Good things come to those who wait! After more than two years of design and development, Bonefish Boats’ entry into the hybrid bay boat market has finally arrived. The aggressively-styled Malvado 26 sports a unique combination of features, including a 6′ wide fish box, tackle storage, two livewells, lockable rod storage, an enclosed head and seating for up to 10 people.
The Malvado’s ventilated twin step v-pad hull offers a 13” draft, better than 4 miles to the gallon at cruise and can reach a top speed of over 70 mph. Like other Bonefish-brand boats, the Malvado is constructed from Kevlar, fiberglass and carbon fiber that is laminated with a blend of epoxy and vinyl ester resins for a lifetime of enjoyment.
If you’ve been looking for a hybrid bay boat with the perfect combination of features, styling and performance…you’ve found it.”
OUR TAKE: This is a DREAM BOAT for any boater and pleasantly priced given the competition, YET has MORE features with a fit and finish you’d expect in a price drastically more than their current price.
Ron Cook, Operating Manager of Bonefish Boatworks, says “The team of guys that helped bring the boat to market is overjoyed with the results. Candidly, the boat is exceeding our expectations in ride, comfort, utility and performance.”
Bonefish Malvado Bay Boat Q & A with Ron Cook, Operating Manager of Bonefish Boatworks
Skiff Life: What is different about Bonefish’s process for designing boats?
Ron Cook: “When designing a new boat, most builders today hire a CAD programmer to design it in a computer and then have the shapes cut out of foam using a 5 axis CNC router…but that’s not our style. We built the initial design out of wood, fiberglass, bondo and various other products in tents behind the shop. It was very labor intensive. As a result, our time to market was significantly slower than most.”
Skiff Life: How does that help the end user?
Ron Cook: “That meant we had time to think of as many features as possible to design into the boat in the first instance so that we were not only current when finally got a boat on the water, but we actually moved ahead of similar boats. The time to market also became an advantage. Unlike the CAD programmer that locks in the drawing, we built shapes out of plywood and would literally try to perform tasks inside of the boat.
Editor’s Note: See this bow area below? It features USB charging stations and cup holder…Yes, you can charge your electronics from the comfort of your seat!
Skiff Life: What did this process show you?
Ron Cook: “What we found was that just because something “fit” didn’t mean it was ergonomic or easy to use. So we kept modifying elements until we got something we were all happy with. The result was a better and more thought out product.”
Editor’s Note: Check out the rod lockers on the deck and storage aft in the photo below. It’s easy to see alot of thought went into many of these IMPORTANT features too often overlooked.
A decent fish Box and Storage is always and issue. Check out the fit & finish of the jump seats, box and hatches in the following photos:
Skiff Life: Any funny stories during this process you can share?
Ron Cook: “For the hull we didn’t have a sophisticated test lab or wind tunnels, so we set up a shop fan at the bow of the boat and used fiberglass dust to validate that wind (and consequently water) would flow over the surface of the hull the way we wanted it to. The day we tested weight and balance was comical. We loaded the prototype hull on a trailer, put the liner and cap from two different models on it and then used ratchet straps to hold it all together. We splashed the three hunks of fiberglass into a local lake and then used garbage cans filled with water to simulate loads at various locations in the boat. It wasn’t pretty…but it worked.”
Here is the current price sheet & specs on the Bonefish Malvado. Pretty amazing price point given the quality of the finish and standard features:
Check out these sweet shots from a few different angles:
Are you ready to take your boating adventures to the next level? Get the discussion going with Bonefish below:
1005 Gunn Highway
Odessa, FL 33556
http://www.bonefishboatworks.com
Tel: (727) 243-6767
Fax: (727) 243-6767
BONUS!
Here is some never before seen footage of a sneak peek behinds the scenes of the first water test of the new Hybrid Bay Boat by Bonefish Boatworks featuring a Mercury 350HP. Top speed with five people onboard (over 1000 pounds) was 63 MPH top speed.