Trying to decide which Sea Ray to purchase SR 280 or 290

R

Ralph vaughn

Member
Nov 14, 2018
259
Atlanta Ga
Boat Info
2007 Sea Ray 290 radar & GPS, triple axle trailer. 2006 Sea Ray 280 radar & GPS & triple axle tlr
Engines
5.0 MPI closed cooling Sea Core engines & Bravo III outdrives
4.3 MPI with alpha outdrives
Both of these boats are very similar in length and beam SR280 (31 x 9.5) and SR 290 (31 x 9.6). The two i'm looking at have 5.0 engines with Brave 3 outdrives. The SR 280 weighs 8500 pounds with a 100 gallon gas tank. the SR 290 weighs 9250 pounds with a 130 gallon gas tank. The SR 290 has a better helm space for after market GPS, radar etc and also a more comfortable (in my personal opion) v-berth. So what is the difference between these two boats. I'm looking for a coastal cruiser to take to the Bahamas, Abaco islands etc. Is one of these two boats better for coastal cruising?

I would appreciate any comments on these two boats.

TIA

ralph
 
Your signature mentions that you already have a 280DA?

But, no, from a sea handling perspective, consider them the same. The 290DA may have slightly more hull in the water given the transom design with the integrated platform. But, really, not enough to make a difference. The main differences are in the layouts and aesthetics.
 
Are you going to keep it in the water, rack storage or trailer. How many people? Kids? Grandkids?

Both the 280 and 290 are very large for trailerable boats. If you expand your search just a little, you will likely find a 310 or 320 with inboards and in salt water, much easier to maintain IMHO. You'll gain a little more of everything size wise and for cruising a couple, a 310 is a good starting point. I've known several people who have bought the 280/290 and traded in in under a year. They shrink once in the water!

Your on the right track though, the 290's with twin 4.3's. Sometime that package doesn't have enough power when you get a larger crowd on board, and the fuel consumption between the 4.3 and 5.0 is likely negligible. You'll have to run the 4.3s harder to acheive the same speeds the 5.0's will loaf along at. Resale will be better as well.
 
Lazy Daze said:
Your signature mentions that you already have a 280DA?

But, no, from a sea handling perspective, consider them the same. The 290DA may have slightly more hull in the water given the transom design with the integrated platform. But, really, not enough to make a difference. The main differences are in the layouts and aesthetics.
Click to expand...
 
got greedy and sold the 280 for $15k profit. now i want one a couple of years newer with B3. thanks the main thing i like on the 290 is the helm layout that allows 12 inch MFD that you can easily see.

thanks for your comments

ralph
 
dtfeld said:
Are you going to keep it in the water, rack storage or trailer. How many people? Kids? Grandkids?

Both the 280 and 290 are very large for trailerable boats. If you expand your search just a little, you will likely find a 310 or 320 with inboards and in salt water, much easier to maintain IMHO. You'll gain a little more of everything size wise and for cruising a couple, a 310 is a good starting point. I've known several people who have bought the 280/290 and traded in in under a year. They shrink once in the water!

Your on the right track though, the 290's with twin 4.3's. Sometime that package doesn't have enough power when you get a larger crowd on board, and the fuel consumption between the 4.3 and 5.0 is likely negligible. You'll have to run the 4.3s harder to acheive the same speeds the 5.0's will loaf along at. Resale will be better as well.
Click to expand...
 
Store on triple axle trailer in covered RV storage. I'm in Atlanta and Lake Lanier is 5 miles from the RV storage. I also want to go lobstering in the keys, scalloping out of Crystal River and head for the keys when the temperature in Atlanta goes below 40 degrees. We thought about the 300, 310 and 320 but decided they were to big to be mobile.

thanks for the information. Much appreciated.

ralph
 
I bought a 2005 280, about 2 years ago. In retrospect the only things I don't like about it: helm design - my mfd has to sit on top of the helm and looks like an afterthought. My wife complains about how low the port side seat is. She sits on a couple of cushions as we're cruising. A double helm seat would be nice. Since we cruise on Lake Erie, a larger fuel tank would be nice as well. Otherwise the 280 is just right for us.
 
dtfeld said:
Are you going to keep it in the water, rack storage or trailer. How many people? Kids? Grandkids?

