New 320 Sundancer

K

KnotEasy

Member
May 14, 2013
255
Whitehall, Mi.
Boat Info
205 Sport
Engines
5.0L MPI
2017 Cruiser/Bowrider. See it at Miami show.

Out of the box thinking. Or smaller version of Four Winns H440 cruiser/bowrider.
It will be interesting to see how well it is received.

searay320.jpg
 
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Well do you love it or hate it?
 
How can they call this a Sundancer?
 
Another ugly Sea Ray. I didn't like the look of the 40 when I first saw it at the NY Boat show last year, and hated it even more when I saw it again this year. This new 32 is even uglier.
I think they are trying to get too dramatic with their designs.
 
I'd be very curious how Sea Ray's new design direction is selling? Is it selling to a new younger market maybe and my older eyes just don't appreciate the new look? The L-series are nice looking but the mid-sized boats just have no design 'flow' for me.

I can tell you this, walked on the 40 Sundancer last night at the Dallas boat show and was so underwhelmed at the boat overall. I had none of that feeling I get that says I can't wait until this thing is 5 years old and I can pick one up a used one. It had nice fit and finish and some nice features but overall it was so 'enclosed' it felt like you're indoors all the time. And it's profile is just horrible.

All this recalls the era of BMW when Chris Bangle took over the design of the cars and wanted to make them edgy and stand out. It was years and years of silly design elements, pointless cut lines which made sales slump dramatically. Finally they kicked him to the curb and started making classy sophisticated cars again. So maybe there's hope for Sea Ray
 
copb8tx said:
I'd be very curious how Sea Ray's new design direction is selling? Is it selling to a new younger market maybe and my older eyes just don't appreciate the new look? The L-series are nice looking but the mid-sized boats just have no design 'flow' for me.

I can tell you this, walked on the 40 Sundancer last night at the Dallas boat show and was so underwhelmed at the boat overall. I had none of that feeling I get that says I can't wait until this thing is 5 years old and I can pick one up a used one. It had nice fit and finish and some nice features but overall it was so 'enclosed' it felt like you're indoors all the time. And it's profile is just horrible.

All this recalls the era of BMW when Chris Bangle took over the design of the cars and wanted to make them edgy and stand out. It was years and years of silly design elements, pointless cut lines which made sales slump dramatically. Finally they kicked him to the curb and started making classy sophisticated cars again. So maybe there's hope for Sea Ray
Click to expand...


You had the same reaction as I did. I will say that once you get in the cabin it's a nice boat, but the cockpit is too small, the fly bridge is awkward, there looks to be poor visibility and accessibility for single handling the boat around a dock, and it is just plain ugly.
My guess is that they designed the boat for someone who primarily uses it to sit at the dock.
 
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I like the traditional 90s/2000s Sundancer. The vinyl on the bow seems high maintenance and lots of nooks and crannies to clean. Hard top is nice. But not something I would buy. Probably the price is about 4 times what my 2007 - 320 is worth. So that would push me away anyway. I think the quality on Sea Ray appears to be going back up again. The designs are interesting. The 400 is more about indoor space, yet this boat is more about outdoor space. I like being outside when boating. Rarely sit down below.
 
I do have to say, the 35' sundancer they had on display was nice in every way. Looked decent, killer cockpit area and a good use of space down below.
 
copb8tx said:
I do have to say, the 35' sundancer they had on display was nice in every way. Looked decent, killer cockpit area and a good use of space down below.
Click to expand...

It was nice to see that they got the shower right in the 35.
 
Eek. I like aggressive angular lines on boats rather than very soft sweeping ones which is one reason I moved away from Four Winns but this thing is sensory overload from the profile. To me, this is a "small" boat trying to look and act like a large yacht with that seating up top. How much head room in the cabin is lost? I don't know, a small part of me thinks its kinda cool and would be a neat to have that forward seating and cabin but part of me just says that doesn't work in real life. Give me one and I'd try it! ;)
 
I think its growing on me. I like the fact that it makes good use of the bow, but it is another thing that has to be covered with canvas at the end of the day. I am going to go out on a limb and guess it has 10.5 beam, not 11.5 and overall length is 32 not 35 (legacy 320 specs).
 
I can see why they're doing it, broadest possible appeal -- I mean, people are paying $100k+ for freaking pontoon boats that have the square footage of a small restaurant, and the drawback (if you will) of cabin cruisers is that kind of compromise between cockpit and cabin space and how the forward topside is relatively underutilized. My wife insisted that if we got a cabin cruiser it *had* to have a sun pad on the bow because laying in the sun in our bow rider was "her" space.

That being said, I think it starts to look a little bit like a shoebox and starts to make me wonder when someone will re-invent the houseboat with a 25 knot hull and decent sea-keeping ability. Maximum exterior/interior space and the ability to traverse more than lakes and reservoirs. Maybe Chris-Craft will revise and reissue the Aquahome.

I do like the hard top on the new 320. It's one thing I wish I could add to mine without it looking like I added it myself. I like to be in the shade unless I really want to be in the sun and it provides more mounting real estate than the radar arch. I'd really kind of like fixed solar panels on the roof for offsetting the DC draw during the day, but the arch and its existing mounts make that tough without some significant rework.
 
KnotEasy said:
2017 Cruiser/Bowrider. See it at Miami show.

Out of the box thinking. Or smaller version of Four Winns H440 cruiser/bowrider.
It will be interesting to see how well it is received.

searay320.jpg
Click to expand...
Is it a hard top? Why is it black? Could that be Canvas? Nothing is mounted in that area.
 
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