On thE
wAtEr
By Capt. John N. Raguso
CArOLinA SKiFF
JvX SpOrtSMAn SEriES SKiFFS
With gas prices through the proverbial roof, keeping it
simple and basic makes a lot of sense and can save you a
lot of “cents” in the process. Carolina Skiff ’s JVX Sportsman’s
Series of very aff ordable bay and coastal skiff s are going
to be the right boat for a lot of folks who want to get back
to basics with a basic no-frills seaworthy boat to bend the
rods in the back bays, inlets or off the beach.
FAMiLy ApprOACh
The JVX Sportsman Series of fi shing boats is based on
the JV Sportsman’s running bottom, which starts off with a
modifi ed shallow Vee design. However, the JVX Sportsman
hull design takes it one step further by featuring a wider
beam with higher gunwale sides than the JV Sportsman,
and the ride is soft and dry with easy handling. The modi-
fi ed-vee hull delivers excellent maneuverability at both
trolling and planing speeds and will appeal to both shal-
low water and coastal fi shermen.
The JVX Sportsman Series is similar to all the other Caro-
lina Skiff center consoles in this lineup in that it features
identical 78-inch wide hull with 19 inches of internal cock-
pit freeboard. The primary diff erence between these boats
is the overall length(and weight, which is 15 feet, 10 inches
for the JVX16CC, 17 feet, 9 inches for the JVX18CC, and an
even 20 feet for the JVX20CC. Translated, all three compact
hulls should be easily trailerable by the family vehicle, even
loaded up with a full tank of fuel.
All three of these open skiff center console layout mod-
els also share a similar standard features list, which in-
cludes a livewell mounted in the raised aft casting deck,
bow and stern eyes, a 12-Volt trolling motor plug, a quartet
of 6-inch black nylon cleats, standard 18-gallon fuel tank
(optional 27-gallon tank available ), a bilge pump; bow and
stern lights, console cushion set, console grab rail, a con-
trol lever with wiring harness for your outboard of choice,
a fl ip-fl op cooler