Boating Magazine Boat of the Year (Small Fishing Category): 2025 Sailfish 232 Center Console

Boating Magazine Review,  October 2025, by Alan Jones:

Sailfish Boats was one of the first fishing-boat companies to embrace a Fishing-Focused/Family-Friendly Boats mantra in the early 2000s. According to internal research at Sailfish, those buying center-consoles 27 feet and shorter didn’t list fishing as its primary purpose, unlike owners of its 30-plus-footers who overwhelmingly had fishing as their No. 1 activity. Accordingly, Sailfish designers applied that owner input when designing the new 232 Center Console. It is a versatile craft designed to please angler and family boaters in equal measure and delivered with more standard features than other boats offered at comparable prices.

Engine

Our test boat was powered by a Yamaha F250 that provided excellent performance. Time to plane was 3.6 seconds, and the 232 CC reached 30 mph in 7.4 seconds. The top speed was 48 mph (a Yamaha test driver got 49 mph in calmer water just before our test). In addition, owners can choose a 200 hp engine, which may not be enough if watersports are on the agenda.

Available 300 hp engines would push it past the 50 mph mark. Sailfish gives buyers a choice of outboards from Mercury, Yamaha and Suzuki. We like that boat buyers can choose their engine brand,  and thus have a choice of servicing dealers. Bravo, Sailfish. 

As we shoved off from Point South Marina in Port St. Joe in the Florida Panhandle and idled into Saint Joseph Bay, we were greeted by a corrugated surface created by 15 mph winds.

Fortunately, the new 232 CC employs Sailfish’s three-hulls-in-one Variable Degree Stepped Hull (VDS), which uses a sharp 24-degree keel section to help slice through the chop, the next section outward moderates to 23 degrees that, when combined with its downward turned strakes, creates lift when accelerating or running. The outer section of the hull is a flatter 22 degrees, giving it greater stability at rest. The other factor that makes Sailfish boats ride well in rough water is their relative beefiness, thanks to a stout layup with quad-axial fiberglass mat, reinforced by Kevlar at high-stress points, contributing to its 5,065 rigged weight. The 232 CC easily ate up the 2-foot chop while running at its best cruise speed of around 25 mph, which netted an impressive 3.5 mpg.

Interior And Accessories

Prospecting for redfish and seatrout, I fired a plastic lure with a gold spinner in all directions at the designated fishing spot, where the depth ranged from 2 to 6 feet deep. I had no problem moving around the boat’s perimeter thanks to the minimum 16 inches of walkaround space around the center console. A generous 27-inch minimum gunwale height at the stern grew to 30 inches amidships, and with standard bolsters all around, I felt contained and comfortable. I left the bow and stern cushions in place, and we didn’t have the filler board to insert between the bow rider benches up front, which would have created a roomy casting platform. I only saw one fish that day and identified it as a 40-pound black drum lazing on the surface. But, to paraphrase the scariest line in “The Shining,” it was only a floating “dead drum” clearly past its expiration date.

When trying to figure out a boat’s intended purpose, a good guideline is if there are more places to park a beverage than to store a rod, it’s a pleasure boat, not a fishing boat. Our test boat has 22 standard rod holders and eight cup holders. 

Vertical racks for two rods each are set inside recesses on either side of the center console, keeping them tucked out of the way but ready for action. Other holders are set into the gunwales and on the hardtop. The 232 Center Console has twin 10-gallon livewells beneath the rear bench seat for those who fish with live bait.

The 232 CC comes well equipped with standard features that most companies charge extra for, such as the well-braced hardtop, premium Fusion stereo with Rockford Fosgate lighted speakers, 58-quart slide-out Engel cooler, raw-water washdown and trim tabs with auto-retract, to name a few. To up its fishing game, add a 75-inch Garmin Kraken trolling motor with a 36-volt lithium-ion battery ($10,700) and a 12-inch GPS/fishfinder from Simrad NSX 3012 ($4,509) or Garmin GPS/Map 1243xsv ($7,700). One of the most innovative features is the optional, reversible leaning post ($1,467) that lifts and can be securely reinserted into rocket launcher-like receivers to face aft, not only to increase fishing area in the cockpit but also to provide a rear-facing throne while fishing or watching the kids swim.

It’s easy to enhance the 232 CC’s non-fishing game by adding the Entertainment Package ($3,296), which includes a retractable ski pylon, removable bow table, Fusion transom stereo remote control and Hella underwater lighting.

How We Tested

Engine: Single Yamaha F250 Drive/Prop: Outboard/Yamaha Saltwater Series II 15.5″ x 17″ 3-blade, stainless steel Gear Ratio: 1.75:1 Fuel Load: 55 gal. Water on Board: 0 gal. Crew Weight: 400 lb.

Pricing And Specs