SeaHunter Boats, Aerospace Methods on a South Florida Tournament Hull

SeaHunter, one word, and not Sea Hunt

Start with the spelling. SeaHunter, run together as a single word, is a compact South Florida shop focused on tournament fishing consoles. Sea Hunt, two words, is a far bigger production builder in Columbia, South Carolina, with no corporate tie. Brokerage listings blur the two all the time, so confirm the hull identification number before you compare asking prices.

The company opened in 2002. Its founder, Ralph Montalvo, came from aviation, where by SeaHunter's account he owned the biggest privately held FAA-certified aircraft repair operation in the country, and the builder credits aerospace composite training for its laminating methods. Production happens in a 124,000-square-foot plant the company owns in Princeton, Florida, just off US 1 south of Miami, on the road down to the Keys.

Hull philosophy, a padded V instead of true steps

Rather than cutting steps across the running surface, SeaHunter keeps a continuous padded V bottom and steps only the transom. The entry is very fine, the aft deadrise is steep, and the chines are wide to throw spray down. SeaHunter argues the layout gains 10 to 15 percent in speed over both a conventional V and a partial-step design, and that it keeps fish-finder transducers in clean water when running fast.

Hulls are 100 percent vinylester resin with Corecell foam core, vacuum bagged, with voids filled with closed-cell foam. Hardware is 316 stainless steel, fuel tanks are quarter-inch aluminum, and hulls carry a limited lifetime structural warranty.

Today's catalog is grouped into four families, the Floridian bay and nearshore boats from 25 to 30 feet, the Tournament consoles from 31 to 39 feet, the CTS series from 32 to 46 feet and the 45 VTS. The SeaHunter 33 Tournament, our covered model, sits near the middle of that spread as the mainstream offshore tournament boat, and its dimensions, power options and test numbers are on its own page.

Built to order, serviced at home

Every boat is built to a customer order, and most are sold by the factory itself. Owners can use SeaHunter's in-house service team for work at the dock or on the hard, and the company also operates a marina on Manatee Bay in Key Largo. For anyone based in South Florida or the Keys that is a genuine perk; owners farther from Miami-Dade will lean on their local outboard dealer instead.

Used boats are relatively scarce and many trade within South Florida. The factory can often pull a boat's build sheet and service history by hull number, which makes up for inconsistent private listings. Values hold best on boats with documented service and late-model power.

• Request the build sheet and service records from SeaHunter by hull number
• Inspect the transom and motor mounting area, above all on triple-outboard rigs
• Run every livewell and inspect pumps and sea strainers
• Inspect hatches, gas struts and hardtop welds
• Confirm Seakeeper and joystick service records where fitted