It's no secret that today's big, new V6 four-stroke outboards weigh more than conventional two-stroke V6s. What's often overlooked is that most outboard sport fishing boats were designed far before four-stroke V6s were available. Consequently, those products were never intended to perform with as much as 1300 pounds of outboard weight on their transoms.

Southport's Hunt4 hull designs, on the other hand, were designed to utilize the weight of modern four-stroke V6s to provide a softer, drier ride, more stable platform and "sports car like" handling. In fact, Southport is the only sport fishing product line designed to maximize the potential of modern four-stroke power plants.

Southport's lamination schedules revolve around the offshore racing background of our Director of Engineering, Val Jenkins. Given our lighter, stronger composite structure, the talented marine architects at Hunt balanced the weight of dual four-stroke V6s with a wider aft stance and deeper continuously-variable vee design. So Southport's Hunt4 technology actually benefits from the added weight of the four-stroke V6s because these designs carry a sharp vee aft on a wide stance — which adds buoyancy — and big aft chine areas held firmly in place by the engine weight. The result is a wide, stable platform with a 22-degree deep vee aft that rapidly warps to the mid 30s amidships and a very fine forward entry.

No other hull designs combine Southport's soft ride and incomparable stability in a single boat. In a nutshell, Hunt4 hull technology turns four-stroke engine weight — a problem for other sport fishing hulls — into a solution to the problem of combining deep vee ride with trolling stability. The pleasing result of this elegant solution is a surprisingly agile product that jumps to plane and turns on a dime — a true technologically-advanced design.

Your first Southport ride is an eye-opening experience. Smooth, responsive, and because of the construction of the foam-filled hull, eerily quiet. But perhaps most surprising is the fact that even in a seaway with a beam sea, spray is practically non-existent. In a gale-blown sea on the aft quarter? Sure, there'll be spray. But in most sea conditions, even bad ones, prepare to be astonished at how well the sharp strakes control the water flow.

The secret to the dry ride of a Hunt4 Southport lies in the knife-like sharpness of the strakes combined with the straight hull sections of a Hunt4 continuously-variable vee hull design. Since it's always a straight line from the keel to the chine, the Hunt4 design directs water out and away from the boat rather than up and over like many hull shapes. You can actually see three waves shooting out from the hull at speed — from each of the strakes and the chine — as the Hunt4 hull attacks and controls the seas.

Most hulls have a narrow band of maximum economy, usually over 30 miles per hour. But because Hunt4 hulls are balanced to the four-stroke's heavier weight, they plane off in seconds and easily maintain plane in the lower 20s. Of course, the soft ride of a Southport Hunt4 hull will tempt you to run fast in most sea conditions. But it's comforting to know that on those days when skipping over the tops isn't a viable option, you can efficiently cruise in the mid 20s comfortably and safely.

The end benefit to the balance of a Hunt4 hull powered by four-strokes is fuel economy in the 2 miles-per-gallon range between 25 mph and 40 mph. So, you can match the hull speed to the sea conditions without giving up range or economy. When the conditions permit, "let her eat". But when it really gets tough, you and your crew will appreciate that you can pull it back without getting knocked off plane by the sea conditions.

Southports are really fun to run. Unlike lots of "go fast" boats, there's not a lot of fiddling with the tabs and wondering which way it will go. Just get in and romp down. Since Hunt4 hulls weren't designed around multiple engine choices, the balance of a Southport produces a hull that's very forgiving and surprisingly agile. In fact, we routinely do a few doughnuts in the waterway on the way in — just for fun. That's what running a sports fishing boat really should be — an experience that brings a smile to your face like a sports car does on a mountain road. That's a Southport experience. At the end of a day offshore when you're running in, you'll be saying to yourself, "wow, this really is a great boat!" We know. It happens to us all the time.