SEA RAY 260 SUNDANCER
BUILT 2008 PRICE £46,950
Based in Knoxville, USA, Sea Ray is part of the huge Brunswick corporation that also owns Bayliner and Quicksilver. And with Bayliner as the budget brand, it leaves
Sea Ray able to position itself a little further upmarket, adding a welcome sprinkle of luxury to its product range.
Founded in 1959, it’s a company with a long history behind it, and its Sundancer ‘pocket cruiser’ models have been its stock in trade for over 30 of those years.
INTERIOR
The interior is an entirely conventional mid 20ft sportscruiser layout – U-shaped dinette forward that converts to a double berth, compact galley opposite a usefully sized heads and a curtained-off mid cabin aft which features a double berth running transversely beneath the cockpit. So no surprises there, but what is notable is the fit and finish down here. There’s virtually no exposed GRP anywhere, other than in the heads of course, everything is lined and soft trimmed.
There’s some high-gloss wood dotted about the place, and neat details like the way the saloon table stows beneath the forward dinette cushions. It does feel a cut above the mainstream down here.
EXTERIOR It’s a similar story on the outside – check out the little metal toggle switches at the helm instead of the usual black plastic rockers. The cockpit upholstery is thick and tightly upholstered too, and there’s even a tiny wet bar in the corner. As is typical of American boats of this size, there are no side decks, access forward is via an opening section in the windscreen and steps built into the sliding cabin door. The radar arch is an unusual, very useful, feature and the grey hull looks great!
PERFORMANCE
I’m imagining the original buyer of this particular boat, on being asked how much power he’d like, simply saying ‘Yes’. It would explain the monster 6.2 litre V8 Mercruiser beneath the cockpit sole! Its 320hp should have this pocket rocket nudging 40 knots.
SEAKEEPING
It’s a relatively short, medium vee hull boat so it’s not going to cut through waves like the Triana Tantarella but these Sea Rays put up a pretty good showing.
LENGTH: 26ft 7in (8.1m) BEAM: 8ft 6in (2.6m)
DRAFT: 3ft 5in (1.0m) DISPLACEMENT: 2.5 tonnes
FUEL CAPACITY: 284 litres
ENGINE: Mercruiser 6.2MPI 320hp petrol engine