I must admit to know very little about the builder in general, and nothing at all about this particular model. But a good friend of mine is considering one of them, and asked my opinion. 16 years old, allegedly well maintained, and QSC 8.3 powered. Which is just about the only component of the boat I'm already familiar with, and which I rather like. Other than that, I've only seen some photos, and if and when we should go onboard her, it would be the first time I'll see one in flesh. So, I was wondering if anyone knows how good (or not) the boat is, and could point me to bits worth of specific attention. Good, bad and ugly: any suggestions welcome, thanks in advance!
It's a SeaRay. A different way to spell Rayliner. Start from there. Yes, the 8.3s are a fine engine. I recall a few Ray owners in this range on YF, hopefully they can chime in and help more.
Thanks CR, I see your point. I should have added that expectations are realistic - not hoping to get Riva quality for SR money, of course! Practicality and usability is what this boating mate of mine is after. And as you also say, I think that the Cummins powerplant is a good start in that direction. Though of course, even the best engines might suffer from a poor installation: bad shafts alignment, insufficient e/r ventilation, high exhaust backpressure, inadequate filters... You name it! In a nutshell, my concern is about somewhat hidden flaws that might be unknown also among boatyard pros, simply because SRs are much less popular on this side of the Pond compared to the US. With regard to all other features and equipment, I'm reasonably confident that a careful inspection should allow us to evaluate them. BTW, I'll happily report our impressions, if and when we will eventually go to see her.
Pending any abuse, I think you will find a solid glass boat. Trim and finish will be your sad discoveries if not kept up. Look forward to your report.
I know many very happy owners of Sea Ray Sedan Bridges. Solid production boat and many who are trawler type owners have Sedan Bridges. They were a successful offering for Sea Ray for years, unlike the L Series and some more recent offerings. Then Sundancers took over Sea Ray and MY's were all moved to Meridian and the Bayliner models converted to Meridian. I've heard of no major issues with the Sedan Bridges.
Thanks folks, good to hear all that. A solid, no-nonsense boat is exactly what we are hoping to find. And if she'll need a bit of cosmetic TLC, it shouldn't be a deal breaker. The less attractive feature on paper is the flybridge-only helm station, which in the Med is almost unheard of, and most boaters would not even consider. But the full f/b enclosure looks pretty good from the photos, and my mate is strictly interested in short(ish) coastal cruises, in daylight and fair weather -where the boat would be helmed from upstairs anyway. So, the larger saloon might be worth missing an internal p/house, after all... We'll see, of course there's no replacement for a detailed onboard inspection, to get a proper feeling! Thanks again for now.
I share the strong dislike of flybridge only helm station and the quality of the "clear" part of enclosure and windshield would be critical. However, that's design, not quality of build.
In my opinion the salon in that model just can’t support an interior helm. It’s already pretty tight on space without one. However it does have front windows. I suspect cost was also a consideration though. It’s a decent flybridge cruiser. Exactly the boat it’s supposed to be if that makes any sense. My concerns would apply to all brokerage boats. What’s it’s usage history and how has it been maintained.
A helm lower?? You will not be able to see over the bow. One of our customers enclosed his 58SB up so tight, he had to install dual 24Kbtu AC units up there to keep from roasting the family. Short rides, leave the bridge open. Maybe a mist shield.
In my experience the larger Sea Rays (from 40’ and up) trim out well and run fairly level. More so than a few very popular express model sport fishers I can think of. I don’t know how they see anything in front of them at cruise speed.
Just to clarify, for summer cruising in the Med a fully open flybridge is just perfect, so I don't see the lack of lower helm as a big deal - even if extremely unpopular, as I said. But it's nice to hear that these SRs run fairly level, because I find the high AoA attitude of some boats annoying regardless of visibility (which clearly ain't a problem on the flybridge). Moving around the boat as if you were walking up and down a hill is something that drives me nuts!
