Contender to Introduce New Model; Partnership With Viking Yachts Announced
Published: Monday, November 3, 2014
Contender will introduce its newest model, the 22 Sport, at this
week’s Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show.
In keeping with the Contender’s thirty-year heritage of building tournament-grade fishing machines,
the 22 Sport comes equipped with a wide array of fishing features including a 26-gallon elevated
transom livewell, four stainless steel flush-mounted rod holders, cockpit storage racks for six fishing
rods, a 94-gallon in-floor fish box forward, and twin 30-gallon fish boxes in the aft cockpit.
Like the builder’s larger 24 Sport introduced earlier this year, this newest Contender has also been
designed for family-friendly crossover appeal. To that end, the roomy 22 Sport boasts a custom
sport console with a step-down interior that may be equipped with a head. Port and starboard bench
seating in the bow conceals twin 59-gallon storage compartments, and the forward cockpit quickly
converts to a large “U” seating area with the addition of a forward insert.
The 22 Sport is the seventh entirely new Contender model introduced since 2011, while numerous
evolutionary changes have been incorporated throughout the company’s model line.
“With our high-performance, stepped-bottom ST models and luxury LS models, and even with our
25’ Bay, we’ve continued to broaden our focus,” explained Les Stewart, Jr., Contender’s director
of marketing. “At the same time, by continually enhancing our Tournament models, we’re staying
engaged with our core market. With the new 22 Sport we continue our goal of making Contender
performance, quality, and fishability available to an ever-wider segment of the recreational fishing boat
Contender has also announced a new agreement whereby purchasers of Viking sportfishing yachts
will have the option of purchasing a Contender for use as a bait boat or tender.
“We’ve signed Valhalla Boat Sales, a Viking Yachts factory-owned company and dealership, as our
South Jersey Contender dealer,” said Stewart. “Valhalla is now a full-line Contender dealer and will
be offering Contenders to Viking customers. Like Contender, Viking is an established market leader in
their own segment, so we feel it’s a great fit and we’re excited to partner with them.”
The 22 Sport will be part of Contender’s eight-boat display at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat
Show October 30 – November 3, 2014. The Contender display is located at the Fort Lauderdale
Established in Homestead, Florida in 1984, Contender Boats offers a wide range of fully customizable
tournament-grade deep vee fiberglass fishing boats from 21’ to 40’. Visit the Contender website at
For more information, contact Les Stewart, Jr. at 305-230-1600, or [email protected]
tags: New Boat Models
