2003+ 340 Sundancer in 3-4' head sea chop or rollers...your experiences

[nowakezone]

I'm hopefully moving up this month from a 27' 19 degree deadrise 6500# boat to the 340 with 15,500#'s and 21 degrees of deadrise.

One of the two main reasons is for a better ride in the Gulf of Mexico's not-uncommon 3-4' chop when offshore. We like to go from Naples to the Keys and while I can run the Everglades National Park boundary in easy 1's, the straight shot to Key West takes me offshore in 3-4's sometimes.

I'd love to hear how the 340 rides, ie., slamming, pounding, wet/dry, your speeds, how quartering helps your ride,etc etc.

Older models have a 17 degree deadrise and if you have one and would like to comment that's great, especially if you're satisfied with the ride because I'd presume the heavier newer models with sharper deadrise will do at least as well.

Thanks!

 

[Kreole Kid]

We just came back from Biloxi MS on Monday. Back on Friday when I was arriving, coming out of the G.O.M. we encountered some 4-5 footers. Not the most comfortable ride, but she handled them none the less. Forgive me but what does "quartering" mean?

 

[nowakezone]

That's great to hear Kreole!

Instead of taking a head sea head on, you angle off 30-45 degrees, more if needed, and improve the ride. It increases the time to your destination as you tack back and forth but it's more comfortable. You probably already do it. In head seas you take waves off the front quarters, following seas off the aft quarters.

Honestly, my old boat was miserable in Gulf 2's. I'm looking forward to that being a thing of the past.

 

[eauty]

I've encountered many 3-4 ft situations in the Great Lakes and the boat does well. As I stated in my PM to you, the boat will handle far more than you are comfortable with. It has plenty of power and when you have the weight distributed just right, Ive cruised at 28 mph in 2-3's with no problem. As Kreole stated, there are times when it is not comfortable but the boat will take it. You will notice the weight difference immediately!

That's great to hear Kreole!

Instead of taking a head sea head on, you angle off 30-45 degrees, more if needed, and improve the ride. It increases the time to your destination as you tack back and forth but it's more comfortable. You probably already do it. In head seas you take waves off the front quarters, following seas off the aft quarters.

Honestly, my old boat was miserable in Gulf 2's. I'm looking forward to that being a thing of the past.

 

[nowakezone]

eauty thanks for the awesome PM. Very, very helpful.

The information/experience you and the guys have shared really goes a long way towards building my confidence with this boat. The lengthy cruises and rougher conditions are exactly what I want to be able to ride in fairly comfortably.

I've spent a lot of time running in storms and poor conditions on my 27', all except once by choice. It hasn't been fun but definitely provided the skills needed to handle the conditions. Your accounts give me every reason to believe I'm making the right choice of boat for intended pursuits.

 

[BritLady]

The 340 is one of the best riding boats I have owned and operated, you'll not regret getting one.

We have to agree with Scott! We have experienced 4-5 footers in the Tampa Bay and Manatee river entrance area a couple of times (always seems a bit rougher where the river joins the Bay), she handles it and rides really well. I used to be "white knuckling" in our other boat Am sure you will love it, it's one of the most popular models out there. Good luck and keep us posted

 

[testlab]

Our 96 330DA has the 17 degree dead rise hull. We are based to the north of Sydney (Australia) and it gets a good mix of sheltered and offshore use, which includes passage through some fairly steep and rougher waters. Quite regularly in 1.5 to 2 metre (5 - 7 ft) swell and medium seas and it will handle this best at 22 kts. Unless the faces are steep there is to need to quarter the sea, it smacks one or drops over the back every now and then but overall rides very nicely. The largest sea I have tackled in this boat was 4 metres and at around 12 kts it was solid and easy to handle.

In a following sea I find it struggles a bit to overtake the preceding swell and a finer entry hull will probably help with this. With a following sea and at trolling speeds or similar it can corkscrew if the sea isn't dead astern, but most boats do anyway so it's no worse than other similar sized monohulls. Full down tabs helps keep it straight at these lower speeds.

When on the drift offshore it is lively when beam on and the deeper dead rise and wider beam of the later model will probably be the same, although I haven't tried a current model under those conditions.

Overall I am really pleased with the 17 degree hull. Most comparable Aussie built boats have 19 to 23 degree hulls and their sea keeping is better in the bigger or steeper stuff but trade off interior space and creature comforts.

I know this isn't the hull you're looking at it but I hope this helps.

 

[nowakezone]

Testlab your post is very pertinent. I started another thread about the same topic, the 17 degree versus the 21 degree hull. The price on the olde models is much easier to swing and there are some nice ones out there.

You referenced a particular point that is germain to the Gulf of Mexico... flat faced waves. It's that reason alone that keeps me heading toward the 21 degree models. There are 2002's with the 8.1's that seem to be the perfect engines for the 340. I like the cabin layout, and the cockpit space especially when removing the aft bench to fish. I was set to pull the trigger on a 2002, presuming like the 2003's and newer the deadrise was 21. Ooops!

Thanks for the great post testlab. As I said in the original post, if an owner likes his/her 17 degree in heavier stuff, I should like the 21 degree for sure. I guess I could always move to the Atlantic side of Florida, but that doesn't seem to make sense eaither. Lol!

 

[testlab]

One thing that becomes important in addition to deadrise is how well it clears the displaced water. I find the 17 degree hull coupled with the angle of flare displaces the spray quite well and at a low angle as the boat lifts over and through the sea.

In the mid 80s we owned a Sea Ray 220OV (hardtop) with 228 Mercruiser which I think had a 21 degree hull. This was the wettest boat I had ever been in and we sold it within a couple of years. It was great for sheltered waters and as an overnighter for a couple of 20 somethings but it was shocking at sea since it threw sheets of water high and not so far... just the right height and angle to be blown straight into the back if the wind was over 10 kts.

Flat faced seas or steep chop are the worst for causing displaced water to be flung up rather than aside. The flare of the bow will determine where it winds up.

In short seas keeping the nose trimmed down a bit increases the waterline length and can improve the ride at the expense of less than a knot. This can help reduce the whoosh of spray that then gets blown aboard as the boat is cutting through rather than bashing through. It doesn't work all the time and it's a case of finding the sweet spot of throttle, speed and trim that's best for the conditions. Something I could never do with the 220OV because (in my opinion) the shape of the bow was dictated by getting a double berth upfront rather than seakeeping.

 

[nowakezone]

Very nice description of flare versus deadrise testlab. Not defending any boat over another, I'll add that beam, among other factors, plays an important role as well.

Thanks testlab.