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Prestige 560?

Discussion in 'General Yachting Discussion' started by tusindtak, Sep 29, 2018.

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  1. tusindtak

    tusindtak Member

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    Been a reading for a years Thanks for the wisdom and experiences that the members shared. I am getting ready to retire next spring. My experience on the water include commercial river push boats decades ago and with as large as a46’ SeaRay. I used to take the SeaRay to Ft. Myers annually from Barkley Lake in Kentucky, 1200 miles each way.
    Lots of new boats and systems are on the market. My wife and I want to use the boat is S.E. Florida area for 5 months of winter, then spend summers at home in the moderate temps of the N.W. I am mechanically oriented and my companies have owned 100’s of of heavy diesel construction and mining equipment.
    We keep returning to the Prestige 560 for our choice. She really loves the layout and open windows. I like the roomy engine room, 3’8” draft with tunnels, the less than nose bleed pricing and the Cummins with rear facing props. The pod setup allows good space for access, hence better maintenance. I’m 6’2” and less flexible than I used to be.
    We want to spend several months in the Bahamas. The forums don’t really have much negative on the current Prestige line from those that have experience with them. So, my question is: “What am I missing?” Will the hull be suitable for Bahamas during winter and crossing the gulf during decent weather windows?
    My 46’ Sea Ray required essentially only standard servicing with 3208’s and Westerbeke for 13,000 miles. Will the maintenance requirements be “normal” to most boats?
    Thank you in advance for your help.
  2. Capt Ralph

    Capt Ralph Senior Member

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    I'm assuming the rear facing props and then comment on pods your talking about the Merc Zeus drives.
    You have to keep those zincs maintained.
    Search the pod threads. Lots of comments about the lack of or hard to find service for pods in the islands has been a repeated.
    If equipped with the samrt-crap displays, keep in mind they are obsolete and not replaceable. New displays are the NSS7s from Simrad / Cummins.

    I know of nothing bad on Prestige. Just not been on many.
  3. tusindtak

    tusindtak Member

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    Capt Ralph, your comments are appreciated. Yes, the Merc Zesu Cummins/pods would be my preference, but I will need to check if the Raymarine electronics are too old school. The zincs comment is good to have for emphasis. Actually, I am comfortable with shaft drive handling, but likely easier to teach my wife some emergency boat handling skills with the Zeus setup. The engine room space is a big plus for my height.
    I was also expecting repair service to Bahamas would have to come out of Florida, but I would be prepared to do normal maintenance oil & filter servicing. Thank you.
  4. Capt Ralph

    Capt Ralph Senior Member

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    Whats wrong with your RayMarine stuff.
    I was using Pathfinder / RL80CRC till this spring. 10KW and still working great. That was I/O'd to my desktop computer and 19" screens.
    Just installed E120 stuff (still old). Had some bugs to work out but I'm mobile when the weather gets thin. Still have my PC screens on the dash.

    When I win the Lotto, I'll get new fancy stuff but so far, the RN300 / RC320 GPSs are dead on.

    Check the Y F For Sale threads. Piles of items there if you need good spares.
  5. tusindtak

    tusindtak Member

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    I misunderstood you first comment. Sorry about that. I interpreted it as saying the older Raymarine was not good. I have no knowledge of the current technologies yet. Decade+ older Furuno was fine. My commercial days were only local knowledge, charts, searchlight and radar at best. Was not a problem with old school. I am all for progress. As a side thought, I hope the new technologies invasiveness will not distract me from being immersed in the boating experience, as my wife says about me being glued to a screen now.
    I have also been reading How to Read a Nautical Chart by Nigel Calder. Very sobering accounts of the vector charts not having the data at certain zooms as paper or digital raster.
    Thank you.
  6. Capt J

    Capt J Senior Member

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    The Prestige is a price point boat. The zues are probably 30% more efficient than shafts in the same boat. In addition to keeping zincs on them, it's crucial to keep the drives and props clean as a little growth hurts performance a lot more than shafts. The Prestige is a price point boat for sure, they do a great layout inside for their size. I'd say seakeeping and overall quality is 1 step below your old searay, it's ok but nothing to write home about. Things like a lot of the interior pieces are glued with no fasteners, the teak (exterior decks) is very thin on them, etc. They're a royal pain to wash with all of the stainless and the wing dings everywhere that you have to chamois. All in all they're an ok boat if you pick your weather. I'd say a step above Carver/Marquis and a step below Searay, Princess and Sunseeker.

