Sea Ray Sundancer 370 Outboard 2023 Review

Jump forward 45 years, and Sea Ray has celebrated the evolution of the Sundancer formula with the Sundancer 370 Outboard, an all-new model featuring a sharp design language and up to 1200hp of performance on tap.

Launched in 2021, the Sea Ray 370 Outboard was meant to reset benchmarks for design, performance and athleticism.

If you prefer a traditional sterndrive, Sea Ray does produce a version of this boat fitted with twin 430hp 8.2-litre V8 MerCruiser inboard engines turning Bravo sterndrives.

Has the new Sundancer hit the mark? We jump on board one of only two Sea Ray Sundancer 370s in Australia, with our test model featuring a brace of Mercury’s flagship 600hp V12 Verado outboard engines.

At the time of testing, only two Sea Ray 370 Outboard boats were in Australia. Queensland Marine Centre supplied our test boat, which is priced from around $1,355,000 when fitted with triple 300hp Mercury Verado outboard engines equipped with Mercury’s Joystick Piloting system that helps with low-speed manoeuvres.

For the money, you get 12.1 metres of highly polished product from Brunswick Corporation, the largest boat-builder in the world. That allows Sea Ray to tap into technology that interacts seamlessly with everything installed on the boat, from its Mercury engines to the electrical system and navigation equipment, and even allows you to remotely monitor the boat from home via your smartphone.

The standard boat features an open windshield, but you can opt to completely enclose the front and sides of the hardtop to create a semi-enclosed space that is well protected from the weather and likely to extend the time you’re out on the water when the weather isn’t picture-perfect.

At this price point, there are plenty of options available to build the Sea Ray Sundancer 370 Outboard that suits your needs. It starts with a long list of hull colours – our test boat’s sides are finished in Kingfisher Teal with a black hardtop replacing the standard white – and interior schemes covering the seats, floor and below-deck accommodations.

The standard equipment list gives buyers enough to get out on the water, and includes a teak cockpit table; side panel tubs with teak inlay; a wet bar with a sink and hot and cold water; a swim platform with an extending ladder; windscreen wiper, an anchor windlass; LED lights throughout; a light-coloured Driftwood trim package below decks; a galley with microwave, fridge, stainless steel sink and faucet, and a rubbish bin; an enclosed head with a vacuum-flush toilet and separate shower; a carbon monoxide monitor; opening portholes below decks; forward U-shaped cabin seating that converts to a vee berth; a 32.0-inch flat-screen TV; and an amidships master berth tucked in below the cockpit floor, and an automatic fire suppression system.

You can tell this is a family boat as USB recharging ports are available everywhere.

The Sea Ray Sundancer 370 is equipped with a six-speaker Fusion audio system that is upgradeable, while the standard fit-out for the helm is dual 12.0-inch Simrad chartplotters. A CZone system allows you to balance the boat’s electrical needs from the helm, switching between, say, cruising mode to anchoring mode.

Electrical needs offshore are catered for with a 7.5kW genset, while shore power is also provided as standard.

The fly-by-wire outboard engines, available in black or white, report back to a Mercury VesselView screen on the dash. The V12s incorporate active trim to help keep the big 7.6-litre engines working efficiently as the revs rise or fall. 

Our test boat, though, is equipped with pretty much every option you could tick on the list, pushing the list price to around $1.7 million. This includes the V12s that power it, a Seakeeper gyroscopic stabiliser to take out some of the rock and roll at rest and while underway, air conditioning and a full teak deck layout.

It is also fitted with a Simrad radar system and VHF radio and a Rainmaker watermaker to keep the 170-litre tank topped up on extended trips.

A shade sail for the bow lounge features carbonfibre support poles.

Boat-building quality in the US has reached stellar heights in recent years, and none seem to do it better than Sea Ray. 

The Sundancer 370 Outboard is a 12.1-metre sports yacht with a 3.7-metre beam that is built using a foam core sandwich that adds a foam layer between an outer and inner fibreglass skin. This makes the boat light – dry it weighs around 9500kg and ready to hit the water around 11,500kg – but rigid compared with a solid fibreglass build.

Sea Ray is big on robotics, using automated technology in its builds to ensure that the builds remain consistent throughout the production process.

