Contender 25 Tournament Review
People don’t buy Contender 25 Tournament center consoles just to head to the sandbar, go snorkeling, or idle to the local seafood restaurant. They buy this boat to head offshore, bash around in 4-foot waves while driving like they stole it, then go fishing. Of course, you can do other things, but the first three activities on this boat’s list involve fishing.
At 25 feet, 3 inches long, the 25T is the smallest pure offshore fishing boat in Contender’s fleet, but don’t let its size fool you. Looking at its specs tells the real story. With 24.5 degrees of deadrise, its hull has the deepest V in its class to help it cleave through waves like a katana blade through a watermelon. A 145-gallon fuel tank provides the range to head far offshore or to the islands. An 8-foot, 6-inch beam, allows owners to tow it easily without jumping through any wide-load regulatory hoops. A standard 40-gallon livewell is 10 gallons more capacity than an Everglades 365CC. It has a tuna-worthy, 140-gallon (not quart) forward fish box plus two more 76-gallon boxes aft, for a total of 292 gallons.
In other words, it’s ready to go places and do things, not just be a status symbol on a lift or a trailer.
At a Glance: Contender 25 Tournament
CONTENDER 25 TOURNAMENT
- Ease of digital switching
- Improved stability with standard Seakeeper Ride system
- Combined storage of the livewell and fish boxes
- Boarding ladder presents a potential tripping hazard
- Short windscreen
- No tuna/dive door
- Owners who live and breathe fishing
- Anglers who head offshore but don't want a boat they can't trailer
Specifications
- LOA: 25 feet, 3 inches
- Beam: 8 feet, 6 inches
- Dry weight: 5,400 pounds
- Deadrise: 24.5 degrees
- Fuel capacity: 145 gallons
- Maximum horsepower: 450
- Base price: $144,508
Performance
- Engines: Twin Yamaha F200
- Cylinders: Inline 4
- Displacement: 2.8L
- Dry weight: 487 pounds
- Top speed: 49.6 mph
- Best cruise: 35 mph @ 4000 rpm 15.2 gph = 2.3 mpg
- Time to plane: 3.7 seconds
- Time to 30 mph: 5.4 seconds
Features We Love
- Seakeeper Ride
- Larger-than-expected lazarette
- EmpirBus digital switching system
- Wide-open fishing bow
- 140-gallon foredeck fish box
- Centerline bow cleat
- Oval 40-gallon livewell
- Under-gunwale rod storage for six
- Fishing cockpit
- Twin 76-gallon stern fish boxes
- Large enough dash for twin 16-inch MFDs
- Optional upper station
- Optional outriggers and electric reel outlets
- Optional 90-inch Garmin Kraken trolling motor
History Lesson
Contender was founded in 1984 by 22-year-old Joe Neber in Miami, near where its larger models are still built. In 2022, Contender moved production of boats 32 feet and smaller, such as the 25T, to Fort Pierce, Florida.
The first model Contender built was the 25 Classic. Its steady evolution has continued ever since, with updates every couple of years. Neber is an avid angler with whom I was lucky enough to fish with in the late 1990s in a casual half-day media fishing tournament. He has fished in many tournaments over the years, and if he hadn’t been busy building boats, he could have been a successful guide. His fishing expertise gives him a different perspective than your typical bean-counting CEO.
Design and Construction
In researching this review, I ran across an old Contender 25 review by David Pascoe, a surveyor who seems to find serious faults with every boat he reviews. As a surveyor, he looks at the stuff most boat buyers don’t see. His review was glowing with positive comments—who is this guy?—regarding its design and quality of build. Yes, the review is dated, but apparently not much has changed in terms of quality.
The larger-than-expected lazarette holds the pumps and through-hull fittings and is large enough for an average-sized man to climb into. The same goes for the neat electrical panel within the center console. In 2025, Contender upgraded to Garmin’s state-of-the-art EmpirBus digital switching system.
The Contender 25 Tournament is one of the smallest boats to use the three-piece construction process, which consists of a hull, a liner, and a standalone cap. Most boats are built with the cap and liner as one part. This big-boat construction technique has its advantages. Instead of the usual one-piece cap and liner that is screwed to the hull or bonded in place, or both, the three pieces are fiberglassed together. It is more expensive to build this way but holds up better when pounding offshore. Also, placing the liner and hull in such close proximity creates more interior space.
Contender 25 Tournament Bow
Anglers are going to love the wide-open space up front, devoid of bowrider seats that eat up fishing room. Owners who need more seating can select the bowrider/bench seat option. The designers were smart to leave the bow section open, so anglers tethered to a big one can head forward to retrieve lost line while the driver idles toward the fish. Another option provides extra storage and a place to sit. You can get a well-padded coffin box, but it blocks the bow hatch.
