Think all small center consoles are virtual clones of each other, minus the outboard? Same standard-issue rod holders and livewells, same bait-prep stations and leaning posts? Think again. Innovation is alive and kicking in the world of center consoles, especially when you look at the new Everglades 210.

The design is straightforward, but behind the simple lines and minimal draft is a lot of forethought. The 210 CC and its sibling 23- and 25-footers are the brainchildren of Bob Dougherty, who was chief engineer at Boston Whaler for 30 years and later founder of Edgewater Powerboats, and his son Steve. Elder Dougherty, instead of retiring after a tour of duty with Edgewater, decided the world needed a new type of fishing boat. One that could get you to remote, inshore waters like Florida Bay in the Everglades without delivering a beating, but still let you head into the backcountry to fish. Not only that, but he also came up with a brand-new way to build it.

The 210 is an interesting hybrid. With a trolling motor, its 9-inch draft can get you into shallows that flats boats run in search of bonefish, but the wide interior space (88 inches of unbroken deck across from gunwale to gunwale) is unparalleled for a 21-footer. There is room to spread out and space to fish with a dozen of your buddies. OK, that's a slight exaggeration. Because of its 'unsinkable' foam core, it's rated for 13, but two would most likely fish happily from opposite ends of the boat. But it isn't for everyone. Even Everglades admits that. Its claim to unsinkability will appeal to families, but seating's limited, and the creature comforts are outweighed by the boat's utilitarian fishing features. Even if tricked out with a few deck chairs, it'd be more fishboat than family cruiser. This is one boat that refuses to compromise. Mind you, it'd work just fine as a short-term ski boat or island hopper, but its real mission is fishing. Its potential goes farther afield than you'd expect. Sure, it'd be at home in the Florida Keys or around Caya Costa. But it also works well in waters where you wouldn't expect to see one ' like the Chesapeake Bay, for instance, where Boating World tests the 210. Running out of Sandy Point State Park near Annapolis, Maryland, just under the shadow of the Bay Bridge, the Chesapeake throws up a lively two-foot chop.

The 210 is powered by a F115 Yamaha, a 4-stroke that seems perfectly suited to the boat's 57-gallon fuel tank. But the little fuel miser offers more than just a decent range. It also delivers a respectable top end of 38.3 mph. Everglades began using exclusively Yamaha power two years ago, though the company is now offering Evinrude Ficht motors. It's rated to 150 hp, but the 115 seems like a good motor for the boat.' Steve Dougherty had warned that the 210 wasn't designed for rough water, but it handles the confused chop well (if a bit wetly), when it's dialed back to a cruising speed of 22 mph. It's more stable than many other flats and even some bay boats. And the wide-open area of the cockpit feels like you are cruising over the water instead of plowing through it. With judicious use of the trim tabs, it's a decent ride. In the calm, shallow water found in adjoining Whitehall Creek, the center console's light and nimble. There's no fishing for stripers or bluefish today, but it'd be the ideal platform from which to do some fly-fishing.

There are casting platforms fore and aft, and the forward one is big, measuring 56 inches by 90 inches. It also has hatches on either side that drop down into a nonskid-covered storage compartment that runs between the gunwales. The compartment measures about 64 square feet, including the anchor locker. The locker, by the way, is long and narrow, with good space inside for a real anchor. Aft, the back platform is one piece, with a 40-gallon lighted livewell (a scarce feature on a 21-footer) in the center.

The test boat has a small swim platform on the port side of the Yamaha, with a drop-down ladder ' a $460 option. Other options included a custom leaning post with four rocket launchers and cooler ($1,203), a backrest ($351), integrated tacklebox locker ($223), Lenco electric trim tabs ($885) and compass ($131). They all seem to make sense, but the best option on the list is the sun top ($1,069), a stainless-steel frame with a canvas top. That's a real necessity in the hot Florida sun. The 210 also has a rear poling platform option, which would work well in the Keys.

The list of standard features on the boat is short but useful, including a stainless-steel wheel, dual-battery system, internal deck lighting, aluminum fuel tank, rod holders and 1/2-inch acrylic windshield (most companies use 1/4-inch). Integrated wire runs through the boat for electronics and a trolling motor.' But its most notable standard feature is its unsinkability. As noted above, the 210's filled with foam, but Dougherty's proprietary RAMCAP (Rapid Molded Core Assembly Process) is fundamentally different than the foam injection used by other boat builders. Conventional fiberglass boats have foam injected or sprayed between the deck and hull to achieve flotation. But RAMCAP turns that convention on its head.

The builder starts off with a closed-cell structural foam core that is already molded into deck, transom and hull shapes. Doing it this way allows Everglades to inspect the foam cores before they are sandwiched with fiberglass, instead of the other way around, where air voids might develop if it's sprayed into the mold. Steve Dougherty is quick to point out the foam is not flotation foam, as most other builders use, but a structural urethane-core foam rated at 6-pounds density (as opposed to flotation foams which have 1.8-pound density). The result is a much stronger, denser material that still floats.

After the foam shapes come out of high-pressure molds, the pieces are chemically bonded to inner and outer skins of fiberglass. The end result is a 'unitized' hull shape that is bonded into one piece by the time it hits the water. The Doughertys are so confident of the new design, they offer a 10-year transferable warranty on the hull. Another result is a clean fit and finish. There are no rough edges on the 210 CC, and it's nice to look under the hatch and see finished fiberglass rather than ragged rough edges. The overall impression is one of a clean, simple boat, built for a single purpose: stalking fish.