Seven Marine Done

Surely that technology won't just be mothballed. That would be such a shame.

And I wonder what happened to their employee base. Would be so sad for all of them to have been involved in such a cool industry just to be put out on the street during pretty challenging times.
Mercury is working on a new big outboard.
 
What I really liked about 7 Marine was the innovation of taking a small block Chevrolet engine and using it a horizontally with an innovative ZF gearbox. It just was great design and the result was a major leap in outboards. Volvo is no stranger to the 350 Chevrolet engine since they used to rebrand it as their own. It also made sense that they could use other engines in that same configuration.

Volvo's decision to shelve their acquisition is a testament to woke stupidity.

Wife: "Oh honey look....Volvo is making electric sustainable, carbon neutral boat engines."
Me: "They are called Sailboats."
 
But in all seriousness, did they take stop production on the 350 DA?

Yes. A friend of mine placed the order for the last one to be produced. Sea Ray will produce the ones that have already been ordered, but they will not take any more orders. According to the Sea Ray website the only Sundancer currently being offered is the 320.
 
Yes. A friend of mine placed the order for the last one to be produced. Sea Ray will produce the ones that have already been ordered, but they will not take any more orders. According to the Sea Ray website the only Sundancer currently being offered is the 320.

Jeez, what the helm Sea Ray? I see more and more new cabin boats coming out. It’s like Sea Ray is trying to go out of business. There’s no sea rays left I would be interesting in buying.
 
I'm surprised at the popularity of huge bowriders. I don't mind the 320DA because it has a decent cabin but so many are 30'+ with only a sweaty head
 
Jeez, what the helm Sea Ray? I see more and more new cabin boats coming out. It’s like Sea Ray is trying to go out of business. There’s no sea rays left I would be interesting in buying.

The 350 Sundancer was the last true cabin boat Sea Ray made. The 320 Sundancer doesn't have a galley in the cabin and no true standing headroom. If I'm paying that much for a boat I want to be able to stand up in the cabin.

It looks like Sea Ray is basically only making bowriders now. I never understood the popularity of the large bowriders. I'd be very hesitant to take them out into big water, there's no head or the head is small and uncomfortable, and you can't sleep on them. I don't understand why anyone would buy one, but somebody must be. It seems a lot of the boat manufacturers are going in that direction.
 
Might be time to check out the title of this thread, folks.... If you want to talk about elimination of the 350DA maybe you could start your own thread???
 
End of Days.

-Volvo says outboards are not environmentally friendly (Seven Marine done)
-Sea Ray gives up making boats over 32'
-Cows produce methane and meat should be banned
-Covid Masks are required 24 hours a day to "save" the "old people" and "children".
-Gatherings of more than 2 people unless it is a Black Lives Matter peaceful (looting and rioting) protest are banned
-Toilet paper becomes a new US currency
 
To be serious about this....I am concerned about the future of CSR and boating in general. Seven Marine is just the latest example of a long string of decisions which imperil boating as least as I know it.

Fast forward 10 years and if CSR is still around it will be divided into old big boat discussions and new open bow riders. There will still be value but far less if Brunswick throws in the towel and shuts down Sea Ray all together. Sea Ray's management team has bet wrong on the small boat market to cover up mismanagement of their Sales channel.

This will only get worse since the small boat market is highly competitive and the profit margins are thin. Brunswick has already tried and failed to sell Sea Ray.

Think about it.....would Brunswick ever allow a Seven Marine outboard on the back of a Sea Ray? Nope because they own Mercury Marine. Every decision that Brunswick makes dims the lights on Sea Ray. Just my opinion.
 
We have 3 motorized boats that can carry over 1,000 pounds a zodiac with wood floor and a 20 that we can ship by air to to high artic rivers. A jet boat we can do all rivers we can drive to and a 380 SeaRay we can drink on. All do the same thing get you on the water. I was not aware of Seven Marine. It sounded like a sound concept. An outboard is simple to replace on a boat, the two built in engine boats we have are a pain to work on. Once on Baffin Island I asked why they all had outboards on large boats and the answer was we have a spare at home.
 
The world is changing - every western country is moving away from fossil fuels where the goal is zero emissions. GM has issued a statement that every vehicle that they sell in the future will be electric. https://www.gm.com/electric-vehicles.html

What else would you expect when Greta and AOC are the brain trusts behind Global Warming/Climate Change/The Sky is Falling? People and their Leaders are afraid to confront this nonsense because they will be cancelled by the Social Media educated public. The lack of rationale thought is just astounding.