The Sea Ray Sundancer 370 Outboard sits on a 20-degree deadrise hull featuring hard chines running up to the bow, and a series of lifting strakes that help get the hull up onto the plane and hold it there.

Sea Ray also offers the option of what it calls its Dynamic Running Surface, its own take on trim tabs that help to keep the boat running flat and level. 

The standard boat’s fit-out includes an integrated hardtop that features expansive sunroofs, as well as a forward hatch to let natural airflow into the space – handy when the side windows fully enclose the space.

The big thing about Sea Ray’s Sundancer series of boats is familiarity; despite being the new-look flagship model, the Sea Ray Sundancer 370 Outboard features the same plunging sheerline design running aft as other members of the Sundancer family.

The Sea Ray Sundancer 370 Outboard uses its length and substantial beam quite effectively, creating a lot of onboard space.

Entry is via the swim deck, created as a walkaround space that fronts the outboard engine pod. Wet storage lockers, built into the back of the transom, provide storage space for fenders, lines and water toys, as well as a gas bottle locker.

Two steps up is entry to the aft cockpit space featuring a wide, open space ringed in comfortable bench seating. A wet bar with an optional grill and fridge is to port.

The hardtop uses almost the full beam of the interior, creating a large, airy space for the helm that is offset to starboard to allow a full standing-height walkthrough to the bow lounge to port.

The C-shaped bow lounge defies convention, backing onto the starboard quarter and losing nothing over a conventional forward layout given the amount of beam the Sea Ray Sundancer 370 Outboard carries forward.

The forepeak is dedicated to the anchor locker, with the Sea Ray Sundancer 370 featuring a through-stem anchor system that doesn’t expose fingers to pinch points.

Below decks, the accommodations feature seating forward, a galley and enclosed wet head amidships, and a slide-in master suite afte with porthole windows.

This is a boat with plenty of beam, and Sea Ray uses every bit of it to great effect. It’s easy to forget that this is a boat that measures only just over 12.0 metres end to end.

It starts with the full walkaround space around the outboard engine pod that provides good boarding access from either side (although our test boat has a gate-style bait station and rod holders built into the port side). A freshwater washdown, handy for rinsing off after a swim, is built into one side of the Portofino-styled transom.

Two steps up via a gated companionway offset slightly to starboard leads to a cockpit that serves as the main social hub of the boat.

Almost the entire space is framed in inward-facing seats in its default mode, with a drop-in table shaped like a quarter circle the only nod to dining. Recessed stainless steel cupholders are all around the space. The upholstery is finished in a good-looking double-stitch pattern that lifts the perceived quality to the next level. The entire space, as well as the bow lounge,  uses indirect coloured LED lighting to set the mood for everyone onboard once the sun goes down.

Storage is provided below the seat bases, with the opening supported on gas struts.

The two-seat bench backing onto the transom can flip around so that it faces aft or even lays flat to create a sun bed.

A hatch in the middle of the cockpit floor opens up to provide access to both the generator and the gyroscopic stabiliser.

The companionway to the bow is so wide that two adults can pass each other without squeezing, while the deep internal freeboard that carries through from the cockpit provides a strong sense of safety and security. There is a single step up to the bow along the companionway to provide more headroom below decks.

The bow lounge, framed in a low stainless steel rail, is unusual in that it is offset to starboard rather than taking up the bow, but it’s a layout that works well with the large amount of beam that the Sea Ray Sundancer 370 Outboard carries forward.

A forward-facing three-person sun bed with fold-down armrests features a flip-up section that converts the space into a lounge that is more comfortable on passages.

The bench extends around to the bow, with a low seatback for those seated and facing aft. Large side pockets provide good storage for small items and the all-important USB recharging points to keep devices juiced up.

Forward of the bow lounge is the forepeak locker for the anchor windlass, which includes a raw water washdown for keeping the ground tackle clean.

There is walkaround space in front of the windscreen so you don’t need to stand on the seats to fit windscreen covers once the fun out on the water ends.

The Sea Ray Sundancer 370’s hardtop easily encloses around a third of the boat. Our test model has swapped out the open cockpit for the semi-enclosed version that adds a full-height windscreen and side windows to fully enclose the space on three sides.

