Hull Construction: the Real Difference

[racer2c]

Hey everyone! Like I've mentioned in a few other threads, I'm the proud owner of a 2006 1800SR3 that I bought straight off the showroom floor.

The friendly salesman at this Bayliner/Maxum dealer informed me that U.S. Marine (owned by Brunswick) owned Sea Ray, Baja, Maxum, Bayliner among many more. He said they share hull technologies and that the differences lie in the quality of the vendors for things such as gauges, upholstery etc.

When I was getting rigged out the more "real world boat guy", informed me that I made a very good choice with the Maxum, but that, "come on, it's no Sea Ray" (I had asked him about the differences).

In my search for a new boat I went to the Sea Ray dealer and I was impressed, it's just that the smallest he had was a 23 bowrider for $35K~. A bit more than my truck or my wallet could handle.

So, is there a difference in the makes hull wise and competitor wise? Some makes websites give very detailed description of their hull technologies, but the U.S. Marine group is rather vague.

[Brit Rider]

haha, you tell me. I've worked on both, drilled holes in the hulls and decks of both... they are the same. especially pre-2001.

The differences lie in the details. sea ray gets a slightly nicer level of vinyl, foam, gauges etc... they also seem to use more sound deadening. In fairness, they are the nicer boat. but given the choice - the Maxum is in my opinion the better buy, sure its not quite as high quality and thr trim is not up there with sea ray but it will last a good few years and is 30% cheaper!

If spending 30k on a runabout; brands such as Crownline and Chapparrel would be way higher on my list than Sea Ray. But thats just my opinion.