Smallest Sea Ray with 9 person capacity?

BHoppe

BHoppe

New Member
May 13, 2019
13
Waco, TX
Boat Info
2006 220 Select
Engines
5.0 Mercruiser EFI w/ Bravo III
Does anyone know what the smallest Sea Ray is that has at least a 9 person capacity?

Getting ready to move out of the old 210 Sundeck. I'd be open to a sundeck but they are hard to come by at a good price point. Looking at probably a mid-2000s boat at under $20k if possible.
 
If you're looking for comfort at the quantity of passengers - go pontoon!

But maybe to answer your question more specifically I assume you're going to need to get into a model that is "yacht certified" to get that kind of capacity. I believe this generally starts at 26'...
 
Well, for instance a 1998 Sea Ray 210 Sundeck has a 10 person capacity and it's comfortable.
I know a 220 Select from 2005 also has a 10 person capacity.
But a 2005 200 Sundeck only has an 8 person capacity.

These are according to labels I've hunted out in photos.

But, I'm just wondering if there's an easy way to tell without running through a bunch of photos or trying to google spec sheets. :)
 
BH,
Not sure what you want to accomplish. Could we get ten people on our 280? Yes, but it wasn’t comfortable, and I certainly wouldn’t have wanted to have that many on board when underway. Sure you can get ten people on a twenty foot open boat, but it’s going to be crowded and it’s going to rock when anyone moves around. The capacity tags only mean the boat won’t sink. They don’t mean it will be fun, or you can safely go full tilt in all conditions.

If you are looking for something big enough for your family to hang out on, do some fishing or swimming, sit around and have food, then a pontoon is probably the best choice. A twin hull with wide stance is going to give plenty of beam to make it stable.
 
Makes sense! I definitely don't want a pontoon however.

The reason I ask about the smallest boat is that we normally have just 4 people on the boat. But occasionally want to add a family of 5 to our family of 4. Usually there are small children so the sundeck has been good to us because it does have that wide stance and it's comfortable for that number of people. It is a little big/heavy though. We do tube/ski, but mostly it's finding a spot, dropping an anchor, and everyone gets in the water.
 
BHoppe said:
Makes sense! I definitely don't want a pontoon however.

The reason I ask about the smallest boat is that we normally have just 4 people on the boat. But occasionally want to add a family of 5 to our family of 4. Usually there are small children so the sundeck has been good to us because it does have that wide stance and it's comfortable for that number of people. It is a little big/heavy though. We do tube/ski, but mostly it's finding a spot, dropping an anchor, and everyone gets in the water.
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Sure its possible if you are limiting it to four full sized humans and five partially grown ones. Your price range may prove a problem. We got $35 K in trade in on our 02 280. If you can find an older 250 you might find something in your price range. As an alternative a mid twenties foot center console might be something to consider. Outboards do present a challenge for skiing, but there are effective work arounds. Outboards will give you much better fuel economy and maintenance costs.
 
Looking at the 2007 sport boat brochure it appears that the split between 8 & 10 capacity in the sport/select/sundeck/weekender boats generally occurs between the 210's (cap 8) and 220's (cap 10). The newer (2010+) sundeck 220 boats got a bump in capacity to 12 people, but they are likely over your price range.

Most of the 2003-2005 vintage 220 sundecks can be had in the $15K-$22K range depending on condition. They kept the same hull and engines from 2002 - 2009, the differences being mostly cosmetic with the exception of smartcraft gauges starting in 2004 and the DTS electronic shift option starting around 2006. I think the best deal might be the 2005's, they have an upgraded stereo remote and had replaced the peanut pad/EIM processor switch design from the earlier models.

I think you are smart staying away from the pontoon. I have a couple friends with pontoons, we have more amenities with the sundeck and can literally run circles around them:)
 
Thank you, @ColoSR very helpful! I did manage to find the resources on the Sea Ray site and it looks like over 8 passengers starts with the 220 Select and 220 Sundeck in the mid-2000s models.I sure would like to have that 6.2L and Bravo III like you've got.

Do you have a place you normally look for boats? Other than the normal Craigslist, boat trader, etc? I'm having trouble finding good inventory to look at.

Thanks again!

ColoSR said:
Looking at the 2007 sport boat brochure it appears that the split between 8 & 10 capacity in the sport/select/sundeck/weekender boats generally occurs between the 210's (cap 8) and 220's (cap 10). The newer (2010+) sundeck 220 boats got a bump in capacity to 12 people, but they are likely over your price range.

