Marquis 420SC vs SeaRay EC or bridge

Apples To Oranges.

Each has there good and bad points, but I'd go with the Sea Ray. I like their sea keeping abilities better and their service network is bigger.

The 420 Marquis I run is solid as a rock and handles short frequency Lake Michigan Chop very nicely up to 3 or 4 footers at cruise speed.

It really depends what Sea Ray you are trying to compare the boat to, I have run almost every model and almost bought one.

FYI in my opinion dealer network is not really an issue. The Marquis can be serviced at any Carver dealer or basically anywhere since it has all the same systems as any other boat on the market.

Go run a Marquis and you will leave with a grin ear to ear from its performance.

I'm in the opposite position as Carver370. I have owned a Sea Ray 330 Sundancer since 2002 and am in the process of buying a Sea Ray 550 Sedan Bridge.

I can attest to the structural integrity of the 330 because I was on the water one night in 2004 and was hit by another boat that was being driven on plane by a drunk driver. I firmly believe that had we been on a lesser quality boat we would have sunk.

I have pictures to show what the damage was but to make it a short story, his boat was on plane, mine sitting in the water. He hit me on my forward port quarter and his pulpit punctured the side of my boat just above the rub rail. It ripped the deck of my boat up as his boat went up out of the water and onto the top of my boat. He then fell off my boat back into the water. The accident caused a vertical rip in the side of the hull that extended from the rub rail down to within about 1.5' of the waterline.

We did not take on any water and were able to drive the boat back to the slip that night. As I said, had we been on a lesser quality boat we likely would have sunk.

That boat was totaled but I liked the boat so well I found another 330 within a month that was equipped the same way and bought it.

I sea trialed the 550 Sedan Bridge last Friday and was impressed with the quality of the boat. We ran the twin CAT 3406's at WOT for a bit over 10 minutes to make sure the boat was propped correctly and at WOT we cruised nicely at 30kts.

Personally I think a person who has owned a boat for several years and upgrades to the same brand is about as strong a testament to the brand as you're going to get.

Am I a happy Sea Ray owner? You Bet. Are they the top of the line boat? No, but they also don't carry a top of the line price.

If it's a warrantied boat dealer network is very important unless you don't mind waiting the whole season for a repair. 3'-4' chop is miserable, but it's the 7'-10' that will keep you from coming home, and that's too much for a Carver IMHO.

A Marquis shares very little with the Carver brand. They share the name, dealer network, and volvo engines. The rest is different hull design, layup schedule, etc. Different boats than to paint the boats with the same brush.

Grant you I've only run the bigger Marqs. and didn't find them a bad handling boat, but sharing the name is a big thing and the dealer network even bigger. That's not trying to insult anybody. Just my opinion. Having been around boats for a couple of years I feel safe in saying there are no bad boats built today compared to my early days (although I don't feel the best boats are as good as they once were until you go custom). There's a boat built for every type of running. Once you find a boat that matches your cruising style, to me, the most important thing is where you can get it serviced, especially if you find that the dealer down the block has lousy service.

Carver is currently owned by Marquis and were part of the Genmar bankruptcy. Marquis has heen considered an upscale Carver (fairly or unfairly). You can find some info here: http://marquisyachts.com/Page.aspx/...sectionId/21545/view/read/Press-Releases.aspx

Marquis is a line owned by Carver Yachts much like the old Californian brand. These boats are not Carvers, they are Marquis. Different construction techniques and all.

I believe the reason Carver teamed up with Nuvolari - Lenard is that most of the european designs lack in interior space compared to the US boats. What you get with these boats is a Italian built boat with the CE Class A Ocean Standards with the modern spacious interior of a US built boat.

Volvo IPS beats out Zeus any day in my opinion and these boats ride very nice for a 42'er. I have quite a few hours logged on a 2009 420 SC as well as a 59.

Your info is out of date. As stated in the site I mentioned: Effective 1/20/10, "Irwin L. Jacobs, Chairman of Marquis Yachts, LLC stated, "I'm very pleased that we were able to acquire the Carver Yacht and Marquis Yacht Companies through Genmar's recent bankruptcy proceedings."

It's like Toyota & Lexus.

Both owned by the same company, but promoted as separate brands, albeit one as a high end brand.

Or Bayliner & Maxum.

Marquis are in actual fact designed by Italians, but they are build in the USA. With Nuvolari Lenard from Venice designing all Marquis. Have seen the 420SC once and IMO looks a tad heavy on the superstructure.
Another thing I dont like much is while the boat uses IPS it does not make the best of it has only a two cabin single head plan below.
Still as someone say they ride quite well, and may be the Toyota Lexus comparison with Marquis being the Lexus is just right.
Between these two I would go for the new Sea Ray 450 Sundancer with Zeus pods. What you dont get in the Sea Ray is a fully opening or closed patio door on the main deck. This is comfy if you wanna use the boat all season.

don't they have a claimed max speed of 40 knots?

personally i thought the design LOOKED nice ... but never been in one so cannot comment further ...

They are sharp looking. My only problems with the look are 1) Black hull (DK if it comes in other colors) which show every bit of salt and water stains. 2) What's with the transom point behind the seat? Why would you narrow the middle of a swim platform? At boat shows it got interesting with multiple people crossing.

Never been on one, but saw one live from the outside.
I like to compare it with the Azimut 43S which IMO looks nicer and is more elegant. You also get 2 cabins 2 heads with the 43S.
If you want a similar concept Express with patio doors main deck I would also look at the Riviera 4400SY. Have been on this and apart that it feels spacious everywhere it has nice engineering, super sized showers, well sized cabins, and a very easy to work engine room.

Novolari and Lenard designed the Marquis back in the mid 1990's for Mochi Craft of Italy, and Mochi built them in 65', 78' and 85.' When Mochi Craft went bankrupt after problems with one of their dealers, Carver bought the molds and tooling and renamed them as MARQUIS. (Then Ferretti bought the Mochi Craft name and factory).
So the heritage of the boat is Italian design, but now built in the USA with all American components and systems(which may be built in China now).

From my experience on the marquis 420sc, I can tell you that while it is a beautiful boat with great lines, the visibility at the helm is terrible. The windows that look great from the outside are in fact separated (within the boat) by long structures that protrude out and thus affect visibility.