Southport’s new 28 Tournament Edition has a serious offshore focus

For the focused tournament angler, the new Tournament Edition takes full advantage of the spectacular Southport 28′6″ Hunt4 hull design. With over 800 quarts of insulated storage, 40 rod holders and a tackle center 50-footers would envy, Southport’s 28 Tournament Edition has all the elements for serious offshore competition.

First and foremost, the 28′6″ Hunt4 hull design with its 10′6″ beam draws raves from everyone who has been on a sea trial. Stable at rest, soft and dry underway and delivering over 2 mpg fully loaded, the Southport 28 simply sets a new standard. With 250 gallons of fuel, even Canyon trips seldom burn a half tank.

At the fishing grounds, the new 28 Tournament Edition tackle center provides all the tools for serious competition. The 4-foot work surface has three cutting board lids with a fresh/salt water sink and pull-out faucet, insulated bait box and 50-gallon raw water live well below.

The lids can be raised and lowered separately depending on whether anglers are cleaning fish, preparing natural baits or rigging live baits. Each lid has a D-gasket and is held open by a magnet, for one-hand opening and closing. Red courtesy lights in the back splash provide light for night rigging. Above the work station, the aft seat back houses four rod holders, knife/pliers/rigging needle/ice pick holder and two rods for hanging rigs while working. The working surfaces all drain into the sink area to keep the cockpit sole clean and non-skid safe.

The lower acrylic doors of the tackle center all have external stainless steel rig-hanging rods for fresh water clean-up and drying at the end of the day. When the lures are dry, the starboard two doors open to reveal interior stainless steel rods for lockable rig storage. The two starboard door compartments each have two large tackle storage trays. In the port side compartment, there is a bulk storage drawer with a pull-out 3-gallon trash/clean up bucket underneath.

On the port side of the tackle center the lockable compartment has eight big tackle trays and a bulk storage drawer. On the forward side of the center under the lean bar seat, there are two more large, lockable bulk storage areas.

With eight standard gunwale-mounted rod holders and eight more across the transom, the 28 Tournament Edition has 40-rod capacity. Yet, with a place for everything, the deck of Southport’s new 28TE stays clear and ready for that tournament winner.