7 reasons to make your next boat a centre console

But there’s one style of boat that tends to be a bit of a Swiss army knife when it comes to adapting to different types of uses. Not only that, it’s just as user-friendly with a single person on board as it is with an entire family.

That boat? It’s the centre console.

Centre consoles – boats with the steering wheel in the middle of the boat rather than out to one side – have been around for a long time, but boat makers and buyers are starting to switch on to how handy a boat is it can be.

The centre console concept is so popular now that it has swung to the extreme. Some of the largest, fastest outboard-engined boats in the world now have walkaround decks just like a  centre console.

Why would you add one to your shopping list? Here are seven reasons a centre console could be right for you.

There are a lot of boat brands out there that now count a centre console among their showrooms.

This means the chances of finding the right centre console boat that you want is likely to be easy. You can choose from fibreglass or aluminium, with a T-top canopy or as an open boat, features that lean more to fishing or more to family, boats with shallow sides for estuary fishing or deep sides for heading offshore – the choices are pretty endless.

Centre consoles are often marketed as “crossover” boats because even though they tend to be fishing boats, they can perform a mix of functions.

The most common transformation is to turn the forward casting deck – a platform that you can fish from – into a bow lounge to make it a social hub. This usually involves lifting out a section of the casting deck floor and placing a table in the centre.

“Crossover” centre consoles will focus on transforming from fishing to family, becoming just as adept at cruising as they are heading out for a day of water skiing, but without losing any of the fishing functionality.

Larger centre consoles will often have a large space built into the front of the console that is large enough for a person to stand inside. This means it can be used as a changeroom and can even be equipped with a toilet – something often considered necessary in a family-friendly boat.

The open layout of the boat means there is plenty of deck space, and makes it easy to walk from the back of the boat to the front, making it very safe for pets and children.

You want a fishing boat, but the exchequer of the household wants a boat that all the family can enjoy. A centre console offers the least compromise.

The advantage of a centre console is a 360-degree walkaround deck that makes landing a fish much easier. You can walk around the entire boat to untangle your fishing rod from fouling on the outboard engine’s propeller or rubbing on the chines of the boat, so your chances of landing that trophy fish are increased significantly.

Larger centre consoles with T-tops also make it easier to spot fish. You can stand on the coamings – the side of the boat – and hold onto the T-top to gain a height advantage while looking for flocks of birds over the water – a sign that fish are feeding – or to spot where a large school of fish is moving.

The centre console layout also makes it much easier to store rods onboards. Deck-level rocket launchers – tubes that can store a rod vertically – are much better suited to a centre console rather than a boat with a cabin that needs the rocket launcher mounted at roof height.

The larger deck space of a centre console boat also means you can have more and larger underfloor tanks to store your catch.

A side benefit is that there is often plenty of space to stretch out on the deck and have a sleep – handy if you’re on an overnight trip to a hot fishing spot.

One of the challenges boaters face is ensuring their boat is nicely balanced while moving through the water.

The time this is most obvious is when you’re boating solo. If you have a side console (where the steering wheel is on one side of the boat and the rest of the boat is open) or a dual console (where the steering wheel is on one side of the boat), having the weight of just one person onboard will make the boat lean on whatever side is the steering wheel.

To counteract this, skippers need to move things around on the boat to try and balance the weight evenly across the hull or use trim tabs to adjust the angle on which the boat runs.

However, on a centre console, the steering wheel is often right along or very close to the centreline of the boat, meaning the boat is pretty much balanced from the moment you step behind the wheel.

They’re safer, too, if you’re making quick changes in direction, as you’re a lot further away from the side of the boat. If you do fall, it’s likely to be inside the boat rather than over the side and into the water.

If you spend a lot of time on the water solo, a centre console can make a lot of sense.

The centre console layout leaves a clear path along each side of the boat. It means you can walk from the back of the boat to the front without having to step up and hang on to rails like you would with a cabin boat.

You’ll notice other small advantages, such as when you’re docking the boat and you can easily move from the steering wheel to the bow or stern of the boat to fix or release a line, and to access the bow while anchoring.

Centre consoles tend to be quite good at maximising storage options onboard. 

The most obvious space is under the forward casting deck, where large lockers can be hidden. Even the floor around the seats can be utilised for underfloor storage spaces.

If you’re on a small centre console, the space beneath the console can be used for everything from stashing safety gear such as life jackets, to tackle boxes.

On larger centre console boats, there is usually a jump seat built into the front of the console, with storage built beneath it. Step up in size, and the space inside the console will be large enough to store water toys such as sea biscuits.

Depending on the boat, the seats behind the console can be mounted on a lidded box offering storage, or built so that a large icebox can slide in beneath it.

A centre console can also offer larger side pockets for strong long items such as fishing rods, gaffs and landing nets. The expanse of open deck means some boats can even extend this storage to underfloor spaces.

Centre consoles are one of the most searched styles of trailerable boats on boatsales.

It means that once it comes time to sell your boat, you can expect to find a buyer quickly, and likely get the price you want.