2000 Sea Ray 340 Sundancer — Surry, VA 23883

A 2000 Sea Ray 340 Sundancer at Surry, Virginia — James River water, Chesapeake within a tank of fuel — asking $57,500. The second-generation 340 launched in 1999 and, in the boat-test press's own words, positively dominated the express-cruiser market of its moment. The reason is below decks: an open-plan interior with no bulkheads, cherrywood cabinets, a galley with more counter than most cruisers this size, and two sleeping areas plus a convertible sofa, separated by curtains rather than doors — a plan that trades privacy for the feeling of a boat half again its length. Topside, a single-level cockpit runs from twin helm seats to a U-shaped settee and wet bar, which is the other half of why this floor plan outsold everything near it.

The against-case lives one deck down. The twin big-block V-drives that give the 340 its 28 knots sit shoulder to shoulder in a bay that owners joke requires a mechanic with very long, skinny arms; the forums carry reports of shaft-coupling bolts working loose and transmissions objecting to careless throttle hands; and the 7.4-liter engines of this era had a water-ingestion history real enough that Sea Ray's answer was the redesigned 8.1. Both accounts are true at once — the boat that owned its market and the engine room that taxes its owners — and both send the surveyor to the same place: service records, coupling bolts, compression, and the question of which engines this hull actually carries.

What else the same decision buys is worth a hard look. Seven more feet of Formula, on freshwater, costs $2,505 less — the badge is quieter and the boat is bigger:

Six more feet and a proper mid-cabin, wearing the last badge Trojan ever built, cost $12,300 more:

And where the instinct says stop sunbathing and start living aboard, $17,500 more trades the sun pad for a full-beam salon and a walk-around bed:

But the 340 Sundancer is the express cruiser the others get compared to, and this one sits in home-cruising water at the friendly end of the band — survey it first:

Sources: Rightboat review of the Sea Ray 340 Sundancer; YachtBuyer on the Gen 2 (1999–2002); Club Sea Ray and Boatered owner threads on V-drive service access and engine history.