If you wanted a sleek tender for your superyacht—perhaps with colors to match the big boat—this would be it. But Phenom’s center-console has all the bells and whistles to stand on its own, too.
Phenom Yachts is a two-year-old brand of 34’ – 43’, semi-custom center-console boats. Phenom builds them in Summerville, South Carolina, as a sister marque to Sportsman Boats. Unlike the more familiar Sportsman brand, Phenoms are sold directly to customers. Each boat is configured to order from a wide range of personalizations. “Our market research,” explained President/CEO Tommy Hancock, “told us that our customers would like the choice of ‘family friendly and fishing friendly’ center-consoles. The next generation of boating demands spaces that feel elegant, while maintaining flexibility of use.”
Accordingly, Phenom builds its boats on four brand pillars, Family, Fishing, Luxury, and Performance. We got to see all four pillars in action aboard a Phenom 37 at the Annapolis Powerboat Show and on a sea trial in the open Chesapeake afterward.
We came away impressed. The Phenom 37 blends classic lines and center-console layout with cutting-edge design. From the sophisticated twin-stepped hull to the digital architecture that undergirds everything, Phenom Yachts renders all those details with painstaking attention to detail.
On the Chesapeake from Havre de Grace and Chesapeake City to Cape Charles and Smithfield, the 37 would make a great rig for family day cruises and longer-range expeditions using shoreside overnight stays. Seaworthy and fast, she’s small enough to serve as a weekend cruiser for a couple but large enough for twelve friends to spend a day on the Bay.
Family
Though hardcore anglers can choose an open bow cockpit, buyers looking for family features can choose cushioned bow seat benches with storage beneath that convert to forward-facing lounges with powder-coated recessed handrails. Under the bow deck sits the thru-hull windlass anchor system with stainless steel anchor, chain, 600′ rode, and washdown (50 gal. total freshwater capacity). An electronically actuated bow table is also available. The front of the console is a chaise lounge for two with armrests and an ingenious sliding cushion that covers a 330-quart cooler.
The console holds a cabin with 6’ berth, porcelain head with holding tank (16 gal. capacity), sink, and pullout shower. Inside a cabinet below the berth, Phenom includes a stainless-steel tool kit and a Coast Guard-approved first aid kit. A 12-volt, 3,500 BTU air conditioning system cools the interior. At the dock, a Smart Plug ELCI 30 Amp shore power system allows safe charging. In addition, the three standard helm chairs channel cold or warm air through specially designed slits on the backrests, for comfort in summer heat or chilly November.
On the backside is a 2-3 person mezzanine seat over a drink/food cooler. In the center of the transom is a 3-person bench seat that disappears when not in use. The seat itself hides an important functional safety feature of this boat: a large, polished stainless-steel drain for a self-bailing cockpit system. The deck has a gutter system throughout that routes any water on deck safely out to the gutters, into a collector box at the rear, and then two overboard drains with seacocks.
On each side of the cockpit, a side entry door with ladder offers more water access for swimming or handling fish. A full-beam swim/boarding platform built around the outboards makes it easy to get in and out of the water. A Seakeeper 3 gyrostabilizer is standard on the Phenom 37, and has good access for maintenance.
At the helm are two Garmin 8622 22-inch screens connected to Phenom’s proprietary EmpirBus digital vessel control system. For monitoring what’s ahead, there’s an integrated Garmin Fantom 124 radar with MotionScope for tracking targets. A FLIR thermal imaging camera enhances visibility during early morning and evening missions. The console includes a Mercury joystick integrated with a Vetus Bow Pro 571 thruster mated the boat’s stringer system. They work with the Mercury engines for precise maneuvering and positioning. Power for the Phenom 37’s electrical system is a bank of eight Discover Traction Dry Cell AGM Group 31 batteries, with an extended service life.
Fishing
Phenom’s design team laid out the 37 to be a bluewater fishing machine, but she would fit well on the open Chesapeake and lower rivers as well. With her speed, seaworthiness, and relative fuel efficiency, she would match well for run-and-gun/jig fishing at all seasons from the mouth of the Choptank all the way to the Virginia Capes, including the broad mouth of the Potomac and the adjoining Southwest Middlegrounds. She’s highly maneuverable, especially with triple engines, to jig or troll the rips around large structures like the Bay Bridge off Annapolis and the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. On our sea trial, we worked her close through the eddies around the Eastern Stonepile of the Bay Bridge and came away delighted at her performance, including the sonar views from the big Garmin displays. The keel of the boat has a pocket Airmar PM275LHW wide-beam CHIRP Transducer with 1kw of power.
For sight-fishing red drum and cobia, an upper helm tower is optional. At each side of the helm, the support leg includes a handrail shaped to fit human hands for secure grips in big seas and sharp turns. Integrated to the top is a tempered glass windshield with an actuated vent. The rear edge of the top holds a double or single row of rocket launchers. It would be easy to rig and run planer boards from this structure. An older owner could take a gang of grandchildren bottom-fishing for panfish like spot and white perch (preferably with some parental assistance in the cockpit).