A double-wide jump seat occupies space just forward of the console, and its backrest is tall enough to cushion heads should the skipper launch off a big wave. Passengers can also grasp the support poles for the optional hardtop when things get rough.
The aforementioned 140-gallon fish box is set into the foredeck, and one latch opens it. Most owners will likely use the gel-coated compartment for storage since they have two other fish boxes aft.
Kudos to the designers for including a bow cleat on the centerline for an even pull on the hook. Many boats have twin bow cleats slightly offset from the centerline, which can make an anchored boat roll more unless owners use a harness. The pop-up cleat recesses flush to the deck, and the cap rail has a large flat surface at the bow, making it a perfect place from which to toss a cast net.
Stern
The Contender 25 Tournament features a full transom design with the motor mounted on a bracket. Some boats in this class have engine cutouts, but they can let water enter the cockpit when a wave comes from behind on the rare occasions a stern anchor is needed for precise positioning.
An oversized oval 40-gallon livewell dominates the transom. It is pressurized to prevent sloshing and has a clear lid that enhances bait monitoring. Contender mounted the livewell close to the centerline to balance the 350 pounds of seawater and bait within the tank.
The twin Yamaha F200s on our test boat were neatly mounted, with rigging tubes concealed beneath the swim platform, which has a narrow pathway along its width. An aft bench seat does not come standard, but owners can choose one as an option.
Contender 25 Tournament Cockpit
Because there is no seating in the cockpit, it’s wide open for fishing. The standard leaning post is compact to conserve space, with four integrated rod holders and a grab rail at the perfect height for hanging on for dear life. Under-gunwale rod storage can accommodate six rods and features tubes to protect delicate rod tips.
Amidships and stern hawse pipes are features borrowed from bigger boats. They keep the cap rail clear of cleats, save for the one at the bow.
Helm
You can fit a pair of 16-inch multifunction screens on the 25T’s dash, but our boat featured just one Garmin and a watertight compartment for valuables. I’ve seen several new Contender 25 Tournament models at dealerships with no dash electronics installed. This allows the dealer to deliver a custom setup to owners, giving them exactly what they want.
A half-size Plexiglass windshield is curved on the edges but doesn’t exhibit the usual distortion. The leaning post is basic, with a bench-style seat and no armrests. Wisely, the seat’s bottom padding waterfalls down in front so occupants have plenty of padded surface to lean against when they are standing. The fixed backrest offers good support.
Buyers can opt for an upgraded leaning post with amenities such as armrests and an upholstery upgrade over the basic all-white vinyl.
Head
In 2017, Contender redesigned the center console, moving the entrance from the front to the side. It’s surprisingly deep inside, measuring 68 inches, but it is tight for larger folks. Our boat included an optional electric toilet. The new setup does have one downside: fuel capacity. Today’s models hold 145 gallons instead of the 178 gallons pre-2017 models held.
The starting battery and house batteries are located under the electric panel, which has easy access via a removable door. There, you’ll find redundant switches for the EmpirBus system, just in case.
Contender 25 Tournament Engines
Contender used to be a Yamaha-only company, but now, buyers can choose Mercury outboards as well. When the company launched in the mid-1980s, many 25 Classics were built with straight inboard engines because outboards were less reliable at the time. That changed when Yamaha introduced the first large four-strokes, forever altering the way offshore boats were powered.
Our test boat featured twin Yamaha F200s whose 2.8L inline four-cylinder powerheads are 119 pounds lighter than those in previous V6 F200 models. Recently, Contender raised the maximum power on the 25T to 450 horsepower. To stay with Yamaha, buyers go from an I-4 to a V6. Mercury’s 200 and 225 hp models share the same lightweight 3.4L V6 platform.
Single-engine power is another alternative. Yamaha holds the advantage here because of its Helm Master EX for Single Engines, which has joystick control. Purists might decry the necessity of this “crutch,” but features such as FishPoint and DriftPoint allow precise, automatic control of the boat, which is a huge advantage when you are kite fishing.
No, it can’t be used as a virtual anchor like Mercury and Yamaha’s dual-engine joystick control systems, but most anglers use trolling motors for this feature. And Contender offers the 90-inch Garmin Kraken trolling motor as an option with the Sea Swivel mount that keeps the bow clear of obstructions.