The hardtop space offers some protection to the wet bar that on our test boat includes the optional Kenyon electric grill.

The wet bar features an under-bench Isotherm fridge, grill, a stainless steel sink with hot and cold water, and a drawer that serves as a bin or wine bottle storage.

The undercover space also includes a controller for the Dometic air conditioning system and a TV.

Overhead, the hardtop is fitted with two expansive glass panes that allow natural light to flood into the space. A lifting hatch forward adjusts to vary the natural airflow into the space while underway, while at rest the side quarter panes pop out at the push of a button.

An option is to fully enclose this space by adding a set of drop-down clears that drop down from the trailing edge of the hardtop. You can also add an extending sunblind to provide some shade if needed.

Forward of the wet bar is the helm station, offset to starboard. The helm is hard up against the starboard coaming, with enough space for two people to sit beside each other. There’s another forward-facing chair to port, set well back to allow access to both the sliding door leading below decks, and the companionway forward.

Before the skipper is a console top that takes up a huge expanse of real estate as it runs forward to the leading edge of the windscreen. And the single-piece windscreen itself is just as big, filling four-fifths of the space in front.

Only four-fifths? That’s because a sliver of the windscreen is converted to a full-height section that opens inboard to provide full standing-height access to the companionway leading forward to the bow lounge.

This inward-opening pane, supported on gas struts and using two locking handles that are linked together to act as one, is large and heavy and slightly awkward to swing. You’d really only open or close it while at anchor. A wind blocker that neatly tucks into the companionway when not used, but needs to be closed before the window pane, helps to shelter the helm’s jump seat while on the move.

But back to that helm. The two-person seat is high and comfortable with its two-level raised footrests, and features a pull-up bolster that makes it comfortable to stand – although it does miss out on folding armrests, needed given the dynamic capabilities of this hull that tend to try and wash you off the seat if you have nothing to hang onto.

The three-spoke sports steering wheel is set quite low but adjusts for height so you can get comfortable.

The simple, uncluttered dash, which can flip forward to give access to the wiring and fuses, is a mix of the twin 16.0-inch Simrad digital instruments up high on a blacked-out section of the console, and backlit analogue buttons below –finding the horn in a hurry can be quite tricky until you know exactly where to reach for it.

The dash comes with cupholders and air conditioning vents.

The digital throttle control falls easily to hand, as does the joystick that is set aft of it.

The below decks are accessed via a lockable hatch that slides into the console. You then descend below via floating timber steps.

Immediately below is the galley to port. It features a stone-look benchtop, a deep stainless steel bowl with a mixer tap, an inbuilt Isotherm under-bench fridge, and ample overhead and shelf storage space. 

To starboard is the tiled bathroom, with a head aft and a separate shower forward. In between is a vanity unit with a glass bowl sink and a mixer tap.

The forward section of this space is dedicated to relaxing when the weather upstairs isn’t at its best. An L-shaped bench seat on the port side faces a 33-inch TV fixed to the starboard hull; one of the seatbacks lifts up to reveal the electrical switchboard for the entire boat. 

Natural light filters into this space from an overhead window and hull windows to either side. There are USB recharging points and a hanging locker, and at night the entire space is indirectly backlit with LED lighting to create a soft, relaxed mood.

Aft of the stairwell is a crawl space that serves as a lounge space that converts into a berth big enough for two people to sleep. If kids need to be factored into the equation, the forward lounge can come from the factory fitted out as a berth for another two people.

Our Gold Coast Broadwater-based test is our first experience in Australia with a pair of Mercury’s flagship 600hp V2 Verado outboard engines, so to say we were looking forward to the experience is probably understating things.

The Sea Ray Sundancer 370 Outboard is at the smaller end of the length of waterline that a brace of these engines can push. Also helping is the boat’s wide beam, needed to counteract the weight of the heavy powerplants above the waterline.

Sea Ray has had almost half a decade to refine the Sundancer hull, and beneath the Sundancer 370 Outboard, it doesn’t disappoint.

There’s one way of describing it: the twin Mercs provide a hell of a punch.

