Sea Ray L 650 Fly

Closet space is limited by size but also designed for week or two cruises and not those doing longer trips. Still the rest of the storage compensates well. From what we saw there may still be storage or drawers you haven't found. I think there must have been some challenge to leave no space unused.

The one thing we'd try to change in the master would be to squeeze a king bed in but that might be impossible. Actually is possible, just might look so strange as to not want to do it. Did you go for the lounge or the dinette in the master? I'm amazed though that the master and VIP have the space they do considering four staterooms and both the 3rd and 4th staterooms are actually quite usable. For our use, a larger master and only 3 staterooms might have been a preferable design.

The colors of the one we saw were neutral and nice. However, our thoughts were that it could just be the boat to get bold with colors and design on.

Sounds like it's really the appropriate mix for a semi-custom boat. Structure production, interior design customized to tastes.

Glad to hear you like yours as much as you do. I think this segment of the market really needed an infusion and a production builder is the best one to do that but it needs to have the attributes of larger boats as this one does.

Why not just build it wider to start with then? Or could just move it tight against the lounge option on the side and let people roll back and forth between the two...lol

Not gimmicky at all. Unfortunately, to my knowledge, only available for the Apple iStuff....lol

Although we only had a few hours on it, we found it meriting it's CE A and performing quite well in up to 6' (which was the most we could find and we had to go a good distance to find that). It was comparable to what we've experienced in other well built boats in it's range.

I didn't mean to imply that at 6' we could validate it's ability to handle Force 8 states. or that at 6' I could state without question it was worthy. I couldn't address more than 6' since that's the maximum we saw. I didn't mean to offer it as validation of the CE "A", but that it was consistent with other boats similarly certified which I have been on. I also recognize "A" isn't absolute evidence of seaworthiness, but still I do prefer a boat in this range to be "A" as opposed to "B" and this is Sea Ray's first "A". I don't intend to seek out a Force 8 state to prove it's worthiness, but I did feel positive toward it's abilities and do think it would handle that state consistent with other well built boats in it's range. And I was comparing it to other boats in this size range that I have been on.

Yes, we have a 44' boat that's "A" but there are a lot of 65' that are "B" and I would prefer to be on this boat vs. many of those 65's in worsening seas.

Have you run an L 65 Fly? I wasn't judging on paper. And again just stating personal opinion that I'd feel more comfortable in rough conditions in the L 65 Fly than I would in a 58 Sundancer or a 60 Princess, for instance. I'd feel equally as comfortable in it as I would in a 63' Riva (and we've been extremely pleased with a 63' Riva in rough conditions, up to 10'), at least as much so if not more than a 64' Pershing, equal to a 60' Hatteras. None of that is based on science or expertise in all those models, just spending a few hours running the boat and finding the worst conditions we could at that time.

You keep asking about a flybridge enclosure. To my knowledge there is not one offered. They offer a hardtop (which is generally purchased if not always), but no complete enclosure that I'm aware of.

Where I really judge it's comparative ride is thinking of trips to the Bahamas with the gulf stream rough or kicking up along the way. We've made dozens of those trips in various conditions and observed many boats making them as we did. We've observed many in that size range handle even 6' much less 8-10' extremely poorly as while the boat we were in was handling it far more capably. We felt the L 65 Fly would have handled those conditions well and those are the conditions most buying the boat might be expected to face. I certainly don't anticipate anyone in one encountering 10 meter conditions. The boat doesn't have enough range that it will ever be more than 6 hours from shore. Certainly no transatlantic crossings.

Now where does this come into the average user in a practical basis. Runs to the Bahamas. Choosing to run outside vs. the ICW. We encounter a huge population of owners of boats in the 45-70' range who spend all their time running the ICW because they don't even like running outside with 3-4', much less 4-6'. That's fine if they're not comfortable and many of them are in boats, including trawlers, that could handle those conditions. But many are in boats where even 3-4' takes the pleasure away. I'm just evaluating the boat for the way if I was an owner I would use it and based on a few hours running one. That's all.

Again, I know of no enclosure for the hardtop. Since none is offered, then the CE wouldn't be for an enclosed hardtop. I would think the CE is with the hardtop but couldn't guarantee that.

No one claimed anything was singularly indicative of seaworthiness, but I do believe CE is a tool and my personal experience on the boat indicated that it handled water as I would expect a CE "A" to handle them. I will also say that in that size range, I've noticed a difference in handling mildly rough conditions between the "A"'s and "B"'s I've been on and observed. I'm sure, however, there are exceptions. However, the same factors that are important for the rating determination generally also lead to quality of ride. No one claimed CE was the one and only factor, but I've found in my limited exposure it to be quite indicative of differences in boats in this size range.

We own "classed" boats but I'd never state that as an absolute determination of seaworthiness either and it requires a lot more compliance than CE. I do think CE is at least a useful rating in an industry that previously had none. It beats anything the US has.

UL or CE approval of the light fixture in my home doesn't promise they won't shock me, but it does make me feel a little safer.

My comments on the boat are not based on tearing into the structure, reviewing all the drawings and plans and calculations or any other engineering or design evaluation that I'd not be capable of making to start with, but simply on the basis of being out on the boat and comparing to others.

You're not listening. There is no enclosure-hard, soft, semi-hard, semi-soft, or virtual so it's irrelevant.