A leader in offshore and, increasingly, inshore fishing boats for nearly 20 years, Yellowfin Yachts bears the undeniable imprint of its founder and president, Wylie Nagler.
You see it vividly in his pledge of personal responsibility for the standout quality of every boat the company ships — from the smallest, a 17-foot skiff, to its largest, a 42-foot center console. Each is a high-performance fishing platform, a custom build of the highest-grade materials and products, all skillfully assembled.
Yellowfins are built in Florida but proudly proclaim their Outer Banks origins, with high bows and wide flare. Stepped hulls pop them onto plane in a heartbeat, and they leave the pack behind on open water. Speed, in fact, was the top feature favored by survey respondents, followed closely by brand reputation and construction.
A miniscule 0.17 points (on a scale to 50), separated the four categories of Fishability, Performance, Design/Construction and Value — and the aggregate of those scores was in the top handful in our survey.
Digging into the individual attributes in our survey, it’s plain to see that those who know Yellowfins know them as solid, fast, spacious and flexible — all feeding into a sterling brand reputation.
Yellowfin 21 Bay
A little brother often finds he has a lot to live up to. The new 21 Bay from Yellowfin Yachts does it, meeting expectations set by the successful 24 CE, then adding some flair of its own.
“Think of the 21 Bay as just a smaller-version 24 CE,” says Nagler. And don’t overlook another player in its impressive genealogy, the company’s 21 Hybrid.
It’s on that proven high-performance Hybrid hull that the 21 Bay begins, a bottom that gobbles up chop while drafting just 12 inches with a 200 hp power plant. (The boat’s rated for up to 350 Mercury Verado horses.) The hull produces lightning-fast acceleration, thrifty fuel economy and stunning top-end speed.
Up top, it’s a bay boat, with a novel console helm that allows captain and crew to stand or sit underway as seas, shallows and sight-fishing suit them. Custom seating provides comfort, with tackle storage within. Helm and seat back bear plenty of rod holders at the center of a clean, easy-to-move-about design.
Besides the bow casting platform, the 21 Bay features a second platform aft straddling a large centerline-positioned baitwell. Additional hatches port and starboard can be plumbed to become release wells.
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