Sea Ray L 650 Fly

While our L650 Fly was being built (we have hull #9), they were also building, I believe hull #10, which had a much larger hard top extending Fore and aft. They did this according to the owner's request to accomodate full enclosure. This boat also got a fairly large HVAC unit for climate control within this enclosure.

I have no idea what thus does to the CE rating, or if that mattered to the owner. I also don't know if my 13' RIB on the swim platform changes this rating, but I don't really care that much. It is clear that the hull can handle much more than the crew.

Kind of like my 58 with CRM MAN's. The MAN mechanic told me that the engines were designed to be able to continue to run while inverted. Good to know but glad I never got to test them.

With a few months out on the water, how's she doing? What would you change/upgrade/alter if you we're starting the process?

Almost 10 months, 250 engine hours, 400 genset hours, +/- 3000 nm, and 130 nights aboard. We love her!

We've had some new boat/new model issues, but Sea Ray has been terrific to work with and there is very little we would change. I'm still struggling with where to permanently mount the liferaft in an aesthetically pleasing way. Maybe should have deleted one bunk in the crew quarters in favor of storage. And, I wish we had installed an inverter, but that's in the works now. Wife would have done some minor decorating changes as well.

All in all she's extremely seaworthy and a great living, entertaining platform.

Great idea, but we don't have much real estate up there. The entire center section of the top is a soft top that retracts. The actual hardtop space that exists is already populated with antennas.

I am new to big boats. My previous boats were fishing center consoles. My first big boat was a 2001 400 sedan bridge. I always loved the lay outs and the interior of the boat. My only problem was the 3126 cats were under powered. Every time we left for a trip loaded with fuel and water, i could never get her to plane. My 2nd and present boat is a 1998 Neptunus 62. Although most folks consider these brands as lower tier, I have always been happy with both. I am only imagining what the new boats like the sea ray 650 would feel like.

Sea Gull,
Thanks for your practical feedback about the L650. I'm looking at her, too.

What kind of range are you looking at with displacement speeds? If fuel wasn't a concern, how would you feel about ocean crossings in it?

Really appreciate this, thank you for chiming in! Maybe I'll stick with it as a liveaboard around the great Lakes and run her south for island play in winter. I can live with flying over big oceans

Indeed. Thanks again for all the great details.

Myc,

Olderboater pretty much nailed it. We opted for the extra fuel capacity of 1150 gallons, so our range is a bit higher at all RPMs than published. My log books are 1200 miles from me right now, so I don't have exact data handy. The boat is very sensitive to fuel weight, so 23 knot cruise when full is correct, but we are seeing 25+ knots as we burn down toward 30% fuel. Range at these speeds is around 300 nm.

Twin gyros make beam sees more palatable for the crew, but the boat is stable and can handle more than the crew. When things get snotty we really appreciate the size and visibility of the lower helm station, which helps set this boat apart from many it her size range.

We don't anticipate ocean crossing, but Bermuda is attainable at slow cruise. Bahamas are an easy jaunt at any speed.

Thank you!
Great details!
I saw the boat and instantly had delusions of traveling the world in a floating penthouse. Upon closer inspection, I don't really need that from her, nor can she deliver that.

I share your sentiments about the lower helm station. Need to talk to someone about making one of the joysticks wireless so I can handle her alone. Though if I bother to look, such options probably already exist.

We opted for the Yacht Controller which gives us shifters and thrusters. They also offer a wireless joystick option. Of course wired options are available at a much lower cost.

What size of seas would you reckon this is and with gyros active? Note: view this on a phone or tablet. Whoever made it flipped the orientation half way through and if you watch on a laptop, you will need to turn it sideways!

Hard for me to tell what was going on there. The port wiper is definitely off kilter!

We were in 6-8 foot head seas on Friday 7/22/16 and slowed to 18 knots for a while, but I've never ridden the throttles like that. We did similarly heavy spray on the windshield, though, so this seems to indicate pretty heavy seas.

I assume the gyros were on, but the cameraman was moving around so much, it's a terrible testimonial to their effectiveness.

Also interesting there was some question about a leak and something that seemed to have been unlatched or unlocked but re latched or locked itself. Wonder what that was all about.

did you also get the wireless remote ??

We installed a wireless yacht controller just after initial purchase. We did not get the joystick, just pushbuttons.