 Order your custom Center Console Angler embroidered apparel for every occasion in your life - work and play. We can also outfit you and your crew with customized apparel featuring your boat name along with the Center Console Angler logo. Click Here or call 800-758-4499. |
GEORGIA PEACH
THE NEW SUNDANCE SV 205 IS ONE SWEET RIDE BY KARL ANDERSON
Sundance Boats started in 1993 down in southeast Georgia with a goal of producing the best shallow draft fishing skiffs for the best price. The southern coast of Georgia is known for its vast tidal waters and open sounds lined with miles of Spartina grass and fish-friendly habitat.With the factory located just west of Brunswick, the folks at Sundance have plenty of very fishy shallow water in which to test their boats and ensure they are up to the task at hand.
The SV 205 is an all-new bay boat in the Sundance lineup and it is indeed a well thought out and executed boat. Designed from the hull up using the latest 3D Solid Surfacing CAD software, the Sundance folks had the plugs milled with a robotic 5-axis router yielding fair and accurate surfaces for building the molds, which is reflected in the final glass product. By using the CAD program and the router, the boat pieces fit together with exceptionally good tolerances and have little slop or force fitting when assembled.
Couple this pre-construction engineering with a commitment to building a technologically advanced production boat, and you get a very nice finished product. Sundance uses no wood in their boats, building them with proven composite technology included in their transoms, stringers and cored decks and hatches. These components are resin infused for precision lay up and for making both sides fully finished. The whole boat is foamed for sound and temperature insulation, also making her virtually unsinkable. This composite construction provides a very quiet ride when running, with little or no hull slap or sound of water sloshing along the hull.
By starting from scratch when designing the boat, Sundance improved upon previous models and could do things like giving her higher freeboard than her SV 201 little sister. The additional freeboard made way for them to raise the floor height as well, making for a completely dry and selfbailing deck, always a challenge in shallow water, low-profile boats. Another bonus is the ability to build-in useful features like a heavier grade aluminum fuel tank intended to last longer than those typically found in boats of this class, and a pre-run trolling motor harness. In the event the boat is not set up initially with a trolling motor, you can easily add one later.
The layout of the SV 205 is spacious and fish-friendly with large fore and aft casting decks that have a lot of storage underneath. Featuring all stainless hardware above and below deck, the 205 has a pull-up cleat on the bow but on-deck cleats for spring and stern positions. I’d prefer pull-ups, all the way around to keep from snagging lines, cast nets and body parts. There are two rod holders built into each gunwale and a large anchor locker with overboard drain is on the foredeck with a receiver molded-in for the anchor. There are three compartments with locking lids on the forward casting deck, a huge and deep storage compartment centerline, and two long storage or fish box compartments on either side.
The console is loaded with features that every fisherman will appreciate, including six vertical rod holders, and a drink holder molded in on each side as well. Under the forward seat is a livewell for the bow of the boat, not only making it better for those fishing from the foredeck, but increasing bait capacity, always a good thing. There is a stainless grab rail that wraps around the windshield and down the sides of the console making for great hand holds when running.
The steering wheel is offset to port with a full gauge panel on the dash over the wheel. There is a nice flat panel for electronics mounting and two molded-in drink holders on each side of the console. Under the dash there’s good access to the area under the console, large enough for most service guys to fit in. Aft of the console there’s a huge cooler seat with a flipflop backrest for running or fishing facing aft. The aft casting deck features three compartments: a large livewell on the centerline, an insulated fish box or optional release well to port, and a storage locker to starboard. All deck surfaces of the boat have molded non-skid.
We ran the SV 205 out of the inlet and along the beachfront off Jupiter, Florida on a beautiful summer morning. Carrying 45 gallons of fuel and rigged with a Yamaha F150 four-stroke, the boat gets on plane with little bow lift or effort, something the company attributes to their new AKS (Air Keel Step), a design which positions a small air step in the keel under the console to add forward lift and get the boat out of the hole quickly.
Her sweet spot for economy is 3000 rpm, doing 22.7 mph where she burns only 4.2 gph. I liked the 4000 rpm, 32.8mph speed where the boat settled in and ran comfortably with incredible stability and smoothness. She didn’t bang or crash when going over wakes and through the inlet. At that speed she’s making 4.69 miles to the gallon, still not too shabby. If you need to get there faster, the SV 205 can do it making 42 mph at 5000 rpm and 47.3mph at 5500 rpm burning 16.1 gph.Wide open on the pin she’ll run 49.4 turning 5750 rpm and burning 16.6 gph. There is plenty of reliability and performance in this package.
With a functional layout and noteworthy performance, the SV205 is a fine addition to the Sundance line. Her simple, clean and efficient layout will win over fisherman and families alike as she hits the water at Sundance dealers all along the coast. Be sure to check her out if you find yourself looking for a well-built, good looking rig packed with value.