Sea Ray vs Regal Boats

george2064

george2064

New Member
Apr 15, 2010
92
Portland, Maine
Boat Info
310 Sundancer 2001
Engines
300 Mercruisers,
Raytheon RL70CRC
Raystar 120 WASS/GPS
A friend of mine is looking at Regal boats ... any comments on how they compare to Sea Rays? Quality? Resale Value?
 
Regal makes a fine boat. Equal to SR in my opinion. I would even say that resale is better because at any given time they have fewer boats for sale. My 2 cents.
 
I like them. I like the styling which counts for a bit. I like that you get IPS not Zeus which is a huge, huge, huge advantage. I like the 44SC. The 4460 is very nice, but I really lean towards the 44SC.

Best regards,
Frank
 
I have no personal experience or long term experience with them but I climbed all over a 2565 at a local boat show. I really liked how it was laid out. They seem to be able to pack a lot into a small space. There was something about the layout I did not like but I cannot remember what it was. I saw them in February. They also have a slight different look than most other express cruisers out there (which I like).

http://www.regalboats.com/2565

John
 
Regal makes a quality boat and I think they are very comparable to Sea Ray in all regards. Solid boats and a solid company....privately owned, zero debt, cash in the bank.
 
I have been asking a similar question but have gotten few detailed responses. Hope you get more information.

I have been looking at 90s 270s and 00+ 260s. Has anyone researched the 2660 or 2765 Regal? A friend suggested I check them out as I am tall and the cabin height is a foot higher. It is!!! It does feel better down there. The head has much more height than the 260 or 270.

Thanks for any opinions.

If I bought one would I still be welcome to hang out here?
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I disagree. I compared the quality and build of the Regal to Sea Ray at this year's boat show. The Regal had inferior fit and finish and materials. The floor in the cabin of the Regal was a thin sheet of laminate vs more solid wood in the Sea Ray. The cabin hatches in the Regal were made of flimsy plastic with cheap hardware. The cabinets and hardware were an inferior grade compared to the Sea Ray materials. The design of the dash including switch gear is higher in quality in the Sea Ray. The cleats are heftier. I could go on.
 
This is almost a repeat, so excuse me...

I love my Sea Ray. Period. It is a great boat.

However I also loved my first four boats, which were all Regals (2760, 3260, 3760, 4460). They are a very well built boat, certainly IMHO, at least equivalent to Sea Ray. In addition, their focus on customer service and support is legendary. The Kucks (owners of the Company) founded the company on good Christian values, which carries the moral code through the company culture.

Let me tell you a little story:

The Jackie J III was a Regal 3760 (labled a 3560 at the time). It was one of the first produced and as a result I experienced the early adopter pains. Small stuff though. I had a number of these small issues that had built up, got fed up and sent the President, Paul Kuck, a letter. I got a personal response within a couple of days and the following week, they sent a maintenance manger up to meet with me and supervise repairs. My boat was in Orillia, Ontario, Canada so the trip would have been a 6 hour plane/car + airport wait affair. As I had a casual conversation before getting into the issues, I discovered that this poor guy had his roof torn off by tornados spun off a hurricane in the prior week. If felt like a total A-hole whining about my little issues while this poor guy was essentially homeless, however he insisted that we continue on. It was the most phenomenal customer experience of my life.

Anyway, this opens me up to a whole lot of abuse here (remember please, I love my Sea Ray).

You would be well served by either brand.

Paul
 
At the Atlanta Boat Show, the Regal dealer had the 44SC powered with Volvo diesel IPS's. A beautiful boat ~ $600,000.

MM had the 450DA powered by 8.1 gasser sterndrives ~ $821,000. A terrible layout with 10' of wasted space in the ER forward of the engines. I think they did it this way so they could advertise the Axius joystick system...

No comparison. Sue and I are looking at the Regal 44SC for the next boat...
 
It was between a Regal and my present Sea Ray when I purchased this boat. I think the Regals are very elegantly equipped but the Sea Rays seem better built and more sporty to me. Each of the mechanics at the marina has told me that Sea Ray is a better boat than Regal but I often wonder if this is said because I am a Sea Ray owner. I don't think you would go wrong getting a Regal. For a while there, it seemed that the Regals were not holding their value like the Sea Rays but who knows what the future will be like in that category.

Good luck with your decision.

PS. If I had it to do over again, I would still have bought the Sea Ray.
 