    I do 10-15,000 NM's a year and have done around 200,000 NM's now without incident. I ALWAYS plot my routes from paper charts and put it in the GPS as a route and use the chartplotter as a guide. You either get a lot of detail in a small area, or a large area and no detail, but not both like paper. Also, I've seen the chartplotter be 1/4 mile off in crucial places where if you were following it, you'd be on land or a sand bar.
  7. Capt Ralph

    Capt Ralph Senior Member

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    Skippy J is rite on with the charting. Now days you can down load the latest paper chart for the area your cruising.
    At your desk, plot your route and transfer that to your plotter.
    The plotter may come up with services and other extra options, maybe overhead sat pics but remember the warning you see when you boot up any system.
    "Not to be weighed against paper charts"... Or something like that.

    I have run some familiar inlets at night and poor weather, My old RayMarine plotter was rite there with me.
    Sad part, the DOD still plays with the Sats and I curse the day the Loran C was unplugged. So. Always local plotting is best pre-planned.

    What ever you have, it works, don't be in a hurry.
    Pending your budget, plan on replacing anything over ten years old if it based on out dated charts and does not have the current sats programed in.
  8. Capt Ralph

    Capt Ralph Senior Member

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    Skippy J also likes those fancy BayLimers (Sea Ray). He has a lot of time in them but so do I. He likes them, I'm not impressed.
    BUT, I just wish I knew more about the Prestige line to compare them to the over priced BayLimers.
  9. Capt J

    Capt J Senior Member

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    The proof is in the pudding. I'm not a huge fan of the late model L series. I could think of many other ones I recommend first. But if you look at Searays in the 2000s up until 2009, they all are in very good condition. The gelcoat doesn't have issues, there's no structural issues, the interiors are nice without issues. They age very well. The systems were simple with good components, access wasn't always the greatest. They ran well also.....like the 52' and 58' sedan bridges. For what they were, an average priced yacht, for an average usage, the quality was very good for their price point. I've done some LOOOOONG trips on Searays without any issues. I took a 98' 45' sedan bridge from Lauderdale to St. Croix, a 58 SB from Delray Beach to CT. Another 58' from DE to OH. I used to tow a 25' Robalo with 2-225's behind a 52' SB.
  10. tusindtak

    tusindtak Member

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    Capt J,
    Thank you for the comments.
    I have been on the SeaRay L series. They have good features but seems like the workmanship suffered in a few areas on the first of the series that I was on. Engine room is tight. The price looks to be a bit out of line.
    The lighter weight of the Prestige line is of some concern. Bow entry sure isn’t like a SF, etc. So I go will slower and not in as rough conditions. But boats, like everything, has tradeoffs and compromises. I hope the lighter weight is offset by newer and better techniques. Also, hope the volume of Prestige production allows for some validation for the reason pricing is moderate rather than lower quality of important elements.
    One of my companies buys resin in bulk for one of its products. Polyester is <
    $1.50/lb. The discussions about saving resin to save costs, seems insignificant on a 55 ft boat, maybe 1% of sales price for a 10,000 lb 25% dry weight increase. I don’t know about fiberglass and coring, maybe it is very costly.
  11. Ron Cardoza

