Sportsman Boats debuts latest flagship model

Sportsman Boats unveiled the company’s new Open 352 Center Console at the 8th Annual Dealer Sales Training Event. The builder said this new flagship builds on the company’s innovative roots with design features never seen before.

Sportsman’s Open series includes models starting at 21 feet and feature family-friendly open cockpit layouts with all of the amenities fishermen require. The series features flip-up rear seating, full access to the bow, enclosed heads and side entry doors starting at 25 feet and up.

Sportsman said the Open 352 represents the “pinnacle of the SportTech Advanced Fabrication System,” a proprietary boat building process unique to Sportsman. The hull, stringer and deck are built using resin infusion technology to ensure a superior quality, fit and finish.

The hull design follows Sportsman’s running surface with 0-degree strakes for a dry, safe and comfortable ride. It is 35-feet, 2-inches long and 11-feet, 2-inches wide with a fuel capacity of 330 gallons. One unique design feature are the dual side entry doors that open inward and allows the boat to be boarded from either side. This is paired with dual fuel fills to accommodate refueling.

The builder says the stringer system is “another area where great attention to detail is obvious and follows the company’s ‘designed-in’ engineering motto to perfection.”

It has an industry-first designed-in Seakeeper pod that allows the installation of the gyroscopic stabilizer at the optimum position. Unlike most stringer systems that just have fingers extending to the edges of the hull, the Open 352 stringer system is a complete part that touches every inch of the hull ensuring superior strength from bow to stern. This stringer is completely finished in gelcoat and foam filled for additional flotation.

The deck layout features open cockpit space in all of the key areas that the company says modern boaters crave.

The bow offers an entertainment zone featuring deep wrap-around seating with insulated storage underneath. The center piece of the bow is an electronically actuated table that has three main functions which include bow table, filler board and completes the floor when all the way down. The Open 352 also has a unique under gunwale storage tray that wraps around the entire bow for smaller items. JL Audio remote control and USB charging plugs complete the bow.

At the front of the console, a modern sculpted chaise lounge includes a built-in 65 qt. insulated cooler, armrests and cupholders.

At the helm, triple adjustable captain’s chairs, dedicated battery compartment, ergonomically correct driving position and the most advanced glass-helm Sportsman has ever produced. The SportLink Electronics Integration System on the Open 352 features space for dual 22-inch Garmin displays, SeaStar’s Electronic Power Steering and JL Audio’s new MVi amplification with built-in DSP.

“The team at JL Audio worked with the design team to achieve the ultimate listening experience and has hand-tuned this boat taking advantage of their new amps,” the company said.

Users also won’t find any switches on this dash, because it takes advantage of SeaStar’s Maximus Digital Switching System. This system integrates all of the 12v accessories into the Garmin display and comes with a wireless remote.

The console is designed with a wrap-around tempered glass windshield with actuated vent and a bent D-Tubing structure that is a class-first. Typically, D-Tube console structures are cut and welded due to the difficulty and specialized equipment required to bend such thick metal. Sportsman said it invested heavily in the equipment necessary to fabricate the pieces in-house. The oversized fiberglass hard-top has two integrated Lumitec Razor lights and integrated navigation lights.

“Being at the helm of the Open 352, it feels like everything is at a perfect angle and distance. We have meticulously designed this console to fit the ergonomics of the human body and provide the captain plenty of comfort even when operated for extended periods of time,” said Jeff Hudson, director of product development at Sportsman Boats. “Another key design area for us was visibility, we needed the headroom inside of the console but we didn’t want the height of the console to impede with visibility, so we had to innovate using our unique stringer system to achieve the perfect console height while maintaining over 6 feet of headroom inside of the console. When it came to the top, we knew that cutting and welding was not going to achieve the modern, sleek look we were going for and it’s in our company’s DNA to innovate, so we made it happen. I think everyone that looks at this top will agree that it is stunning and one of my personal favorite design features of the boat.”

“It’s one thing to conceptualize a new boat and imagine all of the intricacies and nuances on paper. But then that design comes to life and you get to be behind the wheel and it just exceeds anything you could have ever imagined,” said Tommy Hancock, president of Sportsman Boats. “The Open 352 delivers everything that we set out to do a year and a half ago when we started this project. We are so proud of the boat and even more proud of the amazing team of world-class boat builders that made this project possible. To see the team come together and deliver such an incredible boat makes me excited for the future of Sportsman Boats.”

The Open 352 is now available for pre-order and will be on display during the Baltimore International Boat show in January 2020 and at the Miami International Boat Show in February 2020. There are two engine configurations available which includes triple Yamaha 300s or a pair of Yamaha’s 425 horsepower XTO outboards.

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