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We'll start by saying that we basically like this
boat. Its been produced in various incarnations since 1983 and is
the big brother to the 36 Express with little difference other than
size. But we'll also say that they come with some maddening faults
that prevent us from giving it a solid four star rating.
As will all boats that are produced over a long
period of time, you expect that most of the bugs will get worked
out over the years, yet in reality, this is rarely the case for
some builders. A lot of faults that you will find in a 1984 model
you won't find in a 1992 model, but there are enough of them remaining
to make you wonder why, since they'd be so easy to correct.
The interior layout is great, and we like the fact
that it is easy to move around in this boat without always bumping
into things. The traffic lane from the cockpit through the cabin
is very good for active people who move around a lot, which is one
of the great features of the express design. You don't feel worn
out after a day of a lot of climbing around. The "great cabin"
layout is good for the very sociable types who don't want a lot
of privacy. On a rainy day, you can actually spend some time inside
without feeling claustrophobic with cabin fever. In the south, this
is nice for just getting out of the heat and spending some time
in air conditioning.
Four people can actually cruise for a while on
this one without being in each other's face all the time, despite
the lack of private cabins. Yes, there are two staterooms, but a
better descriptive adjective might be "sleeping space."
The head compartment is just a tad small, loosing a lot to the shower
stall.
The quality on this one, as we complained in our
intro, ranges from good to poor, depending on where you're looking.
In the later models it got quite a bit better than the 80's models,
but there are still a lot of weaknesses. Start with the windshields
and cabin windows that leak excessively. On the earlier models,
the water leaks in and goes into the sunken area of the instrument
panel and thence down into the cabin below, often causing a lot
of damage, even to the refrigerator. These leaks are extremely frustrating
and apparently impossible to stop, for just about every one we see
has them to various degrees.
On later models, in a driving rain or a lot spray,
we usually find a lot of water sloshing around up under the windshield,
soaking everything you put up there. The forward opening side vents
don't help this any.
Early models have a lot of mica on plywood cockpit
panels that rot badly, including wood seating units. On later models
much of this was replaced with more durable materials. But to our
liking, there's still too much vinyl upholstery and too much plastic.
A lot of plush usually translates to a lot of non durable materials.
The engine compartment and what's under the cockpit
is a real sore spot. The layout down below is very poor. You'll
find generators sitting nearly on the bottom of the hull and all
rusted up because they're constantly getting wet. You are forced
to stand in the bilge where you can slip in the oily water and hurt
yourself. The stuffing boxes have no splash guards and usually throw
water all over, damaging nearby electrical apparatus. Since the
centerline generator blocks your access to the aft bilge area, you
usually have to move a very heavy rear seat to open the hatch where,
once again, there's nowhere to stand except in the bilge water.
On some earlier models we've found stringer
movement that has disturbed the fuel tank mountings. We've found
fractured tank beds and broken hold down straps, although no fractured
aluminum tanks yet. This is something that you want to look at closely.
These large wing tanks force the location of the exhaust piping
into the central spaces where you don't want them and they get in
the way of servicing just about everything. And the large,
cannister style mufflers don't help. This is a boat that should
have fiberglass centerline tanks which would turn the engine room
into a do-it-yourselfer's dream. Instead, the inability to reach
things means that things don't get serviced, and is one of the reasons
we find so many of these boats with very poor maintenance.
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When we find floor frames breaking
apart like this, its usually an indication that all is not
well. Namely that there is excessive flexing in the hull
structure. |
A lot of builders just don't give a darn about
serviceability, but they should realize that how their boats look
5 or 10 years later deterimines what knowledgable people think about
them. Things like this establish reputations, and Sea Ray has never
been very good in this regard.
Sea Ray's continued insistence on using plastic
through hulls and cleap plastic hoses has sunk a lot of their boats.
As the cheap plastic ages, it becomes brittle and fractures.
Further, these hoses usually aren't supported, a factor which speeds
the breakage process. There is no excuse for this nonsense, yet
they continue to do it.
Performance is a mixed bag. With the propeller
pockets you get a real shoal draft, but at a big cost in performance.
Coming in at around 17,000 lbs. this is a very light boat for its
size. Compare this with the Bertram 38 II Special at 29,000 lbs
and you see why there should be no performance problems. Yet the
propeller pockets stand her up on hind legs while getting up on
plane, which takes far too long, while you can't see where you're
going just looking at the fore deck. We typically find Cat 375's
or Mercruiser 454's in these boats. With the diesels, once she's
up and running she's okay, but it definitely needs trim tabs to
do it. With the gas engines, we think its underpowered and wouldn't
have one.
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While the deep propeller
pockets gives a very shallow draft, it comes at a steep
price in performance. |
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This eary model 39
had an angled bulkhead which broke loose, causing fractures
in the hull sides. The white dust is ground fiberglass from
extreme working of a bulkhead adrift. Installing a bulkhead
on an angle is guaranteed to do this, so where are the engineers? |
Slow speed steering is terrible and she wanders
around and tracks poorly at idle speeds, causing you to constantly
oversteer through all those no wake zones. And while we had no trouble
docking, operating boats is something we do every day. But a lot
of owners have trouble. Rather amusing to watch at a crowded gas
dock on Saturday morning.
This hull shape, as shallow as it is, unquestionably
is a fair weather sailor. The depth between water line and keel
at the stern is only 18", amazing for a 39 foot boat. Out on
the stream with three footers rolling, she comes to a grinding halt
unless you want to bash her to pieces. She's okay for big bays and
the like, but we wouldn't even consider it for cruising the Bahamas.
Overall, these boats hold up better than we'd expect.
But its the kind of faults cited above that keep these boats dogged
down in the near entry-level category. Sea Ray ought to get rid
of some of the bad hair day types, pick themselves up by the boot
straps and give Hatteras and Tiara a run for their money. It would
cost them very little to transform this level of quality from
something surveyors often snicker about, to something they'd have
no trouble recommending to clients. With an additional $2,000 per
boat in extra engineering and a little materials, we could
easily transform the 39 Express into a rock solid yacht.
Stretching their dollars to get the biggest they
can afford, most buyers are forced into this kind of choice. Its
not necessarily a bad one, but in our view, not a very good one
either. In this used boat category (casual cruising or serious partying),
we'd be forced to consider it too. Its a great cocktail circuit
cruiser, but if you have to go when the wind blows, better
consider something else.
Frankly, we reluctantly give her three stars. So
close but so far. Whether the good outweighs the bad ultimately
comes down to personal preferences and we'll give it the benefit
of the doubt.
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are "reviews", not surveys, and bear no resemblance
to our survey reports.
We do not publish the results of the surveys that we perform.
Please note that the purpose of these reviews is educational,
to help you discern the differences in quality among boats generally.
They are not offered as a means to help you evaluate any particular
boat builder. We have no other reviews than those posted. |
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