Opinions on 47 Sedan Bridge

Zach312

Zach312

Active Member
SILVER Sponsor
Jan 23, 2011
824
Nashville, TN
Boat Info
2008 Sea Ray 47 Sedan Bridge
Engines
Cummins QSC-600
We have been set on finding a 48 sundancer. Our broker recently mentioned the 2008-2010 47 Sedan Bridge. I have noticed these weren't produced for very many years and there doesn't seem to be many on the used market. Looking for others opinions on the boat. What do you like? What issues do these boats have. Was there a specific reason they didn't get produced very long?
 
Don't have anything of substance to offer other than I've always been confused as to why this boat had such a short lifespan. I've been on one in our marina and I loved the boat, and specifically the layout. I love the full beam mid-ship master, the galley aft and the flybridge. At the time I looked at it I was toying with moving to 420DB but after looking at the 47 I was convinced it was the better bridge boat.

In the end we felt we had no need for a bridge boat with the way we use our boat and if we were to make a move it'd be for a 48DA.

Good luck. What a fun time.
 
I have not been on one but love the layout. We end up doing a lot of cooking and having the aft galley helps make it a more social experience. Way better than cooking in the cave...
 
The master state room is what is appealing. We aren't sold on the idea of a bridge boat yet. We really to love the 48 sundancer but I have to admit this boat may have some appeal. It is challenging that there are so few available. The closest one to us is almost 800 miles away.
 
Yeah, I would love to consider one but I know of none on the West coast.
 
I can't speak to your questions about the short production life and have not been on a 47 Sedan Bridge boat but let me add some comments about sedan bridge boats in general.

I had two Sundancers before moving up to a sedan bridge boat. I loved the Sundancers but I gotta tell you that I REALLY LOVE having a boat with a fly bridge. We often have guests on board and when they go up on the bridge the comment almost every one of them makes is along the lines of "Wow, What a VIEW! I could get used to this."

The fly bridge is where everyone wants to be when cruising. It's one thing to be in the cockpit of an express cruiser, but you can't see forward. You can't see where you're headed, all you can see is to the sides and aft.

With a fly bridge boat you have pretty much uninterrupted 360* views and that is one of the best things about a fly bridge boat. It also allows you to have more guests on board because you have three areas for them to sit, talk, enjoy the ride--the salon, the cockpit and the bridge. We've had as many as 22 guests on board and, even with that many, it doesn't seem crowded because there's room for them to spread out.

Put me down as one who likely will never go back to the cave.
 
Zach - They were built in '08 and the recession basically stopped production. I know in '10, MM still had 10 '08's for sale and were discounting them 66% to try to move them. I don't know how many were built after '08. A dock mate bought one in '10 and enjoyed it for 5 years. He has since moved up to a 58DB. As has been said, nice master stateroom. He ended up not liking the aft galley though...
 
Great feed back, I am not sure how I feed about the aft galley. However I have seen more and more new models doing this? I wish there was one closer we could check out but until we can get on one the comments here are appreciated. If nothing else I think this boat has moved into the #2 contender behind the 48 sundancer.
 
I have owned my 48 Sundancer for 3 years and still loving it, currently I have no intentions on getting rid of her. Great boat!
 
carterchapman said:
Zach - They were built in '08 and the recession basically stopped production. I know in '10, MM still had 10 '08's for sale and were discounting them 66% to try to move them. I don't know how many were built after '08. A dock mate bought one in '10 and enjoyed it for 5 years. He has since moved up to a 58DB. As has been said, nice master stateroom. He ended up not liking the aft galley though...
Click to expand...
Interesting Carter, it would be insightful to know why the aft galley became something he didn't like. I imagine if you are someone that doesn't keep the counters clean and dishes done it could be an issue.
 
If I recall, that boat had V-drives which allowed for a large aft cabin. That moved much of the weight to the back of the boat and made the boat ass heavy. The fuel burn on that boat was considerably worse than a 480DB. Again, just going by memory.
 
I'll jump in, having owned a 47DB for a couple of years.

The original plan was to own the boat till summer of 17, then move to a larger boat. Sold this past summer. Currently shopping for our next boat, something closer to 60 LOA.

Did a lot of research over a year or two when I was evaluating where to move in our next boat (the 47DB). Was very difficult because you could not just go out to a forum and easily find people that had actual hands on experience with the boat.

Had all kinds of discussion around why SR dropped the boat with different industry people. Heard a lot of different "stories", not sure about the actual facts.

What do I think based on what I learned? When this boat came out for the 08 model year, it was positioned as a very high end boat - fully loaded. The options you could add were very limited - whether you wanted the bench seat in the master or the drawers. 3 or 4 things like that.

The only big options were Hydraulic Swim Platform or Stern thruster.

They hit the market with a fully loaded finish out and a price tag well over a M$ list right about the time the economy tanked, boat market died. People were coming in seeing two boats, roughly the same size - one with a list several hundred thousand less. The market died on them I think.

If you look at the layout of DB's - pretty similar - they just get larger.

My opinion, by the time the market started to turn back positive - someone at SR had the vision for the L class and that's where the effort was put. Who knows.

Aft Galley. We absolutely loved it. Nothing negative about it for us.

Master Stateroom. Loved it. Haven't seen that type of space in a full beam master on a 50' LOA boat.

