15' Heavy-Duty KaBoat SK470XL

I’ve had my 470XL kaboat for two years now and fished it hard all of 2022. I have a 9.8hp tohatsu 4 stroke on it and cruise around 15mph with approx. 500lbs in the boat excluding motor weight. Max speed is an easy 18 mph but I’ve hit 20 on flat calm days in the bay.
I fish off shore in Southern California and have done many 100mile round trips hitting the inner banks and reaching 30 miles off shore using a full 6 gallon can of gas and never taping my reserve 3.5 gallon.
This little boat has landed bluefin tuna to 115lbs and a 215lb swordfish as well as many Mahi, yellowtail and inshore species such as calico bass, halibut and thresher sharks. Myself and the boat have been featured in Western outdoor news publication and podcast, saltwater sportsman publication and podcast and several social media based groups. The boat is very capable out of the box requires very few mods to get on the water.
One modification/ addition I did is a foam keel made out of pool noodles and PVC pipe. It allows the kaboat to slice through chop and small waves better and makes the boat track a lot better.
The bench seats are useless for anyone over 6ft. Sitting on the side or building a raised bench seat is much more comfortable.
It needs more D rings/tie down points. There’s only two on the outside on each side and it would benefit from an additional two on each outside wall and two inside.
The boat fits in the bed of my truck with room to spare on each side so there is room to grow. A 2 inch wider transom would help with mounting fish finders and bait tank pumps. There isn’t much space but I was able to get it done with the current transom.
The double layer bottom has held up extremely well considering I do a lot of launches on a very rough ramp designed for amphibious armored vehicles and have drug it across the beach several times when the tide is super low.
I’m about due for a new boat though. This one is worn down and has several holes from accidental puncture from tools and an incident with a mako. It was extremely easy to patch and has held up for several months after the patches but I need a clean slate and will add an extra layer to certain parts of the boat I feel need it.
I’ve reached out to a couple companies, including Saturn, about modifications and designing a similar but more robust model so I’m not sure if I’ll be sticking with Saturn for my next kaboat style Inflatable or not but it is a very capable boat and would recommend it to anyone looking to get on the water and chase inshore and backwater fish and game.

I love my sk407xl ...Been out 6 times fishing and just cruising, is super stable im 240 pounds and i can stand and cast on it . Have loaded with about 600 pounds and my suzuki 9.9 pushes it at 18mph it handles good i recomend you buy a electric pump to cut the inflation time in half and your arms wont be sore. Takes me 30 min with the hand pump to inflate all five chambers to spec. Get wheels too thay are a must for launching if you dont have help.

Ordered the 15’ KaBoat SK470XL. Boat was priced below any other competitors was shipped promptly and arrived within a few days. Washer on pump was installed incorrectly which took time to figure out why pump did not work but once we found problem everything worked. Missing one set of oars but B2G is sending missing items.

Took boat on maiden voyage and it exceeded expectations. Very well made and perfect for what we need. Look forward to several years of use. Thanks!

I’ve owned my Alaskan series kaboat now for three seasons. I’ve ran 3 different outboards on it. Started with a 7.5 hp 2 stroke mercury that was pushing myself and a friend with our hunting gear (800 lbs of stuff) at 8 to 10mph depending on water conditions. I was ok with the speeds but wanted to go with a lighter motor so I bought a 2.5 hp Suzuki 4 stroke. I was only getting 6 mph empty and I was not impressed with the speed from this smalle outboard, though it could have been quiet and useful in a fly in trip. I went back to my 2 stroke and used it on a 4 day hunting trip. The max speed I got with a smaller hunting partner was 8.5 mph and that was after stashing all our extra gas. It took us over 8 hours to complete our round trip (launch to camping spot and back) and we burned a little over 6 gallons of gas. It was frustrating. Not sure if I need a new prop or if the motor is just dying. Anyways, I decided to buy a new tohatsu 20hp. This motor weighs 95lbs, which is rhw same weight as the 9.9 from Honda or Yamaha and it was only $400 more than the tohatsu 9.9 hp. Don’t worry, I have no desire to go faster than 20 mph (which I was getting at just a little more than 1/2 throttle. I also cut my 8 hour round trip into a 3 hour round trip that burned a total of 3 gallons of gas (had a three gallon tank hooked up and full). I didn’t have to swap my gas tank out and I still had a little in the tank. I gps’d my trip and reached 23mph a couple of times when the lake was flat. I felt comfortable, though I wouldn’t want to go faster. We had about 700 lbs in the boat too.

Just wanted to tell you about how much I am enjoying my SK470XL KaBoat! As soon as I signed for the box, I brought it down the basement and unpacked and inflated it! I immediately began planning places to take it! I deflated it and packed it away till the next weekend. First trip was down to the canal with the kids The boat was sturdy and felt good in the water. I was impressed yet again. The 55lb thrust electric motor pushed it nicely! We had a good time with no issues… Second trip was a solo on a big slow moving river, fishing for pike. I had no problems with the setup or break down of the boat. I received a lot of compliments on the new ride! My third trip was a camping trip on a deep reservoir. Packed with 500lbs of weight, my KaBoat handled perfect with the 6HP outboard.. I reached 12 mph in semi calm conditions.. Once again, the KaBoat proved itself to me as a reliable, fun, and safe new toy! Next trip will be some saltwater back-bay action! Thanks for a great product...