Sea-Doo Switch Fish: one pontoon switches from fishing to family boat — Red Dot BoB 2026

A solo angler at dawn and a family outing at noon are two different boating jobs. Owners of the Sea-Doo Switch pontoon platform wanted one boat for both, but fishing gear is usually retrofitted onto recreational boats, making the transformation feel like a compromise.

One boat that transforms instead of accessorizing: quick-connect modules switch a pontoon from dawn fishing rig to family boat, so neither role feels bolted on.

BRP built the Switch Fish on its pontoon platform, combining the stability of a pontoon with the agility of a deck boat. Seating, storage and fishing accessories — rod holders, a livewell, a trolling motor — connect through a simple quick-connect system of nearly 100 components, with yellow grips marking every interaction point and a grey-green palette that signals fishing without losing the family character.

Red Dot gave it Best of the Best 2026, one of four Red Dot awards for BRP that year, calling it "an exceptionally comprehensive concept" where form, modularity and graphics meld so both usage scenarios feel equally convincing. The win followed BRP being named Red Dot Design Team of the Year 2025.

Many boat owners live two boating lives: a solo fishing trip in the early hours, then an afternoon on the water with the whole family. Traditionally that means buying two boats, or bolting fishing accessories onto a recreational craft — a retrofit that makes the boat look and feel like it is doing two jobs badly.

BRP's answer, the Sea-Doo Switch Fish, treats modularity as the product itself. Built on the Sea-Doo Switch pontoon platform, it combines the stability of a pontoon with the agility of a deck boat, while seating, storage and fishing gear (rod holders, livewell, trolling motor) connect through a simple quick-connect system. Chief design officer Denys Lapointe says it works like building blocks: users combine nearly 100 components to build their own experience, with yellow grips marking every interaction point and a grey-green palette that belongs to fishing without overshadowing family use.

The transformation is structural, not additive: every change is deliberate and controlled, so neither function feels like an add-on. The Red Dot jury gave the Switch Fish its highest distinction, Best of the Best 2026, praising "an exceptionally comprehensive concept in which form, modularity and graphics meld perfectly," and noted that the design is aimed at young, first-time boating families whose needs evolve across the day. It was one of four Red Dot awards BRP won in 2026, a year after the company became the first Canadian team named Red Dot Design Team of the Year.

It redefines the category question — not what features a boat has, but how many jobs one platform can do — making modularity the product rather than an option list.

The quick-connect system and color-coded touchpoints keep transformation fast and intuitive enough for first-time boat owners.

Design consistency across proportions, materials and palette makes both configurations feel equally convincing, so versatility never reads as compromise.

It targets a real daily lifecycle — fish in the morning, family in the afternoon — turning one purchase into two boats without a second slip or trailer.

Versatility feels premium only when it is structural: build modularity into the platform so every transformation is deliberate and controlled, and neither role reads as a compromise or an add-on.

The Switch Fish became the flagship of the Sea-Doo Switch pontoon platform and part of BRP's broader push to make design a corporate signature: in July 2025 BRP became the first Canadian team named Red Dot Design Team of the Year, and at the 2026 ceremony its chief design officer handed that trophy to the new winner while his own team collected four Red Dot awards. BRP reported annual sales of CA$8.4 billion across more than 110 countries as of January 31, 2026.