Contender 39 ST: 2023 Boat Buyers Guide

The 39 ST combines smooth riding performance and competitive fishability.
Contender 39 ST flying offshore
The 39 ST will get you fishing fast. Courtesy Contender Boats

Founded in 1984, Contender is a recognized leader in building carefully engineered and meticulously handcrafted boats from 24 to 44 feet long, with custom choices in details from engine power to upholstery, all to deliver the performance, convenience and comfort that anglers expect.

More tournaments are won on Contenders, the company says, than any other boat brand.

Contender 39 ST

Contender calls its 39 ST center-console, powered by triple Yamaha 425 XTO outboard engines, “a rocket ship on water.” Its destination? Your favorite kind of fishing, from Florida Bay to the deep Atlantic.

Contender builds your new 39 ST, but you help design it, selecting electronics and the console on which they’re displayed; determining rod holder type and location, including kitefishing rod holders; and picking power—indeed, details down to the upholstery stitching.

Contender’s palette from which you choose elements of your 39 ST includes, in part: hardtop, tackle-center station and stand-on tower, custom fishing towers, lined and insulated forward fish boxes of 145 and 260 gallons, coffin box, port and starboard aft fish boxes of 105 gallons each, two 40-gallon clear-top transom livewells, flush-mount gunwale rod holders, extra-large walk-in lined and finished console with head compartment, lockable storage, and more. 

This two-step deep-V-hull boat tops out at 72.7 mph at 6,000 rpm, and just under 60 mph at 1,000 rpm lower than that. With a standard 500-gallon fuel capacity, you’ve got the oats for a round-trip range of 450 miles.

Performance Data

  • Test Power: Triple Yamaha XF425
  • Test Props: XTO OS
  • Test Load: 250 gal. fuel, two people, 40-pound gear, five batteries, optional upper station 
  • Test Speed: 72.7 mph at @6,000 rpm, 0.64 mpg, 113.8 gph
  • Max Range: 450 miles (90 percent of 500 gal. fuel capacity at 0.98 mpg, 36.6 mph, 3,500 rpm)

Specs

LOA:39′
Beam:10’10”
Fuel Capacity:500 gal.
Dry Weight:15,400 lb. with power
Max HP:1,600
Certifications:NMMA

Editor Says

Many of the brands we cherish today sprang from the same boatbuilding region in which Contender’s roots were formed. They continue to own bragging rights for smooth riding performance and competitive fishability that backs down to no one. -Randy Vance, Editor-at-Large Boating and Fishing Group

More Info

contenderboats.com