Boat test for the 2008 Sea Ray 350 Sundancer including boat specifications, photo galleries, boat videos, boat layout diagrams, boat test numbers, boat test results, and boat speed graphs. Also includes pricing, engine test reviews, ratings, standard features, and gear for the 2008 Sea Ray 350 Sundancer.

A new joystick control system makes the 350 Sundancer truly different.

When I learned that I was going to test the newest Sea Ray Sundancer, the 350, I wasn’t exactly ecstatic. Nothing against the boat, mind you. Sundancers are fine craft. But they can be journalistically challenging, as changes from year to year often appear to be--at least at first glance--more incremental than revolutionary. Such is the case with the 350, which replaces the similar 340 and joins the also-similar 330, which has been around, at least in name, since the ‘90s.

But a lack of change was not the cause of my initial indifference; it was more due to the type of power I would be testing. This 350 was powered by a pair of big-block MerCruiser Horizon gasoline stern drives. (Gasoline and diesel V-drives and diesel stern drives are also available.)

I’d tested the 330 Sundancer ("Child Ride," October 2007) powered by the same basic 8.1-liter gasoline V-8s (the 330’s 385-hp inboards are called 8.1 Horizons while the 350’s 375-hp stern drives are called 496 Mags) with V-drives and liked it just fine. I couldn’t imagine how stern drives could equal it, much less surpass it. While I recognize that I/Os offer some performance and handling advantages inherent in their fully articulated propellers, I place greater value on the inboard’s simplicity, both mechanical (no complex alloy drives submerged in salt water) and operational (you don’t have to mess with drive trim). But even more appealing to me about twin inboards--gasoline or diesel--is how they let you muscle a boat any way you like by working one against another. Trying such maneuvers with stern drives, I knew, typically results in considerably less leverage because the engines (and therefore the props) are closer together and the exhaust exits through the propellers or drives and so tends to ventilate the props in reverse and reduce their bite. So let’s just say my expectations were not high.

But all was not lost. I discovered that the MerCruisers I’d be testing featured the new Axius joystick-control system. Since I’d driven a number of other boats of roughly similar size that also featured joystick controls (but only for inboards), my interest was piqued. I knew the stern drives wouldn’t be able to compare with inboards when it came to maneuverability, but I was curious just how much better this new system would be than conventional stern drives, especially since Axius does not control thrusters as some other systems do.

When I got to the marina I had no problem identifying my test boat, and I was actually able to quickly discern major exterior differences between it and the 330. For starters, the 350 sports a large fixed window on each hull side, the better to illuminate that Sundancer trademark, the midcabin. A hardtop integrated with the standard radar arch has replaced the 330’s radar arch and its aft shade; the result is not only a nicely sheltered bridge deck but covered cockpit seating area as well. That seating area has also been reworked: A starboard walkway has replaced the 330’s port-side entrance. A large L-shape settee now occupies the entire port side replacing the 330’s starboard facing seats and a large combined starboard wet bar/grill replaces the sink behind the port-side passenger seat. All of this is to a single purpose: to accommodate the double helm and port-side passenger seats, both of which now pivot to face aft. When you spin them 180 degrees, they directly face the lounge occupants, making for a considerably more convivial area.

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