The Sea Ray Boats Sundancer 370 Outboard is the embodiment of elegance, athleticism and sophistication. Every inch of the vessel has been thoughtfully designed to maximize space and function making it perfect for day trips or weekend stays. Join Steve Davis and Ritch Ragle as they walk through this beautiful boat.
Sea Ray’s Sundancer 370 Outboard has a style and sophistication unlike any other. Her sleek exterior lines and exquisite interior design sparkle with a unique diamond design pattern that is carried throughout the boat—from the upholstery to the hardtop’s skylight and on the integrated audio system. It’s these little details that make the Sundancer 370 shine.
No key? No problem. “We’ve got this boat on a key fob so before I even get on the boat, I can fire up the batteries, and I can turn on all of the lights so I’m not getting on a dark boat,” says Ritch Ragle, director of North American sales.
Powered by triple Mercury 300 Verados with Joystick Piloting and optional Dynamic Running Surface, the Sundancer 370 will get you places—fast. Her helm is equipped with standard dual 12-inch Simrad GO12 touchscreen displays, including CZone digital switching that provides full lighting control. Options include a Seakeeper 3 gyrostabilizer and integrated Fusion premium audio system. High and low bolsters are available for the captain’s companion, but Ragle prefers to use it when running the boat himself. “I hate to sit when I’m running a boat, so I love the thigh-rise bolsters so I can get up and am still comfortable,” he says.
Comfort abounds on board, starting with the aft deck, where the hard-back transom seat easily converts to face aft for guests to enjoy the view or watch swimmers. Port and starboard settees along with a gourmet station to port provides a roomy social area.
Walking forward between the helm seat and the large passenger seat to port leads into the cabin below or to the bow via a glass door to port. The electrically actuated door can remain open to allow the cool breeze to flow through or closed during inclement weather. When open, it becomes part of the huge windshield. “There’s no blindspots on this boat,” says Ragle. “When you get in there and you’re operating, you’re looking 360 degrees, you’ve always got a great line of sight.”
The cabin belowdecks sleeps four and has plenty of headroom as well as an enclosed head with a separate shower. The galley includes a microwave and refrigerator, and the forward V-berth lounge area transitions from a L-shaped settee to a queen berth. The aft berth has a U-shaped settee that converts to a queen berth. There’s plenty of storage throughout.
With so many wide, open spaces, she feels much bigger than a 37-foot yacht. “It feels more like a 42 or a 45,” Ragle says. “It feels like a very big boat.”
From their award-winning SLX 400 comes Sea Ray’s SLX 400 OB. Moving the engines to an outboard version, the SLX 400 OB has triple 350-hp Mercury Verado engines with Joystick Piloting and plenty of open deck space, especially with the ingenious fold-down patio wing. There’s abundant seating from the bow to the salon to the transom’s forward/aft-facing lounge.
The starboard side power actuated fold-down terrace expands the swim platform. The hardtop on the Sea Ray SLX 400 OB has enclosed ceiling and courtesy lights as well as a retractable sunroof and canopy. The wet bar with a stainless-steel sink, faucet, and refrigerator along with the Fusion stereo system will help keep guests entertained. Accommodations include an aft queen berth and a V-berth along with a salon and enclosed head. Air conditioning and heating are powered by a low-emission 120V/60 cycle with remote start generator.
41’11 LOA 12’1 beam
As Sea Ray’s flagship sport boat model, the SLX 400 Outboard offers a spacious cabin that comfortably sleeps four adults. The expansive cockpit with state-of-the-art amenities and a fold-down swim terrace offers plenty of room for fun.
The SLX 400 showcases the innovative NAUTIC-ON smart boat platform. NAUTIC-ON goes beyond connectivity and monitoring to connect boaters with service providers, remote diagnostics and educational information to help them better understand and manage their boating systems.
Also, the boat is powered by triple Mercury Verado 350-hp outboard engines, the SLX 400 hits a top speed of 52.7 mph and has a cruising range of 232 nm at 30 mph.
39’6″ LOA, 12’1″ beam
The new Sea Ray Fly 460 (46’8″ LOA, 14’12” beam) is spacious for its size, with storage solutions that increase livability including an expanded flybridge made for entertaining. Both helm stations feature Raymarine widescreen displays, and an available joystick control system provides for effortless docking and control of twin 550-hp Cummins inboards. Inside, the full-beam aft ensuite master and additional forward ensuite guest cabins offer customization options.
The sunlit salon features a convenient aft galley and a flush-threshold multi-pane door that opens onto the social cockpit. Sea Ray’s new L550 Fly (56’3″ LOA, 15’7″ beam) utilizes advanced technologies including vacuum infusion structures and a state-of-the-art digital switching system and three cabins. A well-appointed flybridge is geared for entertaining. Twin 850-hp Caterpillar inboards are available with joystick control. searay.com
As one of the world’s most recognizable boat brands, Sea Ray has helped millions of people enjoy the water for decades. Founded in 1959, Sea Ray has expanded its model lineup over the years to serve owners of recreational boats large and small, from freshwater lakes and rivers to open oceans. Now the builder has launched its flagship of the new L-Class of yachts, the Sea Ray L650 Fly.
