SOUTHERN STAR 

I for one could never understand why, just when they'd developed a range, which included some of the best fishing boats in the business, and gone through an industry-leading process of quality assurance, parent company Yamaha pulled the mat from underneath Southwind. Far be it from mere mortals to understand corporate decision making sometimes, but as clouds go, that one was big and dark and it loomed for many months while the Southwind range, and their factory on the NSW central coast languished in limbo.

How’s this for an exciting centre console sportfisher? It’s the perfect platform for anything from snapper and jewfish to light to medium tackle marlin fishing.

Just over a year ago, Southwind was born again under new ownership and a new name — Southern Star. Same boats, same people building them in the same plant, same quality standards, different name…

Either us fishos didn't notice the name change or perhaps enough of us were more than happy with boats we already owned, because Southern Star met with an enormous and immediate response. Significantly, many of the inquiries came from Southwind owners looking at upgrading their existing boats and the name change did go somewhat unnoticed when people looking at buying the new Southern Star boats claimed to already know the product well.

When fishing guides adopted them en-masse a few years back, Southwind longboats spearheaded the change of attitude towards fibreglass boats we see spreading rapidly today. Southern Star longboats are still available as the UB520, UB580, UB670 and UB770 in various configurations from basic tiller-steer to sophisticated, fully-optioned centre consoles. UB580 and UB670 hulls are laid up to survey-ready standard and can be brought into 3C or 2D survey on request

The Southwind SF640, a very well executed cabin style offshore sportfisher available in twin and single outboard installations, walked off with one of Modern Boating's prestigious Boat of the Year awards. It was followed shortly after by a centre console version (the SC640), that to my mind is more of a centre cabin because the ‘console’ is big enough to contain bunks.

Tiller steering is preferable in many fisheries, most notably when trolling for barramundi, and the 5 m Southern Star would be perfect for this role.

Southern Star's SF series includes an SF655, an SF580, and an SF550 model with a walkaround cabin. There are parallel Classic versions of the UB series and SF550 aimed at people looking for simpler, more economical packages.

A pair of Southern Star cuddy cabs also wears the SF model designation. These are the SF500 and SF485 — a new model released this year at the Sanctuary Cove Boat Show.

Then there are Southern Star's family cruising and sports boats. The Statesman features a large cabin with toilet, a wraparound aft lounge, icebox and ski locker. The bow rider SR550 is aimed at water sports and more serious skiing, and the SR565 is a smaller family cruiser cabin boat.

Lastly, the 500 series are perhaps Southern Star's most popular sportfishers. The widely acclaimed Stealth is a bream/bass tournament style boat with (depending on chosen options) a side console, livewells and casting decks. The SC500 is a neat 5 m centre console sure to be seen more often once word gets out, and there's a tiller steer SD500 if you prefer to keep things simple.

Over 2005/2006, Southern Star will introduce foam filling to all boats in their range. The new company is Australian owned and operated, and they have committed themselves to listening to their customers, dealers and employees in an ongoing review process.

Southern Star boats can handle family days with ease, yet be ready to roll offshore with the guys at a moment’s notice.