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 39ST
One of the most advanced and thought-out fishing platforms on the water is how Contender describes its 39ST. It has also described the center-console boat, powered by triple Yamaha XTO 425 outboards, as “a rocket ship on water.”
Standard equipment on this rocket ship includes a sport console with a clear enclosure and console side-entry door, 40-gallon freshwater system, 105-gallon aft fish boxes at port and starboard, forward fish boxes of a generous 145 and 260 gallons, forward oversize in-deck bilge access, cockpit coaming pads, forward underdeck rod lockers port and starboard, two pressurized 40-gallon clear-topped transom livewells with separate pumps, full transom with dive platform and transom dive door, and Livorsi trim tabs.
The menu of options is rich: hardtop, tackle center station, stand-on tower and second station, coffin box, additional rod holders, outriggers, electric-reel outlets, third transom well, kingfish rod holders, extra-large walk-in lined and finished console with head compartment, fish-box diaphragm pumps, lockable storage, and more. There’s even additional fuel capacity of 50 or 100 gallons more. Lebroc helm seating is available, as are many other comfort additions. A coffin box/forward lounge option provides convenience while maintaining an open fishing area forward. The aft cockpit offers abundant fishing room as well.
The 39ST is big, but big doesn’t mean slow. The boat turns in a blistering 72.7 mph top end, at 6,000 rpm, at a respectable 0.64 mpg. And with its generous 500-gallon fuel capacity, at 36.6 mph (3,500 rpm) it has a range of 450 miles.
In the decade since its introduction, the 39ST has become a sea-taming, wide-ranging, tournament-winning classic.
Editor’s Note
I kite-fished for sailfish off the upper Florida Keys and Miami aboard the Contender 39T with Capt. Jon Cooper, and I found this boat to be one of the best-suited platforms for this popular technique, especially with the tower and second station. -Jim Hendricks
Performance Data
- Test Power: Triple Yamaha XF 425
- Test Props: 16″ x 25″ XTO OS
- Test Load: 5,686 lb.
- Test Speed: 36.6 mph at 3,500 rpm
- Max Range: 450 miles (with 10% reserve)
Specifications
| LOA: | 39′ |
| Beam: | 10’10” |
| Fuel Capacity: | 500 gal. |
| Dry Weight With Power: | 15,400 lb. |
| Max HP: | 1,600 |
| Powered By: | Yamaha |
Contender Boats – Homestead, Florida; contenderboats.com
