The Pursuit Boats factory is located in Fort Pierce, Florida, just a few miles from where my stepdaughter Kaitlyn and her boyfriend Nick live. Both in their late 20s, they are enthusiastic anglers who usually fish from the banks of the ICW. When Pursuit invited me to sea trial the new S 328 Sport, I realized this would be a great time to introduce the couple to the joys of wetting a line from the cockpit of a premium center console.
Soon after we boarded the S 328 at Safe Harbor Harbortown Marina in Fort Pierce, Nick discovered the 24-gallon recirculating live well inside the boat’s transom—a major improvement over keeping your live bait in a bucket. He and Kaitlyn happily toured the rest of the center console’s fishing features, including two fish boxes in the cockpit, a bait-prep area with sink and tackle storage behind the helm seats, padded coaming around the boat’s deep interior, rod storage in the gunwales and console, rocket launchers on the hardtop, and downriggers.
“Everything on this boat is amazing,” Nick pronounced.
The 2025 Pursuit S 328 Sport is an updated version of a previous model by the same name that was in the builder’s line for 8 years. That boat outsold the competition in its size range, including both premium and less expensive center console brands. “It has been the bestselling 32-foot center console in the market for a long time,” said Mark Taiclet, director of brand management for Pursuit Boats. He admits that posed quite a challenge for the Pursuit design team when it came time to refresh the model. “They were big shoes to fill for sure.”
Still, Pursuit wanted to take advantage of evolving technology and incorporate customer feedback into the new design. In the end, the project turned into a major rework of the S 328. While the boat’s key dimensions, including its voluminous 10-foot 10-inch beam, did not change, it ended up with a new hull. And due to the updated, “athletic” design for the hardtop supports, the S 328’s profile even looks different than the original.
“It’s not just a refresh. I mean, we literally touched every inch of this boat from the transom all the way to the bow,” Taiclet said.
One of the biggest changes the design team made was to eliminate the motor well, which is no longer necessary as today’s outboards are equipped with electric steering. The new motor bracket is a single-level platform that is easy to cross.
Pursuit redesigned and expanded the transom to hold a large, insulated cooler box. That meant sacrificing a few inches of space in the rear cockpit, which turned out to have a silver lining. The pull-out seats, which form a dining area with two removable tables, are now a bit closer together, making it easier to eat.
Pursuit also moved the portside dive door forward. It now folds all the way open against the gunwale, improving access to the water. Another ergonomic improvement was to move the rocket launchers to the corners of the hardtop so they are easier to reach—you can now stand on the gunwales to access them. The boat also sports kingfish rod racks for the first time in a Pursuit.
The large console cabin got a makeover. Now there is a portlight that opens to bring in fresh air. The forward settee converts to a full-length V-berth in seconds. The built-in head has a privacy panel that hides it from the companionway.
Among our crew’s favorite features were the electrically actuated, forward-facing padded backrests for the seats in the bow, which deploy out from the gunwales. “This is genius,” Nick said.
By now, we had turned off the ICW and made our way into the backwater channel near Little Jim Bait & Tackle, a local Fort Pierce bait shop and watering hole. As Taiclet nosed the Pursuit toward the mangroves lining the channel, Nick and Kaitlyn took up their positions in the bow. Targeting snook and other species that swim in Fort Pierce’s brackish waters, he and Kaitlyn baited their hooks with Vudu shrimp and started casting. Both anglers liked the comfort of the padded coaming and the cushy bow seats, which Kaitlyn kneeled on as she fished.
It was a cloudy March day with a brisk breeze blowing, although the mangroves gave us some shelter from the wind. Seabirds wheeled overhead looking for prey from their superior vantage point. At the helm, Taiclet switched on the boat’s JL Audio sound system, which includes backlit speaker grilles, two additional speakers and a second subwoofer, and we rocked out to Blue Oyster Cult.
Since this S 328 was Pursuit’s Miami International Boat Show demo, it was equipped with all the optional bells and whistles, including teak accent panels, a solid teak steering wheel by Edson, and a leather-wrapped dash. Another upgrade was the Seakeeper 2 Gyro Stabilizer, which we did not even realize Taiclet had turned on until he abruptly switched it off. Although the water was not overly choppy, we could feel the difference in the boat’s movement under our feet.
We tried several fishing spots back in the mangroves, but none of them bore fruit. Meanwhile, an osprey with a large fish in its mouth flew over the boat, as if taunting us. A major rainstorm threatened, so reluctantly we made our way back out to the marina. With the Yamaha F350s purring on the transom, we cruised at about 3o knots at 4050 rpm, with a total fuel flow of 26.7 gph. “Between 4000 and 4200 rpm, you have a good cruising range where it won’t affect the fuel flow very much,” Taiclet said.
The many design updates Pursuit made to the new S 328 also included improving the helm ergonomics by expanding the distance between the dash and the helm seat so there is plenty of room to drive standing up, leaning against the seat’s pull-down bolster. At the same time, the design team moved the steering wheel back on the dash and gave seated drivers multiple footrest options. They also moved the VHF to the front of the helm instead of the side to make it more convenient. Even the cellphone charger port was improved.
“All of these little things took a lot of time to put together,” Taiclet said.
The deep windshield (which now has three unobstructed panes for better visibility) deflected the spray and kept us dry as we ran for the shelter of the marina. I looked back at Kaitlyn and Nick in the cockpit, wind in their hair and huge grins on their faces. They may not have come home with any fish, but they definitely caught center console fever.
Specifications:
LOA: 34’6”
Beam: 10’10”
Draft: 3’0”
Weight (approx.): 12,975 lbs.
Fuel: 300 gals.
Water: 30 gals.
Power: (2) 350-hp Yamahas
Max Speed: 44 knots
June 2025