Most of the 2003-2005 vintage 220 sundecks can be had in the $15K-$22K range depending on condition. They kept the same hull and engines from 2002 - 2009, the differences being mostly cosmetic with the exception of smartcraft gauges starting in 2004 and the DTS electronic shift option starting around 2006. I think the best deal might be the 2005's, they have an upgraded stereo remote and had replaced the peanut pad/EIM processor switch design from the earlier models.

I think you are smart staying away from the pontoon. I have a couple friends with pontoons, we have more amenities with the sundeck and can literally run circles around them:)
Click to expand...
 
I found mine on Boat Trader if I remember correctly. I had to do internet search because there aren't that many bigger boats for sale up here in Colorado. Also, this was my first boat. I just couldn't get comfortable forking over $20k to a private party, so I gravitated to dealers or consignment places in the event it was stolen or had other major paperwork problems.

It took me a month or two to find mine once I had settled in on a 2003-2005 Sundeck 220. I wanted one of the bigger engines (350 @ 300HP or 6.2L @ 320HP) and BIII which stretched out the process. Boats with bigger engines also seem to have more options like the dual batteries, pump-out head, bow sprayer, transom trim switch, and the bow filler cushions. None of them are deal killers, but all nice to have.

In the event that its useful, I ended up getting mine out of Florida. Was listed at $17,500, I got it for $15K and got a new aluminum I-beam trailer for $2500. It had 260 hours on the engine, good compression test, and did not have bottom paint. Unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate so I couldn't do a sea trial the day I flew down to see it, so I didn't catch a leak at the transom. Expensive mistake, but price was still attractive versus freshwater version of same boat which was priced at $28,500 in Wisconsin. There is a service called Uship which is kind of like a blend of ebay&Uber for boats. They dragged mine from FL to Colorado for cheap.
 
Stee6043 said:
If you're looking for comfort at the quantity of passengers - go pontoon!
Click to expand...
I can’t believe you said the P word :)

I am a big fan of the 240 Sundecks - 350mag with bravo 3 you just can’t get a better boat for day use....it might be a bit above your budget but worth every penny and will hold the value

good luck
 
we have a 25' er i think rated for 8 but i can tel you any more than 4 and it isn't fun or comfortable. with 6 i'm not sure i could even get on plane and to be comfortable i would probably have to have at least 1 stay in the cabin. granted an open bow/sundeck has alot more room but it still won't be a comfortable ride. if it is only occasionally then you might be fine with a 25' or so open bow but i would avoid rough waters with 9 on board. and don't forget, when they say 9 i think they are thinking 9 kids...lol. average weight about 120lbs each...lol. to be under our max weight capacity we are probably limited to about 6 or 7 people anyway
 
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The question reminds of the 60's when we asked how many people you could get into a phone booth or VW Beetle. We had nine people on the 32 Open fairly often. Something to consider maybe.
 
Bhoppe, ours is a day based lake boat so we probably have a different design case than many of the others. We normally run 10 at a time, sometimes a few on the beach. It’s usually 8-17 year olds during the day, and a booze cruise in the evening for 35+. The layout of the Sundeck works best for us, the side seating works well for watching the tubers/skiers. the big bow with sun pad is very popular, we usually run 4-6 up there. The layout of the select isn’t optimal for us. My buddy with a Monterrey With the select layout is planning on selling it to get the Sundeck layout. I got a 22p 4x4 hill marine prop, have never had an issue getting on plane at altitude (5280 ft) with a full boat. Top end dropped from 52+ to 45ish, but it’s unusual that I can run that fast anyways:(
 
Thanks for all the feedback. I'm now looking at 220/240 sundeck and possibly 220 select bowrider if I can't find that. We are mostly running with 4 adults and 4 or 5 kids if it isn't just the 4 of us. Definitely open bow and easily trailerable. It would be nice if there were something a little lighter that could accommodate what we want to do but I don't think there is. Prefer the Sundeck but they are hard to come by in my area it seems.

@ColoSR yours looks great, I hope I find one just like it!
 
Not sure about the validity of the comment, but when I was looking folks told me that most of the difference in performance was due to the switch from Alpha to Bravo III not the change in engine size.

Looks like there is one near houston that might be worth taking a look at.
https://www.boattrader.com/boat/2003-sea-ray-220-sundeck-7139326/

Good luck with the search!
 
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