Nick Burnham casts his expert eye over the used boat market in the UK to find 4 great leisure fishing boats currently on sale
Twice a year I travel to the USA to visit boat shows – the Palm Beach show in March and the Fort Lauderdale show in October. Mostly I am there to film superyachts for Aquaholic, but I always make a point of filming at least one big American sportsfisher.
At Palm Beach this year it was a Viking 80 Convertible. 80ft of classic stateside styling with a swooping sheer line, huge outriggers and a throne-like fighting chair in the cockpit. Five luxurious en suite cabins on the lower deck and two monster MTU diesel engines producing a combined 5,000hp for a top speed of almost 40 knots!
It would be hard to justify spending several million dollars to bring one of these into the UK in order to catch a few cod, sea bass and mackerel. But we do have plenty of much more sensible (and affordable) leisure-based fishing boats of our own, including these fine craft…
Mitchell 31
Built: 1976
Price: £19,950
In surely one of the longest production runs in British boat building history, the Mitchell 31 was originally launched as the Sea Angler back in 1969 but was still in production as a MK3 40 years later!
Alan Hill originally designed it for R. Mitchell & Sons of Newhaven, but in 1984 he set up Mitchell Mouldings Ltd in Burnham on Crouch and bought the moulds for the 31, which by then had made their way to the Isle of Wight, putting a MK2 version into production in 1986.
The Sea Angler motif was quietly dropped as, although popular in fishing circles, the boat was also well suited for use in other commercial roles, including the police force.
The interior is fairly basic but does include vee berths, a galley and separate heads
Interior
This is not a boat that you buy for the interior, and it’s probably fair to say that this particular one especially is not a boat that you’d buy for the interior!
Functional best sums up the inside, but there are vee berths in the bow, a small galley with a stove and a separate heads. Most earlier boats had an open-backed wheelhouse, but interestingly, despite its vintage, this example has the rear bulkhead to create an enclosed helm position.
Exterior
Despite its age, this is still a well-proportioned and workmanlike looking boat, a look reinforced by its (admittedly faded) dark blue hull. The MK2 version extended the wheelhouse to create more internal space, but this MK1 maxes out the cockpit, clearly the focus for serious sea anglers.
A single shaft drive engine puts the engine box in the centre of the cockpit, leaving plenty of space around it for fishing.
Performance
Single and twin engine options were available, but most went out with the single Ford 120hp six-cylinder diesel that this boat still has. The largest engine options pushed the semi-displacement hull up to about 18 knots, but the single Ford topped out at 12 knots with an economical cruise speed of about 7 knots.
No shortage of space in the cockpit for anglers to cast their rods and store their catch
Seakeeping
A round bilge semi-displacement hull with a fine entry and flared bow offers excellent, if sometimes quite wet, sea-keeping abilities. Later versions got hefty spray rails for a slightly drier ride.
Mitchell 31 specifications
Length: 30ft 0in (9.5m)
Beam: 10ft 6in (3.2m)
Draft: 3ft 0in (0.9m)
Displacement: 4 tonnes
Fuel capacity: 320 litres
Engines: Ford 120hp diesel engine
For sale: Boats.co.uk
Beneteau Barracuda 9
Built: 2019
Price: £89,950
Launched in 2012, the interesting thing about the Beneteau Barracuda 9 is that without the Beneteau Antares 8.80, this boat simply wouldn’t exist.
The 8.80 was just another stock in trade pêche promenade-style family cruiser in the Antares range, but the company felt that the hull had more to give, and spun the Barracuda 9 directly off it. Up to the rubbing band these boats are almost identical, but internally and above that, they are entirely different.
This MK2 version was introduced in 2017, by which time the Barracuda line of sports fishers was four strong, at 6,7,8 and this 9m version. All have since been dropped.
The wheelhouse enjoys excellent light and visibility as well as three separate entry points
Interior
Put simply, the Antares 8.80 is the one to buy if cruising is your aim, but the Barracuda makes for a far superior fishing platform, largely down to its walk-around decks.
This significantly reduces interior volume and even changes the access to it – this model was originally only entered through sliding side doors, although this newer version has access from the aft cockpit also. Inside you’ll find a double helm seat with benches either side of a table behind them and a small galley in the forward port quarter. A double berth is forward under the foredeck as well as a separate heads.
Exterior
Where it gains over the 8.80 is outside, because you can walk all the way around this boat, and there’s even a bench seat in the bow. Back aft, there’s another bench across the transom and two further seats either side that fold away to make space for fishing.
There was even the option of a tiny two-person flybridge on the MK1, although this was dropped when the MK2 version was introduced.
Performance
We achieved 37 knots when we tested this model with twin 200hp outboards in 2012. This particular boat has the largest option available – two 250hp motors – which should take it to 40 knots.
Walkaround side decks do limit the width of it compared to the standard Antares model
Seakeeping
Fantastic visibility assists that impressive performance, but so does the hull, which we described as “solid and composed, tracking and turning well with no cavitation”.
