1995 270 vs 2000 270

[craigontheboat]

I am looking at a 1995 Searay 270 with the narrower beam.

Question, what are the pro's ( if any) and cons of this boat compared to the newer wider 270

 

[Lazy Daze]

The narrow beam was made through '99. The wide beam through '02.

Pro's and con's will depend on what you want to do with it and your opinions.

Really, the only thing I can tell you is what you already know. The wide beam has more room and was available with twins, the narrow beam is legally towable. Obviously the wide-beam will burn a bit more fuel, equipped with the same size engine.

Best thing I can tell you is figure out how you want to use it and then go look at them.

 

[MLauman]

Obviously, the main advantage of the narrow boat is the towing and that's why Searay offered it as a Special Edition after introducing the wider model.

Narrow beam has longer v-berth - few adults 'fit' comfortably on the wide beam v-berth. But the wide beam has a permanent dinette while you have to setup the dinette in the v-berth of the narrow boat. Longer berth in aft cabin of wide boat may offset this anyway. From what I've seen, most adults sleep in the aft cabin in the wide boat and the v-berth of the narrow boat.

Narrow beam has access to bow on the sides with no windshield access. Wide beam has windshield opening with steps in cabin door, but no side access. Besides your personal preference on this, the pro/con: lack of side walkway yields more cabin space in wide beam but steps in door require door to be closed and results in more frequent door roller failure.

Wide beam has good storage in transom locker - no transom locker on narrow boat. Wide beam has a bigger and lower factory swim platform. Wide beam typically weighs about 1000 pounds more dry, IIRC.

You'll find more wide-beam boats with generators than in the narrow ones.

 

[tdappleman]

I looked at a wide beam boat since I wanted the dinette but ended up with my 96 since I placed a higher priority on being able to trailer anywhere without permits, etc. It really depends on how you are going to use the boat, how many people, how much overnighting, etc.