This week I have been working with two versions of the same boat, one from 2009 and the other only a year old, so how does the old school compare to the new school and, is one better than the other. A sort of dual boat review or comparison.
What is it?
An eight metre, single engine powerboat produced by Sea Ray, the later model is also built in Poland for the European market, that is the model we are comparing to the original US only built model. The form of both models is similar, an archetypal sports boat, pointy at one end, blunt at the other, V8 gas motor with outdrive, not a deck boat or a cruiser, an open bow speedboat. SLX stands for Sports Luxury and both models are certainly that but in very different ways. These sorts of boats are something the US does very well and in particular, Sea Ray does very well.
Dimensions and layout
The newer model comes in at 7.77 metre and the previous version at 8.03 metres length overall, the beam on boat remains the same at 2.59 metres. The 28 centimetre difference may as well be a mile, the older boat looks and feels like a much larger one or, maybe the new one feels so much smaller in comparison.
They should not feel so different, but they do, the older model feels way bigger than its modest size advantage, even though the beam is the same, the older model just looks and feels like a bigger boat overall. Both models are available with towers or bimini tops, again, the original with its fibreglass and aluminium tower or arch looks much bigger, the newer model has a tubular aluminum tower that can be folded down, I have only ever seen a fixed arch on the original model.
Power options
The new model is equipped with V8 options from Mercruiser, either the 300 or 350 horsepower new generation motors, New VS old Mercruiser V6 & V8. The older model was available with both small and big block motors, ranging from 300 to 425 horsepower. I would avoid the big block motor, the engine room is too cramped when its installed, it is side to side motor with little to no room.
In all cases, both new and old models use the Bravo three outdrive with its counter rotating propellers, the 425 HO motor uses the "X" version of the drive. All of the props are stainless steel.
The new 250 feels lighter, like it has more in the mid range, the older model feels more planted, heavier. I would not bet on which one is fastest overall, the big block motors have a definite kick to them but I think they feel a bit stern heavy. A perfect compromise would be to install one of the new 6.2 350 motors in the old model.
The new model engine room is not as big as the older model, however the front part of the locker where the engine battery switch is and the table leg posts are kept can be unscrewed easily to allow more access to the front of the engine, that's useful.
Bad thinking and design
Being that the old model was so very good, the new one had quite a lot to live up to, some of the changes or designs do not make sense or are a step backwards from the old one.
Cushions
There's too many of them, starting at the stern, the sun pad, the old model had a centre walk through and gull wing type lockers with the sunpads on each side, the starboard side lock held the infill cushion, allowing you to easily take advantage of a the full beam for topping up your tan. You could also leave the sunpad open and still cover the boat over.
The new model has made the sunpad conversion far more difficult than necessary, I don't understand the design choice at all, the sunpad extends a little bit towards the stern, there is an infill cushion you put under the backrest when the sunpad is extended, to hold the sunpad in place you must lift up the cushion base and move some inserts from one spot to another, you cannot cover the boat over completely with the sunpad extended, you must remove the infill cushion and put the sunpad back to its tucked away position, it all seems like hard work.
There are various options that involve converting the bow, using infill cushions and boards into a sun bed, the cockpit table also can be lowered and cushions put on top for ultimate feet up lounging, all of which require boards, which are heavy and cushions which take up a lot of room, which will take us to our next design own goal.
Storage
Its not that there is a lack of storage, its just that its awkward, the centre floor locker is not long enough for skis, nor is it wide enough for wakeboards, the locker in the starboard bow is large but you still have problems getting skis in there, the water sports tower with racks seems to be the option for ski storage, which is not great for security when you leave the boat. There is probably more square footage of storage in the new model its just that it is distributed in a peculiar way, also, all the aforementioned cushions and boards take up a lot of room, as does the rather nice but very large optional folding teak table.
Battery switches
On this model, Sea Ray as in other models of the past few years have installed a split system, so a dedicated house and start battery system, brilliant, easier than the older models with the 1,2,BOTH,OFF system. They have however not done the best job of what is actually a very simple system.
First off, I do not understand the need to install a very expensive Blue Seas remote battery switch, the remote switch for it either being installed behind the steering wheel or on later models under the dashboard, neither place is ideal and in most cases the blue LED has not been wired up, so you cannot tell if the service battery is on or off.