Beneteau Barracuda 9 specifications
Length: 29ft 10in (9.1m)
Beam: 9ft 9in (3.0m)
Draft: 2ft 7in (0.8m)
Displacement: 4.5 tonnes
Fuel capacity: 600 litres
Engines: Twin Suzuki DF250 APX 250hp outboard engines
For sale: Inspiration Marine
Rodman 1290 Evolution
Built: 2024
Price: £715,000
Rodman build flybridge cruisers called Muse, the smallest of which is a similar 44ft, allowing the yard to go all out on this sports fisher. Developed from the successful 1250, a boat that dates back to the 1990s, the 1290 Evolution takes all the best features of that model and builds on them to create a fishing focused, family-friendly cruiser.
Comfortable interior makes this well suited for cruising and fishing expeditions
Interior
Higher topsides create space for hull windows as well as increased internal volume. But there are fundamental changes to the interior too, chief of which is moving the galley from the lower deck to the saloon.
As well as making catering a far more sociable affair, it also allows for a larger second cabin with two separate single beds rather than bunks, and a larger day heads shared by both cabins. Other changes include a side door next to the helm – helpful for mobility around the boat but also airflow.
Exterior
Those raised topsides result in a single step on each side deck, but despite this, those decks remain wide and ringed by deep bulwarks topped with substantial 38mm rails.
The cockpit is very sports fisher, with seats that fold flat against the sides for unimpeded fishing, a bait well and tackle drawers. Up on top, the flybridge has the classic sports fisher layout of putting the helm aft to allow easy communication with those in the battle zone, plus a seating area ahead of it.
Performance
IPS pods or shaft drive were offered. This is usually achieved by using vee boxes to keep the engines in the same place. With the Rodman, however, the shafts are straight, putting the engines under the saloon and a lazarette in the cockpit.
In the IPS version, they are under the cockpit and the saloon gets a storage void instead. This one has the 480hp IPS650s, rather than the 440hp IPS600s which gave us 36 knots on test.
Elongated hull windows let plenty of light into the forward owner’s cabin
Seakeeping
We reported that “you get no sense this is a 12-tonne boat with a flybridge above your head. There’s no sluggish retention of the heeling moment; no ponderous delay in regaining your trim. It snaps back into focus with impressive agility, and it’s pretty quick too”.
Rodman 1290 Evolution specifications
Length: 43ft 6in (13.3m)
Beam: 12ft 9in (4.2m)
Draft: 3ft 7in (1.1m)
Displacement: 11 tonnes
Fuel capacity: 1,400 litres
Engines: Twin IPS650 480hp diesel engines
For sale: Inspiration Marine
Arvor 280 AS
Built: 2013
Price: £74,950
Built in Poland and hugely popular for a time, Arvors were imported into the UK by boats.co.uk, which sold them by the bucketload! In 2006, 147 Arvors went out of the door from its Wallasea base, three a week, every week!
Trucks carrying two boats at a time would queue up, waiting to unload. Arvor was taken over by the Brunswick Corporation and subsumed into the Quicksilver brand as the smaller boat market shifted toward outboard engined boats. This 280 AS model was produced from 2008 to 2017.
The wheelhouse is quite small but there are two double berths and a head down below
Interior
Although the wheelhouse is necessarily compact due to the focus being on cockpit space, it is nonetheless surprisingly light and airy due to plenty of glass and, incredibly given the compact dimensions, a side door in addition to the aft door!
The helm is to starboard with a fridge beneath it, and there is a small L-shaped settee to port. Drop down a couple of steps to the lower deck and it initially feels quite tiny, with a settee/bed to port that converts to a double and a small galley area and heads to starboard. But spin round and you’ll discover another proper double berth tucked away aft, running transversely beneath the wheelhouse.
Exterior
Asymmetric decks maximise interior volume and give a usefully generous sunken walkway forward on the starboard side. You can get around the port side but it’s higher and narrower.
The self-draining and high-sided cockpit is the big news, literally, as it’s a really generous size. There is no engine box intrusion so it’s a completely flat floor and you can get right to the edges thanks to fold away seating, making it perfect for fishing. There is a live bait well built into the transom and tackle storage in the sides.
Performance
The Mercury QSD turbo diesel 320hp engine is standard, and indeed ample, for this model. Topping out at about 25 knots, it will cruise comfortably at 20 knots.
The single diesel engine is mounted under the cockpit, leaving a flat deck for fishing
Seakeeping
A semi-tunnelled prop keeps the draft to 3ft 1in and the comparatively deep vee hull means seakeeping is as good as you’re likely to expect from a compact planing boat.
Arvor 280 AS specifications
Length: 31ft 1in (9.5m)
Beam: 9ft 10in (3.0m)
Draft: 3ft 1in (0.9m)
Displacement: 4 tonnes
Fuel capacity: 390 litres
Engines: Mercruiser QSB 320hp diesel engine
For sale: Boats.co.uk
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