Possible New SeaRay 310 Owner with Questions

[MysticBoater]

I am currently a FourWinns V248 Owner and my wife and I havea deposit on a 2011 310 Sundancer with twin 300HP Mercury engines with Axium system. I have a few questions that I was hopingfew members could help us with: ( am sure I will think of more):smt100
1) What can I expect as an average gallons per hour burn rate?
2) Has anybody had problems with the Axium system, this is thenumber one option we wanted in our next boat.
3) What can I expect as a base cruise speed and what is speedat WOT. I understand it will change on sea conditions and weight in the boat.
4) If you have a 310 would you buy it again or would you wanta different model (we all want a bigger boat).:huh:

Thanks, I am sure I will have more before I ink the contract.
Bob

 

[kaz911]

Hi Bob,

Axius is great. I don't care much about the sky hook feature - but the rest is magic. Yes you can learn to do most of the manoeuvres you can do with Axius - but my wife does not have the patience to learn it. So for me it was a safety issue - so if something happens to me - she can dock it with ease. I like it for single handed operation as well. But I do try not to use it most of the time - so I will get proficient at just using engine controls. Skyhook makes to many beeps for my sanity....

I have the 2008 310 (Which is now called the 330) - but not much different.

Average burn rate - that depends on your RPM/load and state of your boat and growth. But I would estimate about 0.9->1.3 gallon/NM. On mine it is 1.0->1.2 gallon/NM from about 3300 RPM -> 4400 RPM. After 4400 RPM it increases a lot. My WOT speed is just about 40 knots (46 mph) - with full sun cover out. Cruise speed - my 310 is happy between 23 knots to 30 knots - with just about same consumption pr nautical mile.

The most important factor for keeping your MPG at a reasonable rate is to keep the boat free of fouling. I had boat done - but left stern drives without anti fouling. That ended up in costing me 7 knots top speed just from fouled stern drives. I got them cleaned up again - and gave it a good coat - and got my 7 knots back.

But I think Axius is worth every dime you pay "extra" - and if you was inclined to go for a bow truster - that would cost $6000-$8000 - so the Axius investment vs bow-truster is an easy decision in my book. And the steering response is incredible with Axius. It feels like driving a sports car compared to my old 210 Select

 

[skolbe]

I can't speak to Axius not something I desire on a boat. But I understand why people would want it. I think the down side is when something breaks, you will have higher service cost. In regards to bigger boats. While I like bigger boats for the season we have and my wife and I - our 320 serves our needs. That is basically a 350 in today's sizes. It all comes down to how comfortable you want to be on a boat. The biggest issue is plenty of storage so you are not tripping over things. So really think through how you plan to boat and where will all the stuff go. Good luck with your pending purchase.

 

[MysticBoater]

Thanks for theinput; the first two hurdles down. The "admiral” is in favor of the boat andmy marina has a spot for the larger boat. All that’s left is the final negotiations. If we close on it I’ll providean update.

 

[JimG]

I love my 310 (330 in your year)! No Axius but 4400 @ 43MPH WOT for me. Congratulations and welcome to CSR!

 

[MysticBoater]

I love my 310 (330 in your year)! No Axius but 4400 @ 43MPH WOT for me. Congratulations and welcome to CSR![/QU

Jim I noticed that your boat is named "Summer Daze 3"; our current FourWinns is "Island Daze" and we are planing to name the 310 (if we buy her) "Island Dazed too". Leaning heavy to yes, but the deal isn't done until the ink is dry.