    Ron Cardoza Member

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    I'm just closing on a prestige 50' fb. Was considering 550 but first boat and got intimidated with the size. I went through the same discussion just a couple of months ago on this forum (and others). It's a tradeoff. Yeah I would LOVE a Princess or Sunseeker but the price of those for same size is just not in my budget. Yeah I could have gone smaller and older and gone with a sunseeker or princess (and there are a couple nice ones in the market now) but won't be getting the options and the space I currently need for my family (although even the 2009 Sunseekers and Princesses the interior cabinetry/wood/trims etc I find far superior to prestiges but prestiges has a really nice look also). It's definitely as Capt J. says... a price point consideration. and for me layout. Very difficult to find a boat of same size with the space and layout offered on Prestiges. As for seaworthiness, as I'm doing limited local fair weather cruising (icw,bahamas and keys) this boat is fine for now. Wow I LOVE THE 560's! Gorgeous Boat! Do though checkout the Sunseeker or princesses just so you can compare. Searay is no longer going to be producing boats in their "yacht class" (anything bigger than 40') so not sure how service will impact owners in the future. Capt J has a lot of experiences in Prestiges and has helped me much in understanding their value and areas where they may lack as well. I'm new to this and will share my experiences as they occur. would love to hear from you and others what your final decision was and why based on findings. I'm sure this is a lifelong learning experience here.
  12. Scott M

    Scott M Member

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    My two cents...Prestige is a price point boat...no doubt. Love the features, styling, materials, bang for the buck, technology...all good. What has always stopped me with regard to Prestige is their resale and their displacement relative to every other similar size boat.

    Take a look at 2 or 3 year old Prestiges and you will see a very significant depreciation. This is happening during a period where late model used boats are in high demand. What does the market know the we don't?

    Displacement...some years ago, I compared similar size boats and Prestige was always 25-35% lighter. I did not do anymore digging than that. Less is more?

    The two things together always left some doubt in my mind.

    Oh...Capt J...I wholeheartedly disagree with your SR vs Marquis comparison. I have owned both and you are way off.o_O
  13. Capt Ralph

    Capt Ralph Senior Member

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    Way off where? If your going to call something out, it is expected some details are offered to the counter..
  14. Scott M

    Scott M Member

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    Quality, construction, functionality, design...Marquis head and shoulders above any of the Sea Ray larger models. I never thought it was close. Just my humble opinion...
  15. Capt J

    Capt J Senior Member

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    All of the hardware on Marquis is undersized. Cleats, hinges, keepers, latches, etc. I've seen cleats tear out of the stern of 2 different Marquis, and they never towed anything. Woodwork damage on interior cabinets and drawers because the keepers and slides weren't strong enough for ocean use. A shattered hull window on another that was in 8' seas from the hull flexing so much. Their performance is very lackluster and run very bow high, even with the trim tabs buried down at 80% load. Gel coat on one 60' something Marquis (63' or 65' something like that) that never cured and was tacky to the touch and the owners had the entire boat painted. Just plain bad gelcoat on others that would never really shine. Now, I've seen some issues with modern Searays, but mostly a punch list of small stuff. I haven't seen any major structural issues on late model Sea Ray's or anything like this.
  16. cleanslate

    cleanslate Senior Member

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    So you are all saying it's time for me to replace my Ray Jefferson RDF , 10 Channel Ray Jeff VHF and Hummingbird Flasher? What about the Decca radar?....Lol Tusindtak, Don't ever for get your old school days of paper charts, compass, binoculars, and depth meter navigation...it is still one of the best ways to get around...and your are right staring at the gps screen to much can contribute to hitting that log you didn't see right in front of you because you were to busy looking at the screen or working all of the do-dad buttons on the **** unit....I think this happened to me once.
  17. Capt Ralph

    Capt Ralph Senior Member

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    Naw, I still have a Pierce Simpson 6 channel radio telephone. It has a real looking phone hand set. Spare power tubes. Extra channel crystals.
    Once I find the rite boat, I'll install it in her.
    I learned my first radar observer on the ole Decca 101 system.
  18. cleanslate

    cleanslate Senior Member

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    Man ...you ARE old...Lol. I saw those Pierce Simpson adds in old issues of Yachting Magazine that's it. I first experienced Radar on a Decca but don't recall the model.
  19. Capt J

    Capt J Senior Member

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    If the Decca radar has the boot you have to put your head into, it's still good, keep it!
  20. cleanslate

    cleanslate Senior Member

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    Lol...yeah I forgot about that boot headpiece!