Performance and Fuel Economy
The Contender 25 Tournament is one of three models without a twin-stepped hull, so I didn’t know what to expect regarding fuel economy and performance. I was pleasantly surprised. Usually, ultra-deep-V hulls take more time to get on plane because they sit deeper in the water. To counteract that, Contender fitted the 25T with oversized outer chines that act as planing pads and provide greater lift. Those chines also help to reduce roll at slow speeds or at anchor.
I recorded a time to plane of 3.7 seconds and a time to 30 mph of just 5.4 seconds. The sea conditions affected the boat’s top speed, but it came a whisker away from reaching 50 mph (49.6). Other tests with twin Yamaha engines have produced top speeds of about 53 mph.
At a nice cruising speed of 35 mph, fuel economy was a respectable 2.3 mpg, which yields a theoretical range of 287 miles with a 10 percent reserve. In real-world conditions, for safety, the reserve should be at least 33 percent.
Contender 25 Tournament Handling
This boat’s evolution took a giant leap when Contender started offering the Seakeeper Ride vessel attitude control system standard on 2026 models. Ride replaces manual trim tabs with an automated system that makes up to 100 corrections per second to reduce side-to-side roll and the up-and-down motion of the bow, called pitch, by up to 70 percent. With 24.5 degrees of deadrise, the boat slices through waves easily, but the tradeoff is more roll. Deep-V hulls like this benefit the most from Seakeeper’s Ride system.
We headed out of Government Cut in Miami, which has a nasty reputation for treacherous conditions, but it was on its best behavior on test day. Offshore conditions were mostly 2-footers. As it settled into a cruise speed of around 35 mph, the Contender 25 Tournament ran level in all directions thanks to the automated roll control. Usually, my right hand darts between the trim tab controllers and the throttles to get the best ride, but I just kept it on the binnacles to adjust speed for the softest ride.
Who Is the Contender 25 Tournament For?
Deciding who this boat is designed for is easy. The Contender 25 Tournament is for boat owners who live and breathe fishing. The Tournament designation is apt, since this boat is a perennial favorite among anglers in tournaments with different classes, such as the One More Bite Sailfish Challenge in South Florida. It splits the field between boats 26 feet and smaller and those 27 feet and larger, to even the playing field. The largest saltwater tournament circuit is the Southern Kingfish Association (SKA), which has a Small Boat Class for boats with an LOA of 26 feet, 6 inches or less. In 2018, the length rules changed, going from a waterline measurement to a length overall metric, so Contender changed the model name from the 23T to the 25T, which is the same boat. In 2026, I counted 79 Contender 25 (or older 23) models competing in the Small Boat Class on the SKA circuit—by far the most.
For owners who split their time between fishing and recreational boating, Contender offers the 23 Sport, which features bowrider seats, fixed stern seats in the corners, and additional non-fishing amenities. It also has less deadrise, smaller fuel capacity, and less fish-holding space.
Trick It Out
The Contender 25 Tournament only needs a few options to maximize its fishing prowess. Two that leap to mind are outriggers and electric reel outlets for anglers who are into deep dropping.
An upper-station option is available. With it, the driver stands on the dash with half their body above the T-top, helping keep the center of gravity lower than on a full-blown upper station that’s fully above the top.
Our test boat had 12 rod holders set into the gunwales, four of which were also cupholders, but buyers can add more.
Surprisingly, coaming pads are an option, one I consider a must-have.
Challenges
The boarding ladder on the swim platform is located on the starboard side but sits atop the swim platform when not in use. That makes boarding from dockside awkward, since the cockpit gate is also on this side. The ladder should be recessed so it isn’t a tripping hazard.
There is no dive/tuna door option on the 25T, unlike most center consoles today.
The 22- to 25-inch interior cockpit gunwale height is low for a center console boat and is more comparable to a bay boat or a hybrid. This low height makes it difficult for taller anglers to lock in under the coaming pad when fighting a fish.
The tube supports for the hardtop intrude into the driver’s view, and the short Plexiglass windscreen doesn’t offer the same protection as a full-height glass windscreen. However, there is an Eisenglass option for full frontal coverage, along with side wings to protect from spray.
Contender 25 Tournament Conclusions
The Contender 25 Tournament is a modernized old-school, few-frills fishing battlewagon. It is ideal for avid anglers who live to fish or want to compete in tournaments without spending up to $1 million on a 40-plus-footer with four or five outboards. That’s not to mention the gas required to run near wide-open throttle as competitive teams like to operate.
Although a 25-footer has been in the lineup since the company’s founding, constant upgrades continue to improve this proven model and keep it current. FB Marine in Fort Lauderdale is a top Contender dealership and offers the base 25T at an MSRP of $144,508, ready for customization to meet an owner’s exact needs.
Contender 25 Tournament Boats For Sale
Alan Jones
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