1988 30 ft searay express

[tollycraft]

Looking to buy a 1988 30 ft Searay Express. Had a 26ft Weekender a while back, sold, and getting back into boating. The boat I'm looking at comes with a recent survey and recieved an excellant report. The report said the stringers had been repaired in 2003 and other than that the survey was excellant.
I do have a question, what is the differance between the Searay Express and the Searay Weekender. I know both are straight inboards and neither have the aft cabin as apposed to the Sundancer, but dont know if there is any real differance. I was told the Express has a better cruising speed at about 28mph. Anyone have a 1988 Weekender or Express and can you tell me your likes and dislikes about the boat. Thanks

 

[magster65]

Re: 1988 30 ft searay express

Hey Tollycraft.
I've had a couple 26' sedan bridges... loved 'em both!
Now I seem to be a Sea Ray addict. Your survey will tell you the flaws and the value... go with your instinct on that one.
A Sea Ray is also a boat that holds it's value as good or better than most... just like your Tolly did.

 

[tollycraft]

Re: 1988 30 ft searay express

thanks magster65, not going with the sedan bridge this time. My last boat was a 28ft Tollycraft Sportfisher and had a bridge, Hope I don't miss having a bridge as I want to try something new. I'm just having some difficulty finding out what the differance is between the Searay Express and the Searay Weekender. I dont know of anyone who owns either so I can get some feedback on either boat. I agree with the searay being a quality boat as I did own a 26ft weekender and really liked the boat. If you know of anyone who owns a 30ft wekender or Express I would really like to get some comments on the their boat, likes ands dislikes. Both the Weekender and the express have straight inboards so I would like to know about the performance of the boat. My Tollycraft had straight screws and really liked how it handled, it only had a top end of about 28knots but only had twin 318 engines. The Searay Express has 350 twins so should be faster. I'm not a speed deamon but would like any info I can get on the Searay I'm looking at. Thanks again for your responce.

Tollycraft.

 

[magster65]

Re: 1988 30 ft searay express

Do a search in iboats or Yachtworld on both and compare them. I always thought 'express' was a term to describe the style of boat but the older 'Weekender' or newer 'Sundancer' was Sea Ray's name for them.

 

[Doug S]

Re: 1988 30 ft searay express

Hey there Tollycraft....

go to the searay site (north america) click on service tab, go to the archives section.....look up your year and footage.....based on their site, the weekender didn't show up till 1989......the express might be the sundacer, anyway they have all the brochures for all the models on their web site (showing floor plans and options)

Doug

 

[pipes]

Re: 1988 30 ft searay express

Well I can tell you that it is a great boat.

My uncle just bought one 1987 30' twin 350's straight inboards. cruises at 28-30mph. Great boat!