We had a 1986 Sundancer 268 with twin V-6 alpha drives. Bought in 2002, so 16 or so years of age. Had been carefully maintained and stored indoors by an anal-retentive marine surveyor. Many upgrades made by him, including performance enhancements. It was a great family boat; slept 2 adults and 3 kids comfortably. She cruised at 28 mph, burning 14 gph, which is a solid 2 mpg (really good for a 6800 lb. fast family cruiser). That was the reported basic weight and I never weighed the trailer by itself to isolate the boat weight. But 10,500 to 11,500 laden with fuel and typical trip gear was the routine scale number.
Regarding ride, it was actually very good. Mid-20s on a medium choppy day produced virtually no bounce, just a solid slice through the waves. Two foot-plus waves rendered some pitching up and down of course, but still a comfortable ride. One time at Lake Havasu, one of my minimally boat savy friends rode from a beach to the ramp with me, after doing the same run with my buddy on his brand-new Regal 24' a few minutes before. As some summer thunderstorms approached, the water was 3-foot plus, tight waves. This guy was amazed at the difference between the extra three feet and 2000 lbs. of our 268. He said "I feel so safe on this, but the Regal was very scrappy." That was a fair observation. Our current boat is 24' and way less comfortable in significant seas than the Sea Ray 268 was.
For fishing, it was decent. We salmon trolled and bottom fished in the Pacific NW. We had snap-in carpet, which came out for fishing and beach days. Then it was a spartan fiberglass cockpit, tolerant of mess and blood. for trolling, we would shutdown one engine and idle speed was a perfect troll rate, under 3 mph. No baitwell, but I've always been a bucket guy, so it didn't phase me. The P.O. had installed a raw water wash-down pump, which was helpful. On an 86, the seating aside from the hem area sucked. two rear facing fold-down jumpseats with a 90 degree back angle. At the stern, a very narrow fold-down bench. You could seat eight, but not in comfort. A couple of nice deck chairs made it work for us.
You will have a difficult time finding a decent example of a boat similar to this. If I were in your shoes, I'd be hunting for the newest SD 270 you can afford, with a 7.4L mpi engine and Bravo 3 drive. Many of the benefits our 1986 268 had, with many modern improvements - most of them ergonomic and efficiency gains. I see them offered with trailers fairly often.
I have owned a lot of older boats, usually purchased in the Desert Southwest with a freshwater/indoor storage history. It's a tall order to find a 40 year old boat that's decent today. Best of luck to you!
