Sea Ray 290 Bow Rider

The Sea Ray 290 Bow Rider is a runabout with the size and luxury to go offshore.

by Dave Kelley

July 1, 2001

You don't have to live on a beach to get the urge to leave land behind. Completely behind, as in far enough out so that you can't see the shore. And even if you don't get offshore fever, there's a good likelihood that you'd at least like to have a boat that could handle just such an undertaking. It's good to know you could do it if you wanted. At the same time, you don't have to have a family of 12 to want a bowrider. Even if you and your best friend are the only two people that ever set foot on your boat, it's nice to know that if you wanted, you could pile most everybody you know on board, and then take 'em off to sea. With Sea Ray's 290 Bow Rider, you can scratch both itches.

Start with that offshore thing. At 29 feet 6 inches in length, with a 9-foot-8-inch beam and weighing some 7,200 pounds, the 290 Bow Rider is more than big enough to handle a trip way out into the blue water. Fully loaded, the 290 can hold 130 gallons of fuel and 24 gallons of freshwater, so you don't have to worry about running dry, even if you're making a multi-day run, such as the one from San Diego, California, to Cabo, Mexico.

Making offshore adventures even more possible is the availability of twin-engine power packages, both gasoline and diesel. The low end of the twin-engine options provides either a pair of 5.7L MerCruiser Bravo I motors (250 hp each) if you want gas, or two 2.8L MerCruiser D-Tronic Bravo IIIs (150 hp each). On the opposite end of the spectrum, the top-end options are a set of MerCruiser 6.2L Bravo I engines (320 hp apiece) or matched Volvo-Penta 32P/DPs (157 hp each). If you're not going to be needing the extra power of a twin-engine setup, the 290 has plenty of choices there as well.

No matter what engine package is installed, access to the engine area is flat-out excellent. The entire rear U-lounge seat lifts via an electric assist, giving you or your mechanic almost totally unfettered working room in the engine compartment.

Then there's that bowrider aspect. A 29-foot bowrider isn't unheard of, but it's unusual enough that you may do a double-take the first time you see it. The good thing is that Sea Ray's designers didn't simply rip the top off a 29-foot cruiser and call it an open bow, nor did they give the cockpit 26 feet and shortchange the bow. The 290's bow area is a legitimate seating area, even for adults, with a place for a cocktail table and filler cushions that turn the bow into a queen-sized sunpad or nap zone.

That leaves all the stuff that's great for either a long offshore run or joyriding with friends and family on a Saturday afternoon in a runabout. The cockpit is, if you're used to runabouts of less stature, huge. It's even pretty big if you're used to cruisers of this size, since the lack of a cabin has freed up a lot of interior cockpit space. With the standard seating (featuring a back-to-back passenger seat), the cockpit can easily accommodate nine, primarily in the spacious rear U-lounge seat. The space is well-used, with the U-lounge and rear-facing port-side seat forming a natural conversation pit. Set up the cocktail table and you're ready for a rousing game of dominoes or just some tasty mid-afternoon snacks.

To get the snacks and beverages ready ' and you'll need beverages even if you're just playing dominoes ' you just put to work the wet bar that's directly behind the helm seat. The wet bar's equipped with a cooler, a sink with freshwater faucet, a stainless-steel handrail if you get wobbly for whatever reason, a trash can and storage cabinet, and a bottle rack below the sink for safe storage.

As might be expected from a 29-footer, storage is something the 290 has in spades. There's a gigantic in-floor ski locker that's almost as large as the steerage cabins in cruise ships (okay, maybe not that big, but pretty darned spacious). There's also lighted and lockable storage under the helm, storage all over the place, and enough of it to be able to bring along at least a solid week's worth of necessities, or a full Saturday's worth of toys.

Another bonus that goes well with both offshore cruising and runabout play is the helm. Sporting a double-wide seat with a flip-up bolster, the helm is comfortable and well laid-out. Sea Ray has gone with a waterproof switch panel on the 290 instead of rocker switches, and it's for the better. So is the power steering that allows you to handle even the twin-engine setup with a single finger (not recommended).

The power steering's almost too nice, because it's almost too easy to handle the 290, and that's as strange to say as it is to hear. But it's the truth. Because of its size, unless the 290's in some pretty rough water, the ride is the aquatic equivalent of a '76 Cadillac Coupe deVille ' ridiculously soft and smooth. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Quite the contrary, especially if offshore is on the agenda. There's nothing less enjoyable for boaters than getting beaten up by minor wind chop, and the 290 renders most anything smaller than 4-footers all but unnoticeable.

That kind of ride does come with a slight cost, and if you're a runabout lover who's moving up in size you'll soon learn that the 290 ' and every other boat this size ' is significantly less nimble than the bowriders you may be used to. For its size, though, the 290's handling is all good, and so is the performance. In fair conditions ' moderately windy and a little bit of chop ' and powered by a pair of 260-hp, 5.7L MerCruiser EFI Bravo I engines, the 290 Bowrider shows good acceleration. It jets from 0 to 30 mph in 9.1 seconds on the way to a top speed (in salt water) of 49.5 mph. And despite the twin-engine setup, the 290 is nice and quiet, posting a maximum sound reading at the helm of 92 decibels at full throttle (4700 rpm).

That's the kind of performance that'll keep pretty much anybody happy, whether they're going out for a day of tubing or making the Miami-Bimini run. And no matter which one is on the schedule for this weekend, the best thing about Sea Ray's 290 Bow Rider is that it gives you the option of doing either ' or even both, if you're the ambitious type.