Contender 23Bay

Contender’s new 23Bay boasts a 12-inch draft and a 15.5-degree deadrise with a double-step bottom. Its lines are sleek and crisp, and response is immediate. In the light wind chop of the broad St. Lucie River in Stuart, Florida, it proved its capability for fishing from inshore flats to off-the-beach excursions. You’ll no doubt see the 23Bay on nearshore reefs in ­calmer seas, and the boat presents crew in style and grace for ­waterfront dining.

No other category of boat is more popular than hybrid bay boats, and with Contender’s extremely successful 25Bay, it needed to bring out something more than just a shorter platform in the crowded field of fishing hybrids. 

First, Contender had to develop a bay boat with a ­skinny draft and a ride solid enough to live up to Contender’s well-earned reputation for ­quality. This one’s motor-up draft is shallower than most of its competitors, enabling exploration farther into backwater creeks and flats than ­many boats of its size. We proved that in our test. 

We also proved its solid ride in navigating heavy wakes of much larger center-consoles, cruisers and sport-fishers that regularly traverse the river, heaving moderate chop with bone-jarring rollers. Any boat will shake up the crew if these wakes aren’t navigated with caution, but we took these on plane, stretching from crest to crest on some, and taking ­wider rollers at an oblique angle. On the former, the boat was remarkably solid on reentry. On the oblique wakes, which can steer some boats off course, the 23Bay soldiered on, keeping its line at speed. How does a 23-footer do that?

First, Contender vacuum-­infuses the 23’s hull, a process that combines exactly the right amount of resin with a glass mat to make a hull of consistent thickness, weight and resilience from the first to last hull off the line. A stringer grid is fused to the hull, and all of the wiring and plumbing is put in place through ample chases to allow additional electrical wiring to be pulled in place if transducers need replacement or ­operating systems need updating or maintenance. The deck is then fused in place, and screwed and glued with adhesive, leaving no slack anywhere for creaking, cracking or grinding as the boat ­traverses rough water. 

This all speaks to a long, happy life for the boat and owner, but there’s more.

With a double-step hull, the 23Bay offers amazing performance, easily besting 60 mph with the 300 hp Yamaha outboard on a jack plate. The 23Bay also achieved more than 4 mpg at 3,000 rpm and 28.5 mph—its most economical cruise speed. Some step-hulls have a nasty habit of spinning out in ­unexpectedly crisp turns, but we challenged our test boat to do so, and it refused. 

The low gunwales keep the wind profile low enough to minimize wind drift, giving better control when operating the trolling motor, and more precision in positioning the boat with its Power-Pole shallow-­water anchors.

At the helm was an acrylic windshield, grab bars for extra security, and a leaning post comfortable for two. The helm had one 12-inch multifunction display, and a locker with an acrylic door for phones and wallets. Ergonomics were engineered to keep switches in comfortable reach, and the wheel and throttle where hands naturally fall.

Another of our favorite features, one most boaters ­never look at until something breaks, is the 23’s organized wiring. This rigging is logical, clean, and labeled for easy diagnosis should problems arise. The clarity of it means adding equipment is easier too. In addition, two hatches, one lifting up and the other pulling away, provide ample access to the compartment that contains batteries and space to stow life jackets. 

The 23Bay carries a generous 35-gallon livewell in the aft deck on the centerline. On each side of the livewell are hatches for storage and access to the bilge. Access to pumps, the fuel filter and other plumbing belowdecks is impressive and will ease maintenance down the road. Hydraulic pumps for the dual Power-Poles were also conveniently accessible, making them easy to configure and maintain.

A pair of rod holders in each gunwale, four in the leaning post, and four on the starboard side of the console are complemented by lockable rod holders in each forward compartment, and they’re capable of handling 8-foot rods. A center foredeck locker boasts 75 gallons of dry storage where there’s an easy step up to the casting deck molded into the deck. At the bottom of the step is another locker for a cast-net bucket. A seat with a cooler underneath for the forward console can be removed to create more fishing room. Walkways between the bow and stern casting decks are wide, and the coamings on the inside of the low gunwales were optionally padded with SeaDek, but upholstered bolsters are also available. An optional aft seat fits over the livewell and comes with a backrest. 

Read Next: Contender 26 Bay

Our boat came without a T-top, but this is an available option, as is an upper station. We think the 23 is going to be most popular among the most hardcore sport fishermen who want optimal access to shallow water, as well as confident handling when the call of hungry snapper, kings and grouper beckons anglers ­outside the inlet.

Specifications

Contender Boats – Homestead, Florida; contenderboats.com

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