The Sea Force IX 41.5 Sport Center Console is a tournament-ready boat that is equally suited to be a yacht tender.
Big center consoles often must fill many roles—one day a serious sport fisherman, the next a shuttle tender to a yacht, then a pleasure cruiser and, after that, a dive boat with easy reboarding access. Fortunately, owners of the Sea Force IX Sport Center Console have everything they need for those multiple roles already built into the boat.
Designers of the 41.5 Sport are accustomed to drawing up much bigger vessels for the team to build at the Palmetto, Florida, facility. The Sea Force IX model lineup starts with the 41.5 Sport (41’8″ LOA, 12′ beam) as the first in the new Performance Sport Outboard center console line and climbs up to the 131.5 Luxury Performance Skybridge Sport Yacht (131’8″ LOA, 26’10” beam).
“This is the smallest boat we have ever built,” explains Rick Hyer, design engineer at Sea
Force IX, during the launch of the boat at the 2017 Fort Lauderdale International Boat
Show. “Our primary market is from 81 to 94 feet with inboard sportfishing boats. Now we have ventured into this larger center console market, with a 55-footer next. The construction is all composite, all vinylester resin.”
Powered by triple Yamaha 350-hp four-stroke outboard engines, the Sea Force IX 41.5 Sport is a wave crusher and offers a smooth ride in rough conditions. She also carries some heft at more than 21,000 pounds. However, with a full load and five passengers, she still can run to the 55-plus-mph top speed and cruise comfortably in the 40-mph range.
“This is a bottom design that Sea Force IX has proven to be successful with,” says Todd Albrecht, sales and marketing manager for Sea Force IX. Prior to his current position, Albrecht had long been with Jupiter Marine, and his experience with larger center consoles helped guide Sea Force IX with its new center console line. “It has been modified to get a little more deadrise, from a traditional 17-degree deadrise to a 23-degree bottom. The boat creates lift for the entire running surface with twin lifting strakes on both sides, no steps, and large chines. The faster you push the throttles, the higher it gets out of the water, and reduced wetting surface increases the fuel efficiency.”
A boat this big is a prime candidate for both the Yamaha Helm Master system and the Seakeeper 5 gyro stabilizer. Both are options, but neither product was on this boat, which was hull No. 1 of the 41.5 Sport line. However, Yamaha’s service network can now add the Helm Master system after the boat is purchased. While the joystick control may be what everyone talks about when discussing Helm Master, there’s much more to the system.
Because Helm Master now works with twin, triple and quad engine setups, it’s suitable for a variety of boat types and sizes. For 2018, Yamaha added a new feature with Helm Master called SetPoint. The feature’s three modes— FishPoint, DriftPoint, and StayPoint—provide even greater control for situations such as fishing, waiting for a bridge and controlled drifting.
Paying homage to the builder’s fishing background, the 41.5 Sea Force IX Sport Center Console has twenty (yes, 20) rod holders and rocket launchers. There’s also a 60-gallon livewell, custom outriggers, icemaker, abundant tackle storage, and a cockpit nearly big enough for a fighting chair. “We installed a diesel generator with a 30-gallon fuel tank,” Albrecht adds.
“For a weeklong trip to The Bahamas, that’s going to be enough fuel to power the generator so you can run everything, including the 16,000-BTU air conditioning, which offers two additional vents plumbed to the helm area.”
The two front-seat passengers and the captain ride in style on Llebroc helm chairs with footrests, while the captain looks forward to an elegant Edson wood steering wheel and twin Garmin GPSMAP 7616 multi-function displays. The Yamaha throttles and shifters are in a comfortable position and teak wood lines above decks. The helm is protected by an expansive hardtop. “The hardtop arch is an aluminum frame, and then the top is cored fiberglass,” says Albrecht. “We then paint the aluminum in house. The only way to give it this custom look was to do it ourselves.”
Below, the cabin of the Sea Force IX Sport Center Console has teak woodwork and a cabin that features a dining table that lowers on an electric actuator and converts the dinette to a queen berth. The cabin also features UltraLeather for all the fabric surfaces and Staron countertops. Accessories include an AC/DC stainless steel drawer-style refrigerator, microwave and freshwater sink. A stand-up head is much appreciated as is the abundant storage. In addition, access to the air conditioner and other ship’s systems is all easily achieved down below. A Bomar deck hatch allows for plenty of natural light and ventilation.
“We considered how someone is going to use this boat. They are going to fish, but they are also going to cruise, so it needs to be a yacht-style boat,” says Albrecht. “Here in
the bow, you have two big, comfortable lounge seats and a nice clean anchor setup.” Sea Force IX went with the shoot-through-the-bow-style anchor design that offers a crisp look
as well as shaving off overall length. “It started with our clients up north who are paying by the foot for dock space. “Having that anchor hanging is an extra foot of cost to them
at the dock. It’s a cleaner look to tuck it into the bow.”
The design of the Sea Force IX Sport Center Console includes a removable swim ladder, deployable from either side of the aft teak platform. The ladder attachments are built directly into the hull. “We built a boat that can be customized and used for many different activities,” Albrecht states. “That’s the goal with this center console line, and we’re looking forward to offering boats with even more utility and performance.”
SPECIFICATIONS
LOA: 41′ 8″
Beam: 12′
Draft: 2′ 8″
Displacement: 21,000 lbs.
Fuel/Water: 500/60 gals.
Power: 3x Yamaha
350-hp outboards
Cruise/Top Speed: 41/55 MPH
Range @ cruise: 375 nm
MSRP: Price upon request
Contact: Sea Force IX
(941) 721-9009
seaforceix.com
By Doug Thompson, Southern Boating
