280 or 290??

A

aneura

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Aug 24, 2008
4
Marysville, wa
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Greetings!

We are getting ready for a serious upgrade and have narrowed our choice down to the Sundancer 290…(??) We have looked at it at the dealer several times, and stood on one in the docks in the water. We have read a lot about it, talked to owners, sales people, etc… and really like the boat.

Comparing the 2007 models, the 290 has an inch more beam and a bit more draft (comparing twins, up), and weighs about 750lbs. more dry than the 280… We like the helm of the 290 better as well as the cabin, however we both like the cockpit seating on the 280 better. Ugh.

There are other minor subtle things, such as the very different windshields, the entry to the cabin, and so on… but those are not such a big deal.

The big options we are planning to get –
Twin 5.0
Generator
Heat & A/C

Primary use will be saltwater, Puget Sound (Washington State) and up into the San Juan Islands. As anyone from around here knows, it can get pretty nasty at times.

There seems to be more 280 owners here than 290 owners…(?) Not sure if that’s just my perception, but either way I would be greatly appreciative of any insight, pros/cons, or knowledge you have regarding a decision between the two models.

Thanks in advance

Eric & Kim
 
I would have bought the 290 if not for the poor cockpit seating. My wife refused the boat based on that and I agree. As far as running in nasty conditions I doubt there is noticable difference between the two models. I'm satisfied with mine on Lake Superior but you do have to remember they are limited by their size and small fuel capacity(range).
 
We love ours and the cockpit seating is actually perfect if you have less than 6 going out on the boat. The open space is much appreciated on deck. If you need an extra seat for sit down meals up top you can use a fold-up seat and then put it away and have your space back. We rarely use the table below for full meals, so the opposed seating would not be much of a benefit for us. In fact, I prefer the straight bench as it faces the TV. My slip is between a sundancer 260 and 300. My bow is higher than both boats. The older model 280 has a lower bow. It curves down more. The style of the 290 is more current and, in my opinion, prettier. I have not driven a 280 in rough seas, but I can tell you I never burried the high bow on my 290 in some very snotty conditions up here. The 290 handles the rough very comfortably if you know how to drive in those conditions using trim, speed and direction. I'm talking 3-5 foot seas. I get 1.3-1.5 mpg or 20-22 GPH at 30 mph cruise. It is an efficient hull. This is my first boat over 16' and I can easily dock it without any assistance. I have not been in the bilge of a 280 with 5.0s, but there seems to be plenty of room under my hatch to get to everything important, or needing routine maintenance. I am very satisfied.
 
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Yeah, that would be a tough decision. It also looks like the 290 sits a little higher too, don't know how much of a difference that makes in the ride.
 
I will offer no opinion except to say the 290DA, after only 3 years on the market, is no longer available for 2009 whereas the 280DA, after a 9 year run, is essentially unchanged and is still available for 2009.
 
I'll have to take another look at the 290, there is actually a 280 and 290 slipped next to each other at my marina, but I think the cockpit on the 290 is a little shorter than on the 280. The swim platform on the 280 is a bolt on and the 290 it's built in.
 
JuliaValentine said:
We love ours and the cockpit seating is actually perfect if you have less than 6 going out on the boat. The open space is much appreciated on deck. If you need an extra seat for sit down meals up top you can use a fold-up seat and then put it away and have your space back. We rarely use the table below for full meals, so the opposed seating would not be much of a benefit for us. In fact, I prefer the straight bench as is faces the TV. My slip is between a sundancer 260 and 300. My bow is higher than both boats. The older model 280 has a lower bow. It curves down more. The style of the 290 is more current and, in my opinion, prettier. I have not driven a 280 in rough seas, but I can tell you I never burried the high bow on my 290 in some very snotty conditions up here. The 290 handles the rough very comfortably if you know how to drive in those conditions using trim, speed and direction. I'm talking 3-5 foot seas. I get 1.3-1.5 mpg or 20-22 GPH at 30 mph cruise. It is an efficient hull. This is my first boat over 16' and I can easily dock it without any assistance. I have not been in the bilge of a 280 with 5.0s, but there seems to be plenty of room under my hatch to get to everything important, or needing routine maintenance. I am very satisfied.
Click to expand...


I agree...I'm happy for the most part with my 290 & if you sleep in the V-Berth the 290 is a much better setup. The only thing I long for is a 320 SD.
 
I own a 280 and love it. I only saw a 290 at the boat show last winter. Looking at the photos of JuliaValentine sig picture and also looking at the one in Dave S sig picture does it look like the useable space on top is greater on Daves even though his is a 260 or is it an illusion? It just looks smaller with the camper canvas up. Good luck on either choice.
 
aneura said:
.......Primary use will be saltwater...
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You are going to slip the boat in salt water?