I could car less what GM and Volvo think and what they tell the public. I don't own any vehicles that carry their logo.
 
Right, because a US official is make decisions for company based in Sweden. :rolleyes:
Working for a Swedish company (though my thought on this applies to any multinational company), I think you’ve got it backwards. Multinational companies indeed do make their strategic decisions based on political leaders in power in their markets. This will be especially true going forward for companies that sell energy related products in the US. Just my $.02, and I am in a position to be involved in the decision making process.
 
I'd like to share my own decision that I had to recently make (early 2019) concerning quad outboards versus twin diesels.

I had a Formula 350CBR, and it was an excellent boat, but I decided some proper sleeping space was necessary to facilitate longer (as in week+ long) trips.

Formula made me an exceptional offer on a new 400SSC.

The numbers were tempting, and the boat even more so. Full hardtop and windshield, tons of outdoor space that I was used to with the 350CBR, I could order my own colors/specifications, 5 year warranty, and I was very satisfied with Formula's build quality.

What annoyed me was the 0.6mpg at cruise. My 350CBR got 1.2 mpg. And no, it wasn't about the cost of fuel.

Look, I'm far from being a devout tree hugger, but I do care about the planet, and I'd like my boating to be as environmentally friendly as possible, even though I'm well aware this hobby is not akin to riding a bike or cleaning trash out of our seas.

The other boat I was considering (which is now my current boat) has twin VP diesels and at cruise (32-33mph) I get 1.2 mpg. It's moving more weight than the Formula 400SSC. I don't have the CO/explosion concerns of carting around 250+ gallons of gasoline. And cared for properly, diesels have a much longer life than a gasoline engine.

Even though I'm burning more barrels of oil than AOC thinks I should, for me, it is nice to know I'm only burning half as much than if I were to have purchased the Formula 400SSC with quad outboards.

Make no mistake, all engine manufacturers are working on cleaner propulsion options, and time + technology will tell us if this will be possible, but continuing to invest in old-fashioned combustion at the expense of not innovating could put VP at risk, so that's probably why we are getting this news about Seven Marine.

This is probably unpopular, but I'm actually excited about the future of marine propulsion. There is so much natural energy around boats - sun, moving water, and wind...to name a few. If sunlight could adequately power my leisurely river cruises instead of fossil fuels, I'm all for it.

Remember, VP is a business, and the only reason businesses exist is to make money. They are not emotionally attached to concepts or products.
 
The 350 Sundancer was the last true cabin boat Sea Ray made. The 320 Sundancer doesn't have a galley in the cabin and no true standing headroom. If I'm paying that much for a boat I want to be able to stand up in the cabin.

It looks like Sea Ray is basically only making bowriders now. I never understood the popularity of the large bowriders. I'd be very hesitant to take them out into big water, there's no head or the head is small and uncomfortable, and you can't sleep on them. I don't understand why anyone would buy one, but somebody must be. It seems a lot of the boat manufacturers are going in that direction.

Totally agree here. The current 320 DA really isn’t what I think of as a Sundancer. When I moved up to a bigger boat I was quite sad that I was leaving Sea Ray. My 270 AJ served me well and it was a great boat. At the time I was really looking there was still a decent number of large cabin Sea Rays. Now it seems like there are only serving a very narrow market that’s already pretty crowded. I really fear the brand will be sunk by this.

I we decided to go bigger after only a year of owning our last boat and are planning on staying in that brand’s family because of the build quality and features of a larger boat. That loyalty won’t be possible for future Sea Ray owners.
 
This is America and we are built on ingenuity and finding a way. There may some day soon be another marine propulsion company success like seven marine when the time is right. Worrying about what happens to a small boutique outboard builder when a multinational company takes it over is wasted energy. Almost always it ends like seven marine has.
 
We have 3 motorized boats that can carry over 1,000 pounds a zodiac with wood floor and a 20 that we can ship by air to to high artic rivers. A jet boat we can do all rivers we can drive to and a 380 SeaRay we can drink on. All do the same thing get you on the water. I was not aware of Seven Marine. It sounded like a sound concept. An outboard is simple to replace on a boat, the two built in engine boats we have are a pain to work on. Once on Baffin Island I asked why they all had outboards on large boats and the answer was we have a spare at home.
A spare at home..........Those 7 Marine’s are about $90k a pop.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
112,950
Messages
1,422,861
Members
60,932
Latest member
juliediane
Back
Top