As the largest vessel in the Sea Ray lineup, the L650 Fly is small enough to be handled by an owner operator yet is built with the option of adding crew quarters for a captain and mate. No matter who pilots the yacht, the L650 Fly is designed for ease of operation, with an abundance of high-tech features that aid the captain and crew while running, at rest or around the docks.
“This marks a new era for Sea Ray, a direct result of our desire to shape a better boating future and to offer a new class of yachts above and beyond anything our customers have ever seen,” says Tim Schiek, President of Sea Ray, who added that more L-Class models are on the horizon. “The L-Class speaks not only to Sea Ray’s commitment to purposeful innovation, but also to the company’s strong legacy of impeccable craftsmanship, performance and service. It’s a marriage of style and substance because we firmly believe in the importance of both.”
The L650 Fly’s technological features are remarkable—if you’ve ever wanted to get a bird’s-eye view of what’s going on around your boat, you can do it with the new Command View Video Docking Assistance. “We use three different cameras to stitch together a composite sky view of what’s going on all around the boat,” explains Chris Walker, the Large Boat Category Director at Sea Ray. “The view is shown on the Raymarine multi-function display, and the lines superimposed on the screen give you an idea of how close you are to the dock.” Controlling the L650 Fly in low-speed situations is made even easier with a cockpit docking station. “Though it’s a shaft boat, not pod driven, the L650Fly is equipped with an inboard joystick docking system that integrates the bow thruster, stern thruster and engine gears with joystick control. It is very easy to use. With a twist of your hand you can make the boat go sideways or any direction that you want to go.”
The L650 Fly is powered by twin Caterpillar C18A 1,150-hp diesel engines. A lower helm station on the main deck and a flybridge helm station both feature—in addition to standard helm equipment—two large Raymarine multi-function displays that offer a plethora of configurations to display engine performance and other ship data.
While at rest, twin Seakeeper gyrostabilizers to port and starboard in the engine room take the roll out to make guests more comfortable. In fact, everything about the L650 Fly has been designed to enhance comfort for passengers. For example, a hydraulic swim platform lowers nearly two feet into the water to make reboarding easy after a swim or launching a tender. The cockpit is accessed via either port or starboard stairs from the swim platform, and an optional passerelle can be added to the port side. So if the passerelle is extended, you still have access to the cockpit from the starboard stairs.
The cockpit offers an expansive social zone that features transom seating, a teak table, refrigerator, and plenty of storage. A four-panel sliding door opens up to the salon, and Sea Ray’s design team led by Tom Bucaccio created an open flow from the cockpit all the way through the salon to the helm station to starboard and galley to port. “One of the design elements of this boat is to integrate the salon and cockpit together,” Walker said. “There is a seamless transition without a high threshold for the salon door panels. A drainage trough is located in the cockpit sole to drain water overboard. The salon door panels stack to port creating a large opening.” The salon and the entire interior features walnut joinery and peppercorn inlays in areas such as the doors for a pleasant combination of textures. Leather pulls on cabinets and closets create a feeling of luxury yet are entirely useful. The salon layout starts with facing settees to port and starboard as you enter, with a two-seat bar to port amidships and a dining table and L-shaped settee to starboard. The fully stocked galley is to port opposite the lower helm station and features a sink, dual refrigerators/freezer, a wine cooler, and a unique pop-up storage area for your Sea Ray logo’d china. Natural light pours in from the large side windows.
The L650 Fly’s lower deck is accessed from the salon deck by a seven-step staircase and aided by a leather-wrapped handrail, and the landing area is bright due to atrium windows that let in the sun. Previous Sea Ray models were somewhat enclosed in this area, and the design team wanted to break from that with the L650 Fly. The lower deck features four staterooms and three heads. There is also a standard day head accessed from the swim platform for a total of four standard heads. The VIP stateroom in the bow offers a queen berth with private head, and LED rope lighting—a skylight and large hull windows create an airy feel.
Staterooms to port and starboard each feature twin berths and share a dayhead—side windows connect guests to the sea and again, allow in plenty of light. The full-beam queen master is located midship aft of the companionway. A large head offers dual sinks and a large rain-head type shower with more than 6 feet, 6 inches of headroom. Mosaic tiles decorate all the heads and extend into the showers.
Creating copious social zones was another goal of Sea Ray’s design team. The flybridge area is accessed via a port-side staircase and offers a variety of sunpad setups, couches and seats for relaxing. Covering the flybridge is a unique hardtop that can be configured for maximum or minimal shade—a telescoping sunshade deploys aft to offer cover for the aft seats. The foredeck bow area can be set up to be a huge sunpad or rearranged to offer a table and facing lounges.
Whether you’re going to operate the boat on your own or hire a captain to do the hard work for you, Sea Ray’s L650 Fly is a prime example of how luxury, technology and old-fashioned marine seaworthiness are combined to provide ease of use and peace of mind.
By Doug Thompson, Southern Boating December 2014