I would encourage you to get neither boat.

I recommend you get a boat with V-drives even if this means you need to go with a older boat to get into your financial price range.

Bravo III sterndrives + salt water + keeping the boat in a slip is a combination that I would try to avoid.

Just my opinion.
 
With Olympic Boat center going out of business, you might take a quick look a their lot to see if they have any available. There was a 280 over her in Spokane that was nice looking and fairly new.
 
The cockpit in the 280 seems to be wider than the 290 since they pushed it to the gunwales eliminating the walk around. Cockpit storage is a challenge but the boat handles very well. We love our 280 but with all boat purchases everything is a compromise and despite it's short production run I'm sure the 290 is a fine vessel.. but..................... I LOVE MY 280. Good luck
 
Presentation said:
You are going to slip the boat in salt water?

I would encourage you to get neither boat.

I recommend you get a boat with V-drives even if this means you need to go with a older boat to get into your financial price range.

Bravo III sterndrives + salt water + keeping the boat in a slip is a combination that I would try to avoid.

Just my opinion.
Click to expand...

I 100% agree. You save now and will pay later. It also might be very hard to sell this package locally when you'll be ready to upgrade. Do a quick search on threads like "BIII vs v-drives" and you'll see a lot of opinions posted. To avoid future troubles, I suggest to consider 310DA (smallest with v-drives), 320DA or 340DA. We had upgrade from 240DA and 280DA was on the list as well as 300DA. When I got more educated from the members of this board we made the decision to go with 320DA (our dream boat for many years). As of today, we still think it was very good choice.

Alex.
 
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TurtleTone said:
The swim platform on the 280 is a bolt on and the 290 it's built in.
Click to expand...

Making the swim platform sit quite a bit higher off the water (290DA) which depending on your preference may matter. I personally like sitting with my back against the transom and feet in the drink.

The guts of the 2 boats are very similar.... engine room config is the same.


Groucho said:
The only thing I long for is a 320 SD.
Click to expand...

They make a 320 sundeck... cool :lol::smt043:lol: Just giving you a hard time. :smt001


Is this going to be your last boat? I would be a little concerned about how easily it would be to resell a boat that sold poorly (290DA) enough when new that it is reportedly not going to be offered in 2009. The 280DA on the other hand is one of SeaRay's most popular models. The 290DA is not a bad boat it handles and feels very similar to the 280DA. The bow sits higher and I noted a bit less visibility "down the nose" as a result. The earlier 290DA's did not have the 280DA type dinette in the cabin.... later model 290DA's ditched the mini-couch and incorporated the popular dinette.

Best of luck with your decision. The AC and genset are required features in my opinion.
 
WOW! Thank you all so much! So much great information!

With regards to the BIII in saltwater, I am thinking about dry-dock... though, I am going to take that infor further consideration.

The short life of the 290 is another good point...hmmm... I had heard they might be 'changing' it, but that was a while back...guess they are just discontinuing it.

Thanks again for all the great help everyone!!! Whatever we end with, we are SO EXCITED and it looks like we are joining a great community!


-Eric
 
aneura said:
WOW! Thank you all so much! So much great information!

With regards to the BIII in saltwater, I am thinking about dry-dock... though, I am going to take that infor further consideration.

The short life of the 290 is another good point...hmmm... I had heard they might be 'changing' it, but that was a while back...guess they are just discontinuing it.

Thanks again for all the great help everyone!!! Whatever we end with, we are SO EXCITED and it looks like we are joining a great community!


-Eric
Click to expand...

The change you may have heard about could have been the switch from a mini-couch/dinette to a facing dinette (280 style) which I believe happened at the 2007 model but it could have been 2008 model. We rafted up with a 290 once and he mentioned that he had to run the genset in order to turn the TV on, this is not the case on the 280DA (at least 2006 year :smt001)
 
In all likelihood Sea Ray is preparing a new boat to replace both the 280DA and the 290DA (this is speculation on my part).

The 290DA was originally introduced by Sea Ray as the "new 280DA" (that is a fact and we have pictures to prove it was called a 280DA). Because of the lukewarm reception (again this is speculative on my part) it received from the boat buying public at introduction, Sea ray renamed it the 290 and kept the 280DA in production because that boat was very popular with the buying public. However, since the introduction of the 290DA, the 280DA has continued to outsell the 290DA.
 
"the 290DA, after only 3 years on the market, is no longer available for 2009"
.....hey now it was produced from 1992-2001 also.
 
damn that hurt...made no sense,but hurt.
 
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