The poorly thought out installation does not stop there, there is no way of paralleling the batteries in case of a flat engine start battery, this to me is a fundamental error, you should always have a way of starting the motor. You can also use the the start battery to "trick" the charge relay installed to start charging the house battery too, if you run your house battery too low, the relay will not close as it does not see enough voltage.
It is not so much of a problem on the earlier new models, they had a manual engine hatch, you could physically connect the house and start batteries using jumper cables, but its not an ideal solution and nobody wants to be clambering over a hot motor. Solutions to the problem include installing a manual parallel switch, next to the engine start battery switch is an easy location to do this, or, I would do away completely with the remote battery switch and fit a Blue Seas dual battery switch, this switch will allow you to switch both house and engine start batteries at the same time but keep them separated, with the ability to parallel if necessary, the existing charge relay is kept in this case, I just think it would be simpler.
Unfortunately the battery installation errors are still not over. Mercruiser motors, the later MPI models, require a 12V "clean power" supply to keep the engine black box working, this is usually connected straight to the start battery, well, some of them were connected to the house battery, so if you run your house battery down too low, you cannot start your engine even if you have a full start battery, not good. Fortunately this is simple to fix, just swap the cables and their fuse to the start battery, but its something worth noting.
Shorepower
The old model had a proper shorepower set up, optional from the factory, it was excellent, plug in the starboard side of the boat, main breaker, battery charger and a sockets/refrigerator breaker which is protected by a GFCI, properly done, they may have even installed a galvanic isolator, I haven't checked. The great thing about this is, apart from being able to use a socket or outlet if you are on board in the marine plugged into the dock, it also allows you to convert the fridge to dual voltage, not sure if a dual voltage was a factory option or not, no more leaving a battery and the battery charger to keep your drinks cool.
The new model has only a battery charger, not a proper shorepower panel, it uses an adapter and a surface mounted socket or outlet, you have to provide your own cable from the boat to the dock, not a fan of this.
Fridge and wet bar
The old model had options for a wet bar with a fridge, an actual fridge, just like at home but smaller, not the optional chilled compartment on the new model, the compressor unit is under one of the seats, not matter how you try, it will not seal completely, its only really to keep drinks cold, not to actually chill them. The sink in the wet bar was useful too, on the new model the only place to wash your hands or rinse out a glass is in the head compartment.
Gauges
There are various dashboard options for the SLX, the first ones I saw had Faria Smartcraft gauges, they are terrible, the finish on the plastic chrome visors pits quickly, the digital screen portion of the is hard to read, the buttons to change screens are not easy to use. The Mercury gauges are vastly better.
Plus points
It cannot obviously all be criticisms, so in fairness, the boat actually has quite a lot of positive points.
Gelcoat, moldings and teak
Sea Ray has always been good at this and, this boat is no different, if I am honest, the European factory seems to do a superior job to the US built boats in a few key areas, it is very unlikely you will find poorly finished glassfibre or plywood that has not been encapsulated, the fit and finish and the order in which things have been done is excellent.
Electrical installation
Cabling and the way things are installed deserves particular praise, the Euro factory have taken it to the next level, nicely installed, high end Blue Seas components, labelling, cable protection, all first class.
Dashboard
The old model had an option of a Northstar plotter, fishfinder with a gateway for engine instruments that ran in parallel with the Mercruiser gauges, in its day it was fine, obviously technology has moved on, the good new is, you can remove the original plotter and gateway and install another in its place and using the modern Vesselview Link for Simrad or Lowrance displays and the Smartcraft Connect for other brands.
Replacement
The 250SLX is no more, the good news is its replacement (260SLX) is really good, it is a radical departure from previous models, has resolved all the issues with the 250 it replaces, has new options, different installations and is thoroughly modern.
Summary
The original 250 and also the larger 270 were absolute belters, good looking, well built, the archetypal sports boat, perfect shape and proportions, they were not perfect, but they are a very tough act to follow. A really great boat to start off with which is actually easy to upgrade and make them as modern as a newer boat but without ruining what was so good in the first place, for me, its a case of the original was the best.
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