The V12s’ twin props provide a lot of bite on the water, effortlessly propelling our test boat up onto the plane. At 3000rpm, our test boat is sitting on 28 knots over the ground with both engines using a combined 130 litres an hour. This is around the optimal cruising speed, giving a theoretical range of just shy of 200 nautical miles.

It’s responsive throughout the rev range, too. Rolling on the throttle at 30 knots, it’s almost no time before the dash shows 40 knots-plus on the dial before we’re nudging 50 knots.

Pitching the Sea Ray Sundancer 370 Outboard into a turn is quite fun, with my notes describing it as “steers like it's on rails”.

The twin Mercurys are fly-by-wire featuring integrated electric steering. However, unlike a conventional outboard engine, the V12s are fixed rigidly to the boat and just the lower unit rotates to steer the boat.

Why is this important? It’s because the steering can be slow to react to fast inputs, meaning if you want to quickly pitch the boat into a turn at speed things will happen a bit slower than you’d expect. Turns are a bit lazy rather than punchy and immediate.

But another thing these V12s are good at happens to be how quietly they run. At close to full noise it’s easy to have a conversation from anywhere inside the hardtop’s protected zone without needing to raise voices.

At rest, the Sea Ray Sundancer 370 Outboard is nice and stable as you walk around it, even before the gyroscope is started up.

We also tried the joystick control system hooked up to the big V12s. This boat is not fitted with a bow thruster so its agility at low speeds is entirely down to the ability of the engines hanging off the back.

Under the control of the joystick, the Sea Ray is easy to nudge around, the big Verados pushing, pulling and working hard below the waterline to respond to the inputs. It works best with long, lazy pushes, pulls and twists on the controller, and can easily spin the boat in its own length or shunt it sideways into a dock.

The Sea Ray Sundancer 370 Outboard is definitely a boat made for socialising. It’s probably best enjoyed as a group of people rather than a couple, though, as even though it has what looks like modest dimensions, there’s a lot to enjoy.

On the flip side, the ability to extend a day on the water into a weekend makes this boat a lot more versatile, as does the extended weather protection offered by the semi-enclosed hardtop.

The owner of this particular Sea Ray Sundancer 370 Outboard hasn’t held back with the comforts, either, building a platform that works just as well with a crowd as it does with a couple.

Combined with the fact that this is in every way a proper sports yacht featuring almost half a century of refinement, it’s the complete package for those who can afford it. Comfort? Tick. Performance and dynamics? Tick, and tick again.

Specifications
Model: Sea Ray Sundancer 370 Outboard
Length: 12.12m
Beam: 3.66m
Draft: 1.02m (engines down)/0.74m (engines up)
Bridge clearance: 3.25m (no radar)/3.76m (radar)
Weight: 9520kg (dry)/11,597kg (fully optioned)
Deadrise: 20deg
Engines: 3x300hp (min)/2x600hp (max)
Fuel: 950L
Water: 174L
Holding tank: 114L
Accommodations: 4 people

Priced from:  $1,355,000 including open cockpit, teak cockpit table; side panel tubs with teak inlay; wet bar with a sink and hot and cold water; swim platform with an extending ladder; windscreen wiper, an anchor windlass; 12.0-inch Simrad chartplotters; LED lights throughout; a light-coloured Driftwood trim package below decks; galley with microwave, fridge, stainless steel sink and faucet, and a rubbish bin; enclosed head with a vacuum-flush toilet and separate shower; carbon monoxide monitor; opening portholes below decks; forward U-shaped seating that converts to a vee berth;  32.0-inch flat-screen TV; triple 300hp Mercury Verado outboard engines equipped with Mercury Joystick Piloting system

Price as tested: Around $1,700,000 including full glass-enclosed cockpit; 16.0-inch Simrad chartplotters; Simrad VHF radio and radar; teak flooring; cockpit grill; LED lights and through-hull lighting; chain anchor rode with stainless steel anchor; bow seating sunshade with carbonfibre poles; cockpit TV; TV antenna; teak bow table; cockpit Isotherm fridge; custom hull colour; opening portlight; head macerator; watermaker; 2x600hp Mercury V12 Verado outboard engines with Mercury Joystick Piloting system

Supplied by: Queensland Marine Centre