Both the 280 and 290 are very large for trailerable boats. If you expand your search just a little, you will likely find a 310 or 320 with inboards and in salt water, much easier to maintain IMHO. You'll gain a little more of everything size wise and for cruising a couple, a 310 is a good starting point. I've known several people who have bought the 280/290 and traded in in under a year. They shrink once in the water!

Your on the right track though, the 290's with twin 4.3's. Sometime that package doesn't have enough power when you get a larger crowd on board, and the fuel consumption between the 4.3 and 5.0 is likely negligible. You'll have to run the 4.3s harder to acheive the same speeds the 5.0's will loaf along at. Resale will be better as well.
Click to expand...

I have to disagree with you. I trailer my 290 and its no more difficult than my 21' just need a wide load permit. The triaxle trailer handles great with my chev 250HD. As for power I run 4 blade props and usually have 4 adults and 4 grand kids on board and always keep fuel and water tanks full and only need a little tab to get up on plane. The plus side to 4.3's is less fuel use at cruise and idle, they actually use less fuel than my 21' with a single 305 chev.
 
dtfeld said:
Are you going to keep it in the water, rack storage or trailer. How many people? Kids? Grandkids?

Both the 280 and 290 are very large for trailerable boats. If you expand your search just a little, you will likely find a 310 or 320 with inboards and in salt water, much easier to maintain IMHO. You'll gain a little more of everything size wise and for cruising a couple, a 310 is a good starting point. I've known several people who have bought the 280/290 and traded in in under a year. They shrink once in the water!

Your on the right track though, the 290's with twin 4.3's. Sometime that package doesn't have enough power when you get a larger crowd on board, and the fuel consumption between the 4.3 and 5.0 is likely negligible. You'll have to run the 4.3s harder to acheive the same speeds the 5.0's will loaf along at. Resale will be better as well.
Click to expand...

I have to disagree with you. I trailer my 290 and its no more difficult than my 21' just need a wide load permit. The triaxle trailer handles great with my chev 250HD. As for power I run 4 blade props and usually have 4 adults and 4 grand kids on board and always keep fuel and water tanks full and only need a little tab to get up on plane. The plus side to 4.3's is less fuel use at cruise and idle, they actually use less fuel than my 21' with a single 305 chev.
 
get the 290 - as someone that had a 280, the increase tankage is HUGE. the small tank and lack of storage are the two bigest downsides of the 280 - if the Bahamas are in your plans the extra fuel capacity is even more important - the 290 is a great looking boat too - its only fault at the time was it was supposed to replace the iconic 280 and people rejected it.....
 
thanks for all the good information

ralph
 
atrick said:
I have to disagree with you. I trailer my 290 and its no more difficult than my 21' just need a wide load permit. The triaxle trailer handles great with my chev 250HD. As for power I run 4 blade props and usually have 4 adults and 4 grand kids on board and always keep fuel and water tanks full and only need a little tab to get up on plane. The plus side to 4.3's is less fuel use at cruise and idle, they actually use less fuel than my 21' with a single 305 chev.
Click to expand...

With the right truck and trailer certainly can be done, but wide load permits and a 2500 are definitely in the advanced category! It a lot of truck and boat.

I considered the 280 and 290 because I thought I’d want to do some trailer trips, but I just don’t enjoy trailering anymore (my last trailered boat was 25’). Having a boat like this in the water 24/7 is much more enjoyable for us, at the expense of limiting our cruising range.

I like both boats, and they have their. + and -. The right boat is the one that allows you to take all the people, gear and fuel where you want to go safely.

Considering the intended cruising involves getting in and out of ocean inlets, I would go with the boat with the 5.0’s and the biggest fuel tank (likely the 290) The old saying “Theres no replacement for displacement” applies. That extra torque would come in very handy keeping your bow on the back of a wave transiting an inlet or when you have a larger party than normal.

4.3’s come in 190 hp and 210 hp, and the 5.0 220 and 260.. The 190hp 4.3’s burn 32 gal/hr @ WOT and the 260 hp 5.0’s 37 gal/hr total. At cruise rpms, likely difference i would guess to be more 2-3 gal/hr. Here’s a chart for comparison.

Capture.PNG


I personally would opt for the 5.0’s, there is very little fuel burn penalty and those engines would give you more options to carry more people gear and fuel.

The worst would be to buy the boat and realize you can’t get up on plane with the guests gear and fuel you have on board. I’ve owned an underpowered boat, and it sucked! I had to send guest into the caddy to get it up on plane.
 
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