishing, you can fit it with accessories including rod and cupholders – the latter often doubling as a place to store sinkers. Elastic straps hold lure boxes and nets. A video posted to GoBoat’s social media shows an angler upright on the edge of the inflatable disc and fishing, suggesting the platform is roomy and stable enough for someone to stand.
In some parts of Australia, a craft powered using an electric trolling motor has to produce around 18kg of thrust before it needs to be registered – and the GoBoat 2.0 slips under this. So is it a boat? We don’t think so. Will it work in Australia? Maybe. One of the uses suggested by GoBoat is to buy more than one and use them like floating bumper cars – something we reckon they’d be ideally suited to.
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