New Sea Ray Sundancer 320 reinvents the sport cruiser

American boating giant Sea Ray has gone back to the drawing board to produce a daring new sportscruiser better designed for today’s recreational boaters and their new way of pleasure boating.

Recognising that we now want more room up top and a little less below decks, the new Sundancer 320 has been re-imagined as a multifunction modern-day weekender to no doubt spearhead a new range of 'Dancers.

Retaining a sporty line, the new 32-footer has boosted day-boating amenities, convertible seating and sunpads from bow to stern, and elevated comfort levels in keeping with the US brand's premium market positioning.

Sea Ray says its daring new Sundancer 320 marks a thrilling new chapter in its evolution. We read this to also mean that the design ideas in this 32 footer aren’t going to end with this one model.

A DANCER FOR THE GOLD COAST AND SYDNEY
We were shown the initial renderings of this new Sundancer 320 at the Yacht Expo in Florida in December 2016. We agreed to keep this exciting news under wraps till now, although the Italian Sea Ray dealer seems to have got the scoop and we thank him for these early pics.

The media presentation made the point that the Sundancer 320 was designed around customer-driven layouts and features to "recapture the attractiveness of new boats and obsolete the old." There sure are a lot of traditional Sundancer sportscruisers out there.

Andrew Bennett, dealer principal at Australia’s biggest Sea Ray importer Queensland Marine Centre (QMC), said local buyers have been asking for this kind of boat, with more deck space and less accommodation, for ages.

"While there’s probably some re-education needed about paying big dollars for a high-end weekender, people are calling for more cockpit space and going for a night or two aboard only.

"The amount of people that have asked for this kind of boat over the years is huge," he says. "And let's face it, for waterways like the Broadwater and Sydney Harbour, you just need a boat to sleep one or two nights at most."

To this end, the new Sundancer 320 places greater emphasis on exterior space than the interior, while offering both sterndrive and outboard power options.

The word from the Sea Ray management team, as we tucked into tacos later of the media night, is that this 320 Sundancer is just the first boat from a new era of Sundancers with more space allocation for daytime entertaining while still maintaining a respectable interior.

The new Sundancer 320 will makes its world premiere at the Miami International Boat Show from February 16–20. Ahead of that launch, we can now share the following.

A SPORTY BOW CRUISER
Essentially, the new Sundancer 320 blends the values of a cruiser and a bowrider. Brad Anderson, Sea Ray president and general manager of sport boats and sport cruisers, says the boat offers an exciting new way to enjoy the water with family and friends.

"The Sundancer 320 will reinvent the cruising market. It’s a reimagining of the sport cruiser, offering more usable outdoor space than ever, while maintaining the iconic good looks, impressive performance and overnighting capabilities that our customers have always looked to the Sundancer series to provide."

The Sundancer 320 maximises its on-board space through a re-examination of deck architecture, with three primary entertainment zones:

>> 1. The traditional bow sunpad on the deck: This has evolved into a much more robust lounge seating area, inviting a group to socialise and enjoy the view. The triple forward-facing upfront bow lounges are accessed via a full port walkthrough and can now be utilised to the fullest while underway. Actuated headrests, armrests and seats allow you to adjust for perfect comfort, with a stowable table conveniently in reach, and a bow sunshade that extends over the area when on the anchor.

>> 2. The cockpit layout: This primary day entertaining area has been designed flow intuitively from the swivel helm seat through to the transom and out onto the integrated swim platform. There is a hardtop option with sunroof and what will also become an optional coupe layout (tba).

>> 3. A trick transom: Waterfront entertaining is order of the day. The standard wet bar has refrigerator and grill options, but there are upgrades available at the transom including a sungate layout with a large aft sunpad with moveable backest to elevate the relaxation factor. Under that sunpad is room to stash cushions, fenders, lines, water toys and so on. The outboard power option, when it arrives, will include a trick side swim step.

"The Sundancer 320 is at the cutting-edge of the cruiser market, offering a unique product for consumers to maximise their time on the water," Anderson added ahead of the boat's US launch.

OVERNIGHTING PAD
Despite its new and accommodating decks, the Sundancer 320 still features an upmarket cabin for sleeping a family of four for the weekend, as per common boat usage around Gold Coast and Sydney waterways these days.

In the aft berth, two sliding twin beds can be combined to form a queen bed. In the forward V-berth, a stylish wood table converts via filler cushion to a second comfortable full-sized bed.

A deluxe head, trick galley with extending countertops, flat-screen TV and generous storage are part of the mix below decks.

SPORTS CRUISING
Sea Ray says the Sundancer 320 still puts the sports in the cruiser by performing beautifully using carefully matched power options and a purpose-built hull, connected to a state-of-the-art helm for ease of operation.

We imagine the Sundancer 320 will run nicely with twin 300-350hp 6.2L sterndrives or 260hp diesel option available with the boat. Future outboard options aren’t yet known, but twin 300-350hp Verados make sense.

"The Sundancer 320 offers the best of both worlds — day boating and cabin cruising — by expanding on the strengths of both rather than compromising anywhere," Sea Ray’s sports cruiser boss, Anderson, adds.

"The boat demonstrates incredible harmony of design and function. We are thrilled to begin a new chapter in the evolution of the Sundancer series."

We’ll endeavour to update this news story with specs as they becomes available.

Meanwhile, more about Sea Ray boats in Queensland from Queensland Marine Centre. More on Sea Ray in Sydney from Chapman Marine Group.

Photo Credit: Italian Sea Ray dealer www.imbarcazioni-as.com posted some of these pics.