Sea Fox 209 Commander Centre Console

The options on the test boat include T-top with canvas and spreader lights and trim tabs with standard switch. The Sea Fox 209 Commander as tested rolled down the ramp at $68,963 with this extra kit.

Neat pop-up cleats are installed in the coamings, the top of which and feature a diamond-grip non slip finish. 

A full-width rear lounge has a long fishbox built into its centre and a smaller one starboard side. The surface of this lounge base is also non slip so it makes an ideal casting deck and the cushions here are removable to facilitate this. 

The transom features two hatches: the one on the starboard side is a general stowage area with the inner base rebated to hold a bucket preventing it slipping around. Another display of practicality, and by the way, you get the bucket with the boat!

The port corner of this bulkhead hosts the accommodating live-bait well, which has a round corner profile and is finished internally in a sky blue tone; typical of what you see in the Sea Fox range and touted as features that stress the livies less.

The stern is adorned with a pair of boarding platforms and both are fitted with telescopic stainless-steel ladders that fit flush into rebates. There are also ski-rope hooks, a two-rod rack at the forward end of the engine well and grab rails for ease of boarding.

The console is shadowed by a sturdy aluminium-framed T-top with canvas laced in. It has four rod holders across its aft end and two deck lights for night work. As well as being bolted to the deck, the T-top is fixed to the console and proved to be perfectly rigid.

The fascia of the console has a huge space for flush mounting a large cabinet electronic unit. The top of the console is bare save for the compass and, while gimbal mounting electronics will impede the skipper’s vision, a short lip on its aft end will make this a valuable place to stow loose items that need to be handy to the crew.

The helm wheel is mounted on a multi-positioned hub installed to the left of centre and the binnacle throttle is low down out of the way. The AM/FM radio, its speakers and the battery-isolation switch are located in the lower aft-facing panel of the console.

There is a double seat moulded into the front of the console, which completes the 'circular' seating for those relaxing in the bow.

The inside of the console has been designed primarily to be used as a head, although people large in stature may have problems manoeuvring in and out. An unpacked portable toilet was stored in the console when we viewed it and it comes standard in the price.

Behind a hatch inside the console, one finds the battery system stowed low down to reduce the centre of gravity. Aside from the potential for this area to be a head, it does provide excellent lock-up facility for gear that you want to leave on board when the boat is on the trailer. We imagine hanging lure bags and vertical rod racks would add further practicality to this boat.
 

Instead they now feature a hull that is hand laid up in the mould, with seven layers of traditional woven rovings to which a hollow fibreglass stringer system is adhered, before filling with foam.

With a Carolina-style flared hull and 19-degree deadrise we weren’t surprised at the slick performance from the 209 on a day of less-than-perfect-boat-testing weather. But even in the rough stuff we reckon it'll excel.
 

We managed to make a few bumps ourselves and borrowed some from passing whale-watching boats -- just enough to realise there is a lot more potential to be realised with this neat hull.

It was hard to gauge at what point we got on the plane as the transition out of the hole was seamless. 

With only analogue instrumentation, fuel consumption figures are missing from this review. But what was obvious to us is that, for the price tag, this is one heck of a good starting point for those that want a serious offshore fisher.