Sea Ray 540 Sundancer

But in the quest to expand -- and America falling into recession -- Sea Ray has been forced to build boats with a more international flavour. The 2013 Sea Ray 540 Sundancer is a case in point, a sport yacht with Euro interior design, a really practical deck layout and an all-weather hardtop to tempt a wider audience.

The thought crossed our mind: perhaps Brunswick took something from its previous ownership of the (European-designed) Sealine brand? Impetus may have also come from the global circulation of so many keenly priced European motoryachts these days.

In any case, our Sea Ray 540 Sundancer definitely had the 'wow' factor, with light-oak joinery, dark wenge flooring and solid counters, contrasting with plush pure-white Ultraleather upholstered lounges. A conscious effort has been made to direct more light below decks, while bathrooms have a trendy tiled homelike effect.

The net result is a factory-rolled sport yacht with a greatly lifted finish, fresh hull lines and, well, less-American styling. The bigger windows and much-improved connectivity will appeal to global buyers who don’t need a boat built around delivering privacy at a downtown marina.

But it’s thanks to local Sea Ray importer Queensland Marine Centre (QMC) that this Sundancer was so well equipped for cruising locally and for those who like to entertain friends and/or extended family on inshore waterways. Options were carefully chosen, amenities boosted, outdoor living areas enhanced and accommodation maximised based on the dealer’s boating experience.

Appearing as a major exhibition at the 2013 Sanctuary Cove International Boat Show, the 540 Sundancer was even trialled by QMC’s dealer principal, Andrew Bennett, himself a family boating man. He took his clan to thronging Wave Break Island for a sunny day or more of ‘Sundancing.’

With the ability to accommodate another family, be it school friends or relatives, and sprawling bow-to-stern outdoor/indoor living areas, Bennett believes the 540 Sundancer is the ultimate weekender. Another thing: 54-footers have always had a great success rate for Sea Ray. That, too, bodes well.

Outdoors, the key upgrade was a hydraulic swim platform for snappy tender dispatch and the optional cockpit fridge in the superb amenities centre with 240V barbecue, plus 42in television to be fitted above. LED lighting illuminates the decks and enhances the safety factor, while twin Raymarine E125 Wides with standard 4kW high-def radar take care of day and night navigation.

As for engines, our boat had a pair of Cummins QSC8.3-600s with Zeus pod drives, joystick and Skyhook station-holding feature. The high-revving engines produce close to 600hp at 3000rpm and 575hp at 2800rpm. A pair of 715hp Cummins QSM II engines with vee drives and bow thruster now come standard but you’ll get less performance. Those same engines with Zeus are a $7-8K upgrade, but we feel the system enhances the 540 Sundancer’s global appeal and is worth the small premium.

Other factory-fitted options included high-gloss cockpit table, dedicated six-piece US-made China setting, stainless-steel anchor, opening hull windows, rod holders, underwater lights and more good gear. But the teak decks were intentionally omitted, with clip-out carpet creating an easy-clean hose-down boat instead, for a final asking package price of $1.7 million as tested. In the scheme of things, good enough value.

Of course, Sea Rays come with plenty of kit including requisite hot/cold deck shower, abundant drink holders, hatches that lift on gas struts, and heavy-duty stainless-steel deck gear. Mouldings always seem nice and fair and the upholstery is upmarket and supportive.

At the blunt end, the boot on the 540 Sundancer is ideal for storing fenders, covers and lines. Its upholstered lid creates an aft sun pad, backed by rails, that overlooks the water and likely kids thrashing about. The padded backrest splits and opens like a gate to bolster sun-pad space. Ah, Sea Ray is forever offering clever convertible seating solutions.

Moulded steps and walkaround decks with moulded tow rails, backed by a decent bow rail with intermediate wire, create safe access to the foredeck that, with recessed sun pad, acts as another lifestyle station. En route, you might notice the stainless-steel stanchions and their bases -- heavy duty and saltwater tough -- although the windlass was an above deck number prone to spilling mud on deck. Thankfully, a deck wash is in the anchor locker.

Anyway, to this point we had run with the none-too-pretty covers down to avoid getting wet during a Gold Coast downpour. With the sun now breaking through, we engaged the Skyhook station-holding function off Paradise Point, itself a good home for this boat, and had those covers zipped off, folded and tucked away in the boot in no time. The point: the covers aren’t a hassle.

Voila! We now had a terrific indoor/outdoor social cruising boat. The large L-shaped lounge to port wraps around a folding lunch table that can be relocated farther aft. The dealer was adding a custom extended cover to create more shade over this lunch setting and insect covers so you could continue the party at night without gate-cashing gnats.

Meantime, the twin helm seats swivel on a shared moulded base on the raised bridge-deck to face the aforesaid cockpit seating, thereby creating a setting for up to a dozen. The 42in television to be mounted above the amenities centre will keep the party boot scooting.

The amenities centre includes 240V hot-rock Kenyon barbecue, fridge with champagne holder, icemaker, garbage bin, sink with hot/cold water and 240V GPO for the cocktail maker. Lids down, you get handy servery space for a buffet lunch or dinner. A supplied portable cooler adds to the options. Launch the tender for prawn pickups at Charis at Labrador or the trawlers alongside Versace at The Spit. Picnic lunches ashore crossed our mind, too.

Up two steps, under the hardtop with sunroof, is that bridge deck surrounded by glass: a deep windscreen with wipers (no intermediate setting), electric sunroof, push-button opening side windows and forward power vent through which you can hand a bottle of champagne to those on the bow.