Step up in the Salon. For those who don't like the boat - usually one of the top 2-3 reasons. For us, it was ok.

2 Cabins. This is a 2 cabin boat. If you need 3 staterooms, not the boat for you. There was an option on the build, just never saw it. (I was on 8 or so 47DB's before we bought one).

If I was in the market for a 50' LOA flybridge, this boat would be at the top of my list.

My only hesitation would be the engines, all that I ever saw in any of the boats I looked at were QSC600.

Someone brought up the point earlier I agree with. You need to decide on Dancer vs Fly Bridge first. What will fit your boating requirements best.

Happy to answer any questions,

Mark
 
Last edited:
Vince_nj1 said:
If I recall, that boat had V-drives which allowed for a large aft cabin. That moved much of the weight to the back of the boat and made the boat ass heavy. The fuel burn on that boat was considerably worse than a 480DB. Again, just going by memory.
Click to expand...

Boat wasn't stern heavy at all. Yeah - it burned fuel - the engines were thirsty. Boat ran flatter than some of the other DB's I have been on.
 
FootballFan said:
Boat wasn't stern heavy at all. Yeah - it burned fuel - the engines were thirsty. Boat ran flatter than some of the other DB's I have been on.
Click to expand...

I agree - a good fried of mine had one - I spent some time on it and ran it once - It was not stern heavy - there is an old thread with a lot of opinions on this boat too....
 
FootballFan said:
Boat wasn't stern heavy at all. Yeah - it burned fuel - the engines were thirsty. Boat ran flatter than some of the other DB's I have been on.
Click to expand...

What was your fuel burn at cock tail cruise, normal running speed, WOT?
 
FootballFan said:
I'll jump in, having owned a 47DB for a couple of years.

The original plan was to own the boat till summer of 17, then move to a larger boat. Sold this past summer. Currently shopping for our next boat, something closer to 60 LOA.

Did a lot of research over a year or two when I was evaluating where to move in our next boat (the 47DB). Was very difficult because you could not just go out to a forum and easily find people that had actual hands on experience with the boat.

Had all kinds of discussion around why SR dropped the boat with different industry people. Heard a lot of different "stories", not sure about the actual facts.

What do I think based on what I learned? When this boat came out for the 08 model year, it was positioned as a very high end boat - fully loaded. The options you could add were very limited - whether you wanted the bench seat in the master or the drawers. 3 or 4 things like that.

The only big options were Hydraulic Swim Platform or Stern thruster.

They hit the market with a fully loaded finish out and a price tag well over a M$ list right about the time the economy tanked, boat market died. People were coming in seeing two boats, roughly the same size - one with a list several hundred thousand less. The market died on them I think.

If you look at the layout of DB's - pretty similar - they just get larger.

My opinion, by the time the market started to turn back positive - someone at SR had the vision for the L class and that's where the effort was put. Who knows.

Aft Galley. We absolutely loved it. Nothing negative about it for us.

Master Stateroom. Loved it. Haven't seen that type of space in a full beam master on a 50' LOA boat.

Step up in the Salon. For those who don't like the boat - usually one of the top 2-3 reasons. For us, it was ok.

2 Cabins. This is a 2 cabin boat. If you need 3 staterooms, not the boat for you. There was an option on the build, just never saw it. (I was on 8 or so 47DB's before we bought one).

If I was in the market for a 50' LOA flybridge, this boat would be at the top of my list.

My only hesitation would be the engines, all that I ever saw in any of the boats I looked at were QSC600.

Someone brought up the point earlier I agree with. You need to decide on Dancer vs Fly Bridge first. What will fit your boating requirements best.

Happy to answer any questions,

Mark
Click to expand...

Thanks Mark

Could you explain further your hesitation around the engines with this boat?
 
Zach312 said:
What was your fuel burn at cock tail cruise, normal running speed, WOT?
Click to expand...

Idle to displacement speed - nominal - couple of GPH.

Cruising at 80% - 50-55 GPH.


Zach312 said:
Thanks Mark

Could you explain further your hesitation around the engines with this boat?
Click to expand...

This is my opinion... not an expert.

Cummins are very good engines in most applications. The QSC600 is an 8.3L engine with the HP turned up. RPM's are running higher (3K at WOT), overall the engine is worked much harder - shows in the fuel consumption. Not sure about how it impacts the life of the engine. I knew this going in, discussed the topic with Frank W. However I went into the boat with a 3 year horizon and was not worried about wearing the engines out during that timeframe.

Talked to others with 50ish LOA who have QSM11's. They burn less fuel. Guessing they are using the torque to swing a different prop to translate into speed at a lower RPM.

( I do not know for a fact the RPM operating ranges of the QSM11 - maybe someone can help out).

I like the larger displacement, more torque, lower operating RPM.

Would I buy a boat with QSC600's - not ruling it totally out. But would not be my first choice.

The challenge is I can't really pick a specific engine and then select which boat. That choice is already made so I have to balance the boat vs the engine.

The research on layout, finish out, etc. led us to the 47DB. If we wanted a 47DB, didn't have any choice in engines.

There would probably be boats that I would flat out eliminate based on the engine.

Hope that explains my comment better,

Mark
 
19-20 knots based on sea conditions.

That was fully loaded, Dinghy on the back.

Half fuel, no Dinghy, ran 25-26 Kn during WOT.
 
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