For livelining, the automatic, pressurized aquarium system drives two 30-gallon livewells, each connected to two pumps. All four pumps sit inside of a custom sea chest in the bilge aft of the Seakeeper, fed by two high-speed raw water pickups. The 37’s EmpirBus system controls them automatically and keeps them continuously full, at the optimum pressure for baitfish health. If the system detects a fault in the main pump, it alerts the skipper to switch to the backup pump.
Phenom builds macerated in-deck fishboxes into the boat’s stringer grid. The backrest of the mezzanine seat pulls down to reveal a tackle work area with cutting board and storage. One last fishing trick is a console floor with flush vertical holders for lockable storage of 10 rods.
Luxury
The Phenom 37 shows off a graceful sheerline with a compound curve, complemented by tumblehome aft that ends in a bustle on each side. Several topside gelcoat color options and custom colors are available (one customer has already requested paint to match his Bentley).
A Garmin Fusion Apollo RA770 head unit drives the 37’s sound system, with a full-function remote at the bow. Concealed inside the console glove box, it is fully integrated with the Garmin displays. A Lumitec Poco Digital RGB Lighting Controller manages lights throughout, including underwater. Safety illumination includes a Taco Marine anchor light and integrated Lumitec navigation lights that double as docking lights.
In a noticeably luxurious touch, bolster cushions with a double-diamond stitch pattern fit tightly around every corner. Phenom offers faux teak packages for the transom, seat backs, helm pod, and bow toe rail (see this video). While fishing or on the hook, the top can accept a rear Gemlux shade system.
Performance
The design of the Phenom 37’s NextStep® hull comes from a collaboration between three talented and experienced engineers/naval architects. They have blended modern Computer-Assisted Design (CAD) tools and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) with deep on-the-water experience. The team ran multiple simulations to perfect the hull’s shape, identifying and resolving performance issues at each stage.
This rigorous process resulted in a deep-V hull with a meat cleaver-sharp 650 bow entry that flows back to a 230, double- stepped running surface. That bow entry angle allows it to cut through head seas with minimal bow steering. The forward section includes three strakes, providing the same lift as a traditional two-strake design but with reduced slamming and improved speed and handling. Set at 00, the strakes enhance bow lift without pounding.
The steps effectively allow the hull to ride on four aerated panels, the two sides of the bottom between the steps and the two sides running from the after step to the transom. To make sure that the steps shed water sideways, allowing air to enter and flow beneath, the designers built in shutter steps (again shaped by CFD) in front of the step openings, preventing water from wrapping around and entering the slot behind the step. Borrowing a trick from race boats, they chamfered the strakes’ edges at 45 degrees, reducing water adhesion and drag, resulting in higher top-end speeds. A Zipwake Dynamic Trim-Control System enhances ride comfort, performance, and fuel efficiency.
Construction is sophisticated, with hull, stringer grid, and liner all made with vacuum-infusion for maximum strength with minimum weight. The foam-filled grid, designed to secure the boat’s complex operating systems, extends higher up the inside of the hull, offering extra strength and surface area. We looked and felt our way through all of the interior spaces we could reach. The fit and finish in these unseen cavities is just as impressive as what is outside, as is all of the wiring, plumbing, and other rigging.
Power for the Phenom 37 can be either two 600-hp Mercury V12 outboards or three 400-hp Mercury V10s. Our test boat ran the triples, with the center one set lower than the two on the sides. Performance is comparable for both arrangements, according to Mercury’s published performance data. The twins are slightly faster (61 knots) than the triples (57 knots), but the triples are more efficient and offer better maneuverability. What stands out, though, is the speed range where the boats reach optimal efficiency: 26-36 knots at 0.9-1.0 nm/gallon of fuel, with ranges above 450 nautical miles. In our sea trial, the Phenom 37 presented the sensation of riding on rails when we made tight turns at speed.
Phenom Yachts are exceptional vessels, with prices to match. The base price for the 37 is $845,000, which compares roughly with Scout’s 377 LXF ($894,398 base, also built in Summerville). From day one after a customer orders a Phenom Yacht, the factory-direct experience includes a concierge service for support through each step of the build process. This benefit continues throughout ownership and operating adventures.
SPECIFICATIONS
LOA: 37’6”
Beam: 11’2”’
Draft: 28.5”
Weight: 10,800 lbs.
Transom Deadrise: 23 degrees
Bridge Clearance: 8’6” (antennas down)
Fuel Capacity: 502 gal.
Water Capacity: 50 gal.
Waste Capacity: 16 gal.
Persons Capacity: 12
Max HP: 1,350 Available Power: Triple Mercury 400-hp V-10 outboards
