52 Sportfisherman

Southern Cross was the Australian builder who ran a series full-page ads in the mid 1980s promising to blow Bertram and Hatteras” out of the bloody water.” They were talking about the Southern Cross 52, a sleek Fexas design with plenty of high-tech construction and not a lot of weight. She never really caught on with serious anglers (her eagerly awaited introduction at the 1985 Ft. Lauderdale boat show was a bust), and only seven were sold before Southern Cross closed down in 1991. In some ways, she was ahead of her time—lightweight, fully cored construction, and ash interiors have since become popular in the sportfishing community. Several floorplans were offered (early models had the galley aft in the salon) with the three-stateroom, galley-up layout preferred. Additional features of the Southern Cross 52 include cockpit access to the engine room, a well-arranged flybridge, transom door, and serviceable side decks. Narrow in the beam and with a low cockpit, the 52 SF never attained the promised 37-knot performance. Instead, she turned a still-fast 34 knots wide open with just 740hp GM 8V92s. Early models reportedly had some engine vibration problems.