New Boat 2nd Attempt

[Nat]

Im just about to put in an offer on a Searay 400 Express 1996 running 340 cats on shafts anyone got any info/experiance of this model good or bad. All comments welcome.

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[MedDreamer]

Hi Nat

Obviously not many people on here have an opinion about this boat, why not try an American site instead; Boatered.com or BoatUS.com, I am sure you will get some feedback from there.

Off to Alcudia tomorrow yippee.......

Martyn

<hr width=100% size=1>Living the dream

 

[Nat]

Thanks Martyn will do. I posted again because the previous posts to mine cant be viewed, & I thought ther may have been a problem.
Hope you have a great time, I hear its not far short of 90 degrees at the moment so dont forget your suntan oil...........Nat

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[TargaLout]

I really wanted one of these and I looked at four of them.
Two had 2x mercruiser 330hp big blocks 454's on shafts via vee drives. Obviously an engine swap would have been needed on these. Another had 340 hp Cats. And the other I cant remember.
The ones I saw were approx 1987 / 89 vintage a really superb looking boat very much 80's styling. Huge accomodation with really neat sliding wall / room dividing panels so you can open the whole below decks into a cavernous open plan, cathedral like area.
Likewise with the massive 13'6" beam it has a huge cockpit for loads of guests with loads of storage compartments and "pull out" seating.
Decor and cockpit finnishing a little dated but so what?
The early ones (like I viewed) had a squared off transom and a bolted on bathing platform where the later 390 had an integral bathing platform.
I went out on the on with 2x 340hp cats ( originally petrols) and because the boat is so wide gets on the plane quick and stays on it at very low rpm, top speed was about 26knots .
Being 40' it handled the swell really well (terrible weather) and did not crash about like i though it might have as I would not say it has a deep V hull but semi-V.
3 of the 4 I saw each had had fairly major hull repairs where the stringers had come away from the hull about under the helm position, this must be a fault as 3x had similar problems similar areas at one stage in their lives.
The early ones were never built for European market and all had 110v AC electrics this was the main thing i did not like as obviously all the appliances (Aircon, fridge, immersion cooker etc) were too expensive to replace. Not a problem if you run off the genny, but you will need a massive step-down transformer to plug into UK 230v and an RCD trip.
Also it may well have early nav gear, difficult to get spares for.
Apart from that they are not everyones cup of tea with their individual 80's styling and would be difficult to re-sell (american boat syndrome) especially if a "self import" originally and not bought through a dealer, so much fewer buyers. Therefore you should get it for a really good price. I was nearly there once and pulled out at the last second! Go for it.... it is a massive boat and should be well priced.

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[TargaLout]

Sorry........ Misread, I thought it said 1986!!
Anyway most still applies.

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[Nat]

Thanks for your input.
The boat in question is in absolutly mint condition for the year with every nav aid you can imagine fitted.you could eat your dinner off the engines. I spent about 4 hours going over it & couldent find anything wrong or broken, the only thing I could find fault with was the genny is a bit noisy' but I can live with that. Im going to have it lifted so I can have the hull inspected & thanks to your info I now know where to look for problems.

<hr width=100% size=1>2655 ! You can tell me, I'm a Docter !