At the same time, there’s tropical-strength reverse-cycle air conditioning on tap. Re-attach those covers at night and the deck area will still appeal in the cooler months. This boat’s importer, Andrew Bennett, says the soft-back design is more practical and fun on the water compared with the lock-up sport yachts.

The big hull windows, optional opening ports and skylight enliven the saloon. But practicality isn’t sacrificed. The AC/DC panels are conveniently housed in a cabinet at the foot of the companionway; the boat comes with a central-vac system; while the galley takes pride of place along the entire portside.

Overhead cupboards held supplied American glassware, crockery was in dedicated recesses behind the solid-counter top, while cutlery was stowed in drawers. Pot and appliance storage is decent enough, the sink rather huge, while the 240V GPOs feed your appliances. Sub-floor you’ll find space for storing victuals and provisions.

Galley amenities run from bench-height stainless-steel Isotherm fridge and freezer to two-burner Kenyon (matching black) stove top to convection microwave oven. All the while, the abundant floor space aids cooking duties and traffic thoroughfare.
 
Across the floor, the plush L-shape white sofa calls. The drinks table morphs into a small impromptu dinette, underscoring the fact that most of your entertaining and eating will back staged on deck, while distractions include a big Toshiba flat-screen television with Bose Lifestyle system and views out the big hull windows. All told, just a lovely living area.

Even with the big screen running, the aft accommodation area can be shut off from the saloon with a shoji screen. In the two-cabin version, the resulting suite is dedicated to owners, with a transverse queen bed and a bigger adjoining bathroom with additional storage space.

This three-cabin 540 still has a queen bed only it’s to port, longitudinal and against the hull side. The bathroom is reduced is size to make way for the third cabin. It’s a compromise, without natural ventilation or hatches, with bunks destined to sleep a couple of kids. But it turns the aft area into a separate and private guest family space.

At the pointy end, owners get their master stateroom with island queen bed and share an en suite with two doors that is otherwise serve a communal head. So lock the companionway access and tell them the guest bathroom is back aft.

Either way, all cabins have separate televisions, hanging lockers (mainly cedar-lined), inner-spring mattresses and fitted bedding, while the twin bathrooms boast home-sized showers, Vacuflush toilets and cool black counters with on-trend square sinks, tiled splashbacks and flooring.

Among the details, the timber bed head in the forward stateroom lifts the finish, the trick reading lights are another nice touch, as are the dedicated cabin charging areas with 12V outlet and wiring grommets so you can still access your phone or tablet in bed.

A 17.5kW Onan generator that services the boat’s entire needs -- a 21.5kW model is now listed as the US standard -- was mounted in such a way to retain decent servicing room. Fuel is carried in a transverse tank with shut-offs plus a starboard tank with transverse pump from which the generator sips diesel.

The main engines get dual Racor filters located on the rear bulkhead. Coolant bottles for all three engines can be seen at-a-glance, there’s a Reverso oil-change system, and all the sea strainers are on the centreline with clear inspection lids.

There are wet exhausts for the idle bypass on the Zeus -- this prevents annoying shudder at idle -- and major chargers and DC breakers in the engine room. The supplied inverter powers galley outlets, microwave oven, icemaker and cabin outlets. Shower power comes via a 15-amp lead and 32-amp three-phase where available.

But in keeping with Sea Ray’s tradition, the whole rig is easily run without too much owner input, fuss and switching.

There is a sharp 21 degrees of deadrise and a fine entry that together translates to wave-taming ability. When in auto-trim mode, the boat slides to plane and scoots along fairly flat, cutting a swathe without displacing water on the windscreen.

Furthermore, the flat running attitude -- enhanced by the Zeus pod drives in half pods -- should translate to good economy. We’re told this boat performs better than the vee-drive version and remains that way with a full load at cruising speeds. In other words, it has load-carrying grunt.

The twin Cummins QSC8.3-600s (QSM11s on future boats) are Tier 2 emissions compliant, but perhaps outmoded by Volvo’s offerings in respect of meeting Tier 3. If you can get over the emissions thing, these engines and the QSM11s are certainly bulletproof and time-proven.

According to the SmartCraft panels above the helm, we weren’t quite pulling top revs of 3060rpm for the projected top speed of 31-32 knots. So cruise figures were a bit skewed, too. But official figures say anywhere from 25-28.2 knots at 2600-2800rpm fast cruise to 17.5-22 knots at 2100/2200rpm smooth cruise gives an approximate 300nm range.

En route, the stitched-leather dash brow adds to the driving intent at the helm console, where twin high-backed seats offer comfortable cruising, and a starboard-side chaise lounge will seat up to three guests in earshot.

In true American fashion, the spread of rocker switches is long; in contrast, the ignition switches were the latest push-button keyless types; while the gearshifts are the excellent DTS numbers with Precision (auto) Pilot with Skyhook. A joystick was provided for docking.

Zeus certainly helps create a sport yacht with excellent acceleration and, thanks to the auto-trim function, no-brainer performance. With the joystick-docking device, newbies should be right at home, while cruising clans will welcome the deck design and extra beds as well.

In short, the Sea Ray 540 Sundancer is a truly accommodating sport yacht, boasting American sizing, European flair and Australian optimising thanks to a local dealer known for going the extra distance. As indeed can you when the cruising bug bites.

LOA: 16.70m inc extended swim platform
Beam: 4.65m
Draft: 1.27m (max. with Zeus)
Weight: Around 22,679kg dry with twin Cummins QSM11 engines
Sleeping: 6+2
Fuel capacity: 2271 litres
Water capacity: 568 litres
Holding tank: 257 litres
Engines: T-Zeus Cummins QSM-11 715 (hp) T2 (props) w/Skyhook
Generator: Onan 17.5 kVa