Sea Ray Sundancer or Regal Commander ?? THOUGHTS

[alanber]

Had a cruiser years earlier ( sold)
Presently I have a older walk around limited production Fisherman Model Sea Ray
Owing 15 years its still a good sturdy Sea Ray quality boat .
1984 - 21 ft walk around/small cuddy cabin/ 4 cylinder mercruiser/ trailed /good day fishing boat

Wife & myself are retired and decided time for a cruiser
Cabin comforts for few days aboard plus designed for fishing at stern
Viewed a number and decided on two

Both boats have comfortable cabins/ air / generator/galley/ separate seating/

Boat 1
2000 Sea Ray 27ft Sundancer 9.5 beam.
seller is a dealer flipping knowing no history but discovered engine & generator issues .
( rebuilding engine fixed generator )
Wife fell in love with cabin layout, boat super clean but we discovered ensign glass & parts of canvas missing Single engine 310 HP . Bravo 3
No trailer

Boat 2
2003 Regal 28 ft commander
Twin 6 cylinder Volvo drives. replaced with 2008
Marine mechanic owned
selling at boat dealer on consignment
includes complete canvas, ensign glass , trailer, new rises , manifolds needing nothing


Many on this site have had both boats .
Live inland Orlando area and wanted trailer ( have truck too tow ) since nearest ocean water is 1hr going east coast . 2 hrs going west coast
Plan is being mobile leaving boat in water few months, but speaking with a number of marinas they all said leaving I.O.s in salt water even properly painted with ATF is not advisable ?
Fuel consumption - local cruising, hearing Regal under powered even with two 6 , will burn more fuel finding a nice cruising speed
Compared too Sea Ray single 310 hp


Anybody have experience trailing a 30 ft boat , dealer says 10 ft wide no permit needed ,
Wrong, just googled DOT Towing laws width not too exceed 8' 6" = 102 " In Fl.
Both boats over 9 ft wide

Most take chance but can face fines if trooper pulls over and driver has no wide towing current permit
I zip around now with my 21 footer will there be much difference at boat ramp

thanks for info before purchase

 

[Craigalan]

Are you meaning Regal Commodore? If so...I was looking at the exact same 2 boats. I ended up with the 2000 270DA. For us, it is the perfect boat...layout and size. We keep ours in a slip at a marina, and only tow for winter storage...but our storage is 2 miles away from marina, so we haven't had any problems with wide-load fines. I originally was skeptical about the Sea Ray brand, until I climbed aboard and spent some time on one. The 2000 270 is a great boat. But, that is just one mans experience.

 

[Z-Worthy]

I think you'll find them to be very comparable in almost every way except the single versus the twins. Fit, finish, and ride will probably be very similar. My personal preference would always be for twins, but others disagree. Where you need to do more research is the history of both boats: one was owned by a marine mechanic who cared about the boat enough to replace the drives. The other has two known issues, and how many unknown issues? To me, the Regal seems like the no-brainer here. Or maybe look for a different 270? I'd have that 270 surveyed very closely and sea-trialed hard before I bought it.

 

[Jackie J V]

The Jackie J #1 was a Regal Commodore 2860. A very maneuverable boat given the twins and I'm a big fan of Regal (Jackie J's 1 through IV were all Regals). Regal also seems to have a way to maximize the amount of usable space down below. Having said that though, there were a couple of things I didn't like about the boat. I found it to be a little "squirrel-ly" getting up plane. I think the stepped hull was a factor here. Also, I did find it to be a little underpowered. With a light load, I could hit 45 mph, however get a few guests and stuff on board and you could take a while to get up on plane.

Paul