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Success often breeds repetition. When something works well, it's human nature not to reinvent it. Arguably, the Sea Ray Sundancer series is the most successful franchise in boating, so when it came time to replace one of the most successful Dancers, the 460, Sea Ray engineers didn't reinvent the wheel. They just trued it up a little.
Dropping the zero from the model designation was step one. (I couldn't get anyone at Sea Ray to explain the change.) The new boat is called simply the 48 Sundancer, and it's a boat whose time is due. Introduced in late 1998, the 460 Sundancer, although a good seller, was getting a bit long in the tooth. But a few design tweaks have made a big difference. The sheer is now more gradual, avoiding the abrupt drop-off aft on the old boat. A standard integral arch-hardtop has replaced the radar arch-canvas combination, and there's solid glass on three sides, providing enough shelter that the optional bridge air conditioning really makes a difference. There's now only one entrance to the cockpit from the swim platform, allowing for a U-shape lounge that replaces the old electrically convertible benchseat/sunpad. And then there are those new hull-side windows, but more on them later.
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One change you don't see is in the running bottom. Sea Ray added a slight amount of deadrise, presumably to improve rough-water performance. (I couldn't judge the result, as we had flat water on test day.) But deepening the V theoretically decreases lift and thereby on-plane speed, and that's what seems to have happened here, albeit to a minor degree. When we tested the 460 in February 1999, we measured a top speed of 34.3 mph with a pair of 411-shp Volvo Penta diesels. Compare that to the top speed we measured on the 48 of 32.8 mph with 517-shp Cummins electronic diesels, and you can see that the new boat has lost a step. (Oddly, even with a 212-hp difference, both boats came in at 0.7 mpg at WOT.) I suspect part of that is because the 48 is approximately 5,600 pounds heavier due to more standard equipment, although despite the nomenclature, she's four inches shorter: 51'0" compared to 51'4". The increase in deadrise also bumps draft from 3'7" to 4'0".
But for a lot of boaters, the important changes are inside. Of course, the 48 retains the traditional Sundancer forward-cabin-saloon-midcabin configuration made possible by a V-drive powertrain. The sleeping portion of the forward cabin hasn't really changed much, but thanks to a nifty pocket door that frees up floor space, there is now an en suite head that puts this stateroom more on par with the midcabin, which has always had such a facility. The trade-off? You no longer have a real day head—you have to enter a cabin to access it.
The midcabin has also changed. Part of it is still tucked under the bridge deck, but the new room appears to be bigger, probably because it's rectangular, instead of the old complex shape that put the head in the forward starboard corner. In the 48 the port side is occupied by a vanity, and an enclosed head and shower are in the aft port corner. I'd guess the heads are about the same size, but the 48 has a bigger vanity. There are now side-by-side berths instead of the previous convertible sofa, which seems like a more workable arrangement if you're going to use this as an adult cabin. Neither boat offers much stowage for clothing here. Both have one small hanging locker, but if you order the optional Splendide 2000 combination washer-dryer for the 48, you lose that.
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