Sea Ray 470 Sundancer Review, From the Renamed 43 to the 2016 Redesign

Sea Ray 470 Sundancer: the 43 under an honest name

The Sea Ray 470 Sundancer did not start as a 470. In January 2009 Yachting's Chris Caswell tested a new 43 Sundancer built around Cummins MerCruiser Zeus pod drives. Eight months later, reviewing the new 450, he explained what happened next: Sea Ray had adopted an honesty-in-sizing approach, and the 43 Sundancer actually measured 47 feet 3 inches. By December 2009 Sea Ray's website listed it as the 470 Sundancer, with a 47-foot-3 overall length, 14-foot beam, 350 gallons of fuel and Zeus as standard.

J.D. Power lists Zeus versions from 2010 through 2016 and conventional inboard versions for 2013 to 2015. For 2016 Sea Ray reworked the boat substantially, and from 2017 J.D. Power lists a Sundancer 460 in Sea Ray's range instead. In 2018 Brunswick announced that Sea Ray would focus on boats up to 40 feet and discontinue its sport yacht and yacht models, which closed the chapter on big Sundancers like this one.

The 2010 to 2015 layout: two cabins, two heads, two sunroofs

Caswell's description of the 43 is the best guide to the early 470s. The enclosed bridge has two independently controlled retractable sunroofs, side windows that open and forward windshield panels that hinge up, so you can run it open or buttoned up with climate control. An electrically adjusted double-wide helm seat faces twin Raymarine E120 displays, SmartCraft gauges backed by analogs and the Zeus joystick. The companion seat includes an aft-facing recliner, and there is a chart tube under the helm seat.

The cockpit has a wraparound settee to starboard and an L-shaped outdoor galley opposite with a grill, sink and Isotherm refrigerator with icemaker. Below, the salon has maple flooring and an optional Ultraleather settee that converts to a berth, with the galley to port and its appliances concealed when not in use.

Forward, the master stateroom has a queen berth, cedar-lined lockers and a split head: toilet and sink to port, a tile-floored shower stall to starboard. Aft, the guest cabin has a solid door, twin berths that convert to a queen spanning the cabin and its own private head and shower. Soundings counted ten portholes brightening the interior. The engine room is reached by tilting the entire after section of the cockpit on electric-hydraulic rams.

Pods, then shafts, then pods again

At launch the 470 came standard with twin Cummins MerCruiser QSB 425 diesels driving Zeus pods, with QSB 480 engines optional. Zeus brought joystick docking, Skyhook station keeping and autopilot functions such as waypoint tracking, and Caswell called it the secret that takes the fear out of boat handling.

For the 2014 model year Sea Ray flipped the formula: its website listed twin Cummins QSC 550 HO diesel V-drive inboards with digital throttle and shift as standard, rated at 526 hp per engine, and moved Zeus with QSB 480 engines to the option list. Dry weight was 26,349 pounds with inboards and 28,500 pounds with Zeus. The 2016 boat returned to standard Zeus with twin Cummins QSB 6.7 480 HO engines rated at 473 hp.

On the used market this matters. Zeus boats dock more easily and run more efficiently; V-drive boats avoid pod-drive maintenance and are usually a little cheaper. J.D. Power's original MSRPs show the inboard version about $70,000 to $80,000 below the Zeus boat in the same year.

The 2016 rethink: SkyFlow and a full-beam master

Sea Ray's 2016 470 was a different living space on what the company called its well-proven hull. Sea Ray described a new full-beam master stateroom with an en suite head and hull windows, and its SkyFlow design philosophy, which Boating's Kevin Falvey explained as bringing the sky inside and letting crew flow between spaces.

Falvey, testing his 23rd Sundancer for Boating, found a single level running from the aft sliding doors through the salon and galley to the helm, sliding doors that open so far the aft bulkhead nearly disappears, a big skylight and an atrium at the foot of the companionway lit through the windshield. The cockpit gained Sun Gate backrests that convert seating to a sun lounge and a SureShade awning; the bow has a chaise-style sun pad with high rails. Despite all the glass, he detected no flex or noise in the deckhouse on a rough day.

Test numbers: speed, economy and sound

Caswell's 43 Sundancer with the standard 425 hp QSB diesels posted a top speed of just under 32 knots, jumped onto plane without fuss and could stay on plane as low as about 2,000 rpm.

Boating's 2016 test of the 470 with twin QSB 480 Zeus diesels found the best economy at 3,000 rpm and 27 knots, burning 34 gallons per hour combined, or about three-quarters of a mile per gallon. Falvey noted that is roughly 50 percent better than most inboard boats of this size and weight. In a 4-foot, choppy Gulf swell he could have run all day at 30 knots, the ride at 25 knots was soft, and the boat never exceeded 80 dBA. Boating's spec block lists a displacement of about 33,700 pounds, a 4-foot maximum draft and a 14-foot-7 bridge clearance without radar.

What 470s sell for and what they cost to keep

J.D. Power's average retail values put a 2010 Zeus boat around $305,000, 2012 around $370,000 and a 2016 around $464,000, with V-drive boats from 2013 to 2015 roughly $67,000 lower than Zeus boats of the same year. Asking prices for well-kept boats usually sit above those figures. We expect most 470s to ask between about $290,000 and $580,000 in 2026, with the 2016 redesign commanding the top of the range.

Plan on $30,000 to $50,000 a year before fuel: a 50-foot slip in many markets, insurance, Zeus or V-drive and diesel service, generator and air conditioning maintenance, bottom work and the electronics that age fastest. Factor a pod service history into any offer.

A note on the other 470

If your search results are full of small sailboats, that is the 470 class, a two-person Olympic racing dinghy with no connection to Sea Ray. Add Sundancer or Sea Ray to your search to filter them out.