Contender 29Bay: 2025 Boat Buyers Guide

The Contender 29Bay fuses performance and fishability with a comfortable ride.
Contender 29Bay at the sandbar
The 15.5-degree deadrise step-hull draws just 16 inches. Courtesy Contender

Contenders are built by a staff who are aware that serious fishing calls for serious boats that can go anywhere, anytime, no matter the weather. You join the design team when you buy a Contender boat because you select many of the details that make the semicustom sport-fishing boat your own. 

The first Contender was the 25 Classic, introduced by freediver, spearfisherman, and still company owner and ­president, Joe Neber, who founded the company in 1984. Admittedly competitive by nature, the Miami native has ­consistently pushed the ­envelop in boat performance. (Neber is also a strong supporter of the sport-fishing community who also possesses a strong ­conservation ethos.)

Contender offers models from 23 to 44 feet, on both step-hulls and deep-V hulls, and in tournament, bay, and fish-around models. Each boat awaits your specifications, from engine power to electronics to upholstery, including teak packages, power-actuated hatches and coolers, livewells and rigging, and forward and rear seating options.

Contender boats 35 feet and larger are built in Homestead, Florida, while those 32 feet and smaller are built in a new facility in Fort Pierce, Florida. 

More tournaments are won on Contenders, the company says, than by any other brand.

Contender 29Bay console
A leaning-post upgrade, with a third livewell, is also available for the 29Bay. Courtesy Contender

Contender 29Bay

Contender’s new 29Bay represents the largest bay boat in its three-bay-boat line, the marine version of a terrestrial SUV. Feature-packed, it can, the company says, do it all in meeting the needs of a growing hybrid-boat market.

There’s no need to sacrifice performance and fishability for comfort in this big fishing machine. And with the standard Seakeeper Ride dynamic attitude-control system and a standard fuel capacity of 185 gallons, the Contender 29Bay is ready to take you to waters inshore, offshore, and ­everywhere in between.

Standard on the 29Bay is a heavy-duty jack plate for adjusting to shallow waters, where the 15.5-degree deadrise step-hull draws just 16 inches. Casting decks beckon at both the bow and the stern of the Contender 29Bay.

An 85-gallon insulated ­in-deck fish box forward of the console is fish-ready. There’s an 80-gallon dry-storage compartment in the bow, adjacent to an 85-quart cooler within the forward step. There are also port and starboard 30-gallon storage compartments under the forward seating, which are topped with cushions. Aft, flanking the cockpit, are port and starboard 30-gallon fish boxes, and the transom sports a pair of 26-gallon livewells.

Seating includes full-size helm seats, a molded-in cushioned lounge at the console front, and port and starboard cushioned bench seating in the bow. There’s an aft center jump seat that opens for access to a spacious, lighted bilge ­compartment.

The helm features an oversize electronics face, a helm pod, a side-entry console door, and a blinker-style jack-plate control switch. Standard is a 38-inch fixed-back aluminum leaning post with backrest, four rod holders, a tray beneath the seat, a folding footrest, and a cooler base. A leaning-post upgrade, with a third livewell, is also available for the 29Bay.

Boathandling is made even easier and more pleasant with optional Helm Master autopilot and full maneuverability, second station, hardtop and soft T-tops with lighting, upgraded isinglass enclosure for T-tops, clear acrylic windshield, and an electric head inside the console.

Other fishing options include additional rod and rod/cup holders, electric-reel outlets, outriggers and bases, upgraded livewell system with pump box, trolling motors, and Power-Pole shallow-water anchors.

You can choose between single or twin outboards for the Contender 29Bay, which is rated for a maximum of 700 horsepower. The 29Bay ­offers a maximum cruising range of 400 miles to take you fishing far and wide.

Editor’s Note

The depth of the cockpit in the 29Bay offers enhanced safety when venturing outside the inlet, while the elevated fore and aft casting decks are ideal for fishing calmer waters inshore. Twin livewells under the aft deck offer immense bait capacity. -Jim Hendricks

Specifications

LOA:29’0″
Beam:9’6″
Fuel Capacity:185 gal.
Dry Weight With Power:7,200 lb.
Max HP:700
Powered By:Yamaha

Contender Boats – Homestead, Florida; contenderboats.com