As some have stated it is pretty much comparing apples to apples. Having owned Regals (1988 280 Commadore) and Rays they pretty much come down to creature features and looks. I Loved my Regal and could not complain one bit on fit or finish just like i can't about my Rays. I am not a person that spends oodles of money on new boats but rather prefer the older boats and the Regal stood the test of time as well as the Rays have. The Hulls on Both boats have held up well without blistering or cracking or even as much as spidering.

I was torn between the 2 when looking for my last boat and the only reason the Ray won out was strictly the price i was able to pick it up for ( a distress sale). Either boat (older vintage) will most likely serve you well.
 
carterchapman said:
At the Atlanta Boat Show, the Regal dealer had the 44SC powered with Volvo diesel IPS's. A beautiful boat ~ $600,000.

MM had the 450DA powered by 8.1 gasser sterndrives ~ $821,000. A terrible layout with 10' of wasted space in the ER forward of the engines. I think they did it this way so they could advertise the Axius joystick system...

No comparison. Sue and I are looking at the Regal 44SC for the next boat...
Click to expand...

Are they nuts? What did they do, fire all the engineers? A 24,362 pound boat with gas sterndrives? Sure, cheaper than diesels but it's still over 800 grand! I'm with you, Carter. 44 Sport Coupe. I don't want a dock queen floating condo. I want a boat to run, not throw pistons though the block. (No offense, R)
 
fc3 said:
Are they nuts? What did they do, fire all the engineers? A 24,362 pound boat with gas sterndrives? Sure, cheaper than diesels but it's still over 800 grand! I'm with you, Carter. 44 Sport Coupe. I don't want a dock queen floating condo. I want a boat to run, not throw pistons though the block. (No offense, R)
Click to expand...

The new Sea Ray 450 comes with my engines as the base package. Full of fluids and gear, she's 27,000 pounds.
 
Does the 450 come with the regular 496 MAGs, or the 496 MAG H.O.'s?
 
carterchapman said:
At the Atlanta Boat Show, the Regal dealer had the 44SC powered with Volvo diesel IPS's. A beautiful boat ~ $600,000.

MM had the 450DA powered by 8.1 gasser sterndrives ~ $821,000. A terrible layout with 10' of wasted space in the ER forward of the engines. I think they did it this way so they could advertise the Axius joystick system...

No comparison. Sue and I are looking at the Regal 44SC for the next boat...
Click to expand...

I think Regal makes a very nice boat. However, Sea Ray makes a better boat (in the mid size cruisers).

I am not a big fan of their pocket cruisers. I don't like how the upholstry is put together, and the styling is a little dated. They need to re-design this line.

Having said that, they are a great company and treat their customers well. How many boat builders have No Debt and all of their factory paid off? They will continue to get better and better. (not sure I can say that about Sea Ray).

However, I think Regal has hit a "home run" with their newer large cruisers. The 44SC is a gorgeous boat, and, new...and for the cost, I would pick that over the Sea Ray. An awesome boat!
 
Like many quality boat manufacturers, there are good and bad models. I was moored next to a new Regal 3060 recently and was not impressed by that model. The salon forward windows were pretty neat but the layout stunk, especially the cockpit IMO. I could tell they were impressed after touring my 300DA, especially after finding out I paid half of what they did for it. They kept saying "this boat feels so much roomier". On the other hand, I love many of the 40-50 footers in the Regal lineup.
 
Bel_Mar_Pointe said:
Like many quality boat manufacturers, there are good and bad models. I was moored next to a new Regal 3060 recently and was not impressed by that model. The salon forward windows were pretty neat but the layout stunk, especially the cockpit IMO. I could tell they were impressed after touring my 300DA, especially after finding out I paid half of what they did for it. They kept saying "this boat feels so much roomier".
Click to expand...
I agree. The 3060 was originally on my short list but after comparing it to SR's 300DA it was an easy pick. The larger models are very nice however as well as the sport boat line.
 
JV II said:
The new Sea Ray 450 comes with my engines as the base package. Full of fluids and gear, she's 27,000 pounds.
Click to expand...

The spec page on the Sea Ray web site list the number I gave, which is probably empty and dry.

Add 292 gallons of gasoline @ 6.2 lb/g -> 1810 lb
and 70 gallons of water @ 8.3 lb/g -> 581 lb
and a several people (the FAA uses 170# for weight and balance calcs) so 6 people @ 170 lb -> 1020
Add a few hundred pounds of junk and that Sea Ray number of 24,362 could easily be over 28,000. That's just insane for a gas powered boat. Sure, they want to offer the gas engines to try and keep the price down, but that's dumb.
 
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