Which power for Searay 28 Sundancer?
 

A friend asked me about which power to get in his new 28 Sundancer.

He looked at the 26 and 28 footers....the 26 is a little too limited and he has a 25 footer now.

He boats on the Chesapeake Bay and likes to ski. The 28footer can have either a 496 Mag or twin 5.0 Bravo III's. Which would you suggest. I'm out of the loop on this one. I have a strap-on on my Sleekcraft, so I appeal to the knowledge here. He can test ride the 28 with the 496 this weekend.

The factory says 45-49 mph with twins and 41-45 with a single. What is the real world speed? He'd like to get close to 50, but that's not as important as how it would be to ski behind. My openbow 22'3" Sleekcraft is a much better ski-mobile, but we haven't been able to hook-up that often.

Money is not the issue. Nice, huh? Given that, why not do twins?

Is there a major difference with fresh water cooled over not? He is not a high hour user,, maybe 5-7 weekends a season.

Thanks for the replies.

On a boat that size, 28', 9'5" beam, 8500# dry, I would definately want twins for maneuverability, planing speed and cruise.

Twins...with the high profile of the boat along with its length, twins will be nice around the docks. If he's out cruising, the added security of another engine will be a positive. Down side is extra maintenance and things to go wrong. I have enough trouble with my single 28' around the docks and it's a low profile compared to that boat. On a windy day, that Sea Ray will act like a big wind catcher and it'll be hard to dock with a single.

I'd definitely go with twins. . He'll thank you when he's got 8 people, coolers, duffel bags, assorted other crap, etc., and is still able to get on plane in less than 10 minutes.

All things being equal, more power is always better. As they say, better to have the power and not use it, than to need it and not have it

I work at a dealership that sells SeaRays. If the budget can hold it, go with twin 5.0 Bravo 3's. One of our customer's has that boat with the single 496 and is disappointed that he didn't go for the upgrade...especially when the whole family is aboard for the weekend. Realistic top speed with twins will be in the low to mid 40's. Keep in mind dry weight is 8500lbs plus fuel, water, gear, and optional generator. Cruising rpm/gph for the 5.0 MPI is 3500/10.9 per engine. The 496 HO is 3500/18.5. To me it would be worth it because it is always nice to have a faster curising speed and extra power when loaded. Plus, a single engine in that size of boat kills resale value...at least here in Wisconsin on the Mississippi River.

Looks like your friend is going to have twins. :D :D

I looked at the same boat and decided that twins were a must for manueverability -- not to mention all the other great points people have already made with reference to security, power, speed, etc.

I would, however, question the likelyhood of water-skiing behind a 28+ foot cruiser. What kind of wake and planing speed could you expect?

Deffinately 305 injected with Bravo 3's or at least 305 w/Alphas.
The 29 Regal we have for sale has the 305's in it and out performs the Sea Ray hands down. He might want to take a look at the Regal!

I'm with you seanclong.....skiing behind a 28' Sea Ray. You have got to be kidding! :eek: I water skied most of my life, even did some competition slalom. If skiing is a priority, I would definitely recommend a smaller, lighter boat that is quicker out of the hole and pulls less wake. If your buddy is dead set on a cruiser, then the twin bravo 3's is a must 'cause the single will be a major ***** to get up behind.....if at all!

Better yet, get the cruiser and a small go fast for skiing.

Oh Oh Oh I can answer this one!!!! Twins are the only way to go. But he will not be able to ski behind it even if it has 3 motors. It will still be slow to plane and have a huge, bumpy trough. But it will pull tubes and stuff so he could do that. Freshwater cooling is a very valuable option on the Bay-brackish water seems to be harder on the engines than straight salt water. He might see mid 40's light, but it seems like the boat is never light once you get it:D

a different but experienced idea: go with volvo penta diesels with their duoprop drives..
35-40 mph FOREVER!!!

don t forget it reaily goes FOREVER!!!

Actually there isn't enough room for the twins in that bilge:D I would definitely get someone else to do maintenance on it.;) I don't think there is any way to get Volvos in that boat since they are kind of "cookie cutter". I am also not too thrilled with the longevity of the B3's but they do handle like a dream.

I say 575 SCI's.......should be able to cruise like a missle with those!!

Pros for Twins:
* unparallelled maneuverability even in the wind in close quarters.
* higher cruise speed and higher top speed and quicker to plane.
* a complete backup in case one fails. Can also swap parts from one to the other when diagnosing a problem.

Cons for twins:
* No room to get in the bilge for maintenance. (just try changing those inside plugs).
* Will make a larger wake than a single (tail heavy).
* Will use more fuel than a single at a given speed.
* Twice the maintenance costs.
* Eats up storage for swim floats, knee boards, and such in the bilge.

Pros for Closed cooling:
* Engine block will never freeze.
* Engine and heads will never suffer from a corrosion problem.
* you can never pump the block full of mud by sucking silt in shallow water (you only have to clean out the heat exchanger which comes off easily).
* Really easy to tell if you have a blown headgasket (bubbles in the recovery tank).

Cons for closed cooling:
* One more fluid to keep stored onboard (antifreeze).
* that's all.

Don't even consider this boat with a single! I spent a week at LOTO with a friends 28 Sea Ray, 6.2L BIII. Terrible experience! The main problem was that it took most of the afternoon to get on plane, when and if it did, you had to maintain a 30+mph cruise to stay on plane. I think I'm still bouncing. The engine ran at 4000+ rpm all day, sucked gas and seemed to be hard on everything.

Go with the twins!

AC

go for twins
 

Go with #6 drives, 572's with 14-71 blowers.

I had a 268 Sundancer with 454 430hp single. I was not happy with the performance at all. Too long to get on plane and bow rise too high. Twins are a must even better with bravo 3's, a much more efficient setup.

Thanks to all who posted on this. He did ski behind a 28 with the single this past weekend. He's thinking of a 100 foot line!

I'll let you all know what he decides.

I tried to get him thinking blowers....no go!

Twins vs. Single
 

Go with the twins, and you will not be disappointed. I have a 1993 290 Searay Sundancer w/twin V-6's (205 hp) with alpha drives and the boat will run 46 on GPS. (43 with 4 passengers and full tank of fuel--130 gals.)) It will cruise @ 30mph @ 3300 rpm and gets 2.0 mpg everytime. It out performs my neighbors 290 with a single 454 and gets better fuel economy. It is also faster. I am sure it also handles better docking if there is any wind present. Hope this helps