SeaVee 390Z Used Buyer's Guide to the Stepped 39-Foot Tournament Console

Why the 390Z is now a brokerage-only SeaVee

For roughly a decade the SeaVee 390Z was the boat South Florida tournament crews pointed at when they talked about a fast, dry 39-footer. It is no longer built. In 2024 SeaVee retired it in favor of the 400Z, a new-tooling boat that Power and Motoryacht described as four inches longer, four inches wider and eight inches taller, with fuel up from about 540 to 650 gallons. That makes the 390Z a used-market proposition, and a strong one for anyone shopping used SeaVee boats for sale: it offers most of what the 400Z does for a fraction of the 400Z's $740,200 starting price.

The lineage goes back further than the Z. The original SeaVee 390 debuted at the Miami International Boat Show in 2006 on a conventional deep-V. SeaVee then reworked it as the stepped 390Z, launched alongside the 320Z and 340Z in late 2013, while a conventional 390B lives on in today's B Series. If you see an ad for a SeaVee 390 without a letter, confirm which hull it is.

Two-inch steps, big vents and speed rails

The Z hull was a collaboration between SeaVee co-owner Ralph Torres and longtime SeaVee designer Robert Kaidy of Ocean5 naval architects, developed with computational fluid dynamics and a long on-water program. Boating's tester found three ideas worth understanding. First, the steps themselves are only about 2 inches tall; what looks oversized from the dock are the chine vents, made large on purpose so they do not clog and cause the stumbling hesitation many stepped hulls show.

Second, the aft chines and strakes are speed rails with sharp 90-degree inside corners that fade into conventional strakes forward. They keep the boat tracking in turns; Boating hauled a 390Z lock to lock at 40 mph with the confidence of a conventional V. Third, a flat keel section runs most of the hull length, staying wet for transducers and intakes and limiting bow rise. Boating never measured more than 3 degrees of inclination, and the boat carried its bow well running down-sea in 2- to 4-foot waves.

Salt Water Sportsman added two details that matter to anglers: the 390Z trolled well and backed down to both sides, something many stepped hulls will not do, and it drifted stably.

What quad Verado 350s and triple F350s delivered

The most complete numbers come from Sport Fishing's 2016 fish trial out of Hillsboro Inlet with quad Mercury Verado 350s, 120 gallons of fuel and three crew. The boat planed in 5.2 seconds, reached 30 mph in 6.5 seconds and topped out at 74.8 mph, with the outer engines at 6,500 rpm and the inner pair at 6,200, burning 118.2 gph. The best economy came at 3,500 rpm and 37.9 mph, where the four engines burned 29.2 gph for 1.3 mpg. On the boat's then-published 563 gallons, the magazine figured more than 700 miles of cruising range.

Salt Water Sportsman ran an early boat with triple Yamaha F350s out of Haulover Inlet in calm water with 400 gallons aboard. It ran about 60 mph and returned roughly 1 mpg at 50 mph. Those older V8 four-strokes are now prime repower candidates, while late boats carry newer power such as the triple Yamaha XTO 425s on a 2024 example SeaVee listed in 2026.

• Quad Verado 350: 74.8 mph top at 118.2 gph; 37.9 mph at 29.2 gph, 1.3 mpg (Sport Fishing)
• Triple Yamaha F350: about 60 mph top, about 1 mpg at 50 mph (Salt Water Sportsman)
• Maximum rated power grew from 1,400 hp (2014) to 1,600 hp (2017) to 2,000 hp on late boats

Built around live bait

The 390Z was laid out for kite fishing and live-bait tournament work. A 65-gallon pressurized livewell with a clear lid sits in the center of the transom, and optional wells include about 70 to 80 gallons forward of the console and a large in-deck well aft that Sport Fishing measured at 140 gallons, all fed by a sea chest with up to six pumps. The transom corners take fold-out jump seats or 30-gallon livewells.

Forward, the bow carries a split-lid fish locker that Sport Fishing's tester said he could sleep in, available with a chiller plate to reduce ice, and Salt Water Sportsman measured a 200-gallon in-deck locker on centerline. The anchor locker opens from the deck and from a door under the gunwale. Rod counts on tournament boats are huge, with eight rod holders across the transom, 25 along each gunwale on the test boat, vertical racks on the console and slots in the hardtop for rod tips.

Console, helm and the comfort options

The console opens through an air-assisted sliding door, which on some boats becomes a seat when closed. Inside is a fully molded compartment with a counter, sink, breaker panel and a full head with a black-water system, with 6 feet 6 inches of headroom. Wiring is combed, labeled and color-coded. The helm takes 16- to 18-inch displays under a protective cover, with centerline steering and a triple-wide helm seat.

Owners could add as much or as little comfort as they liked: electrically reclining bow seats, pull-out side bins, a Captain's Edition tackle center with a rear-facing seat over a split cooler, oversized hardtops, towers with second stations and a hull-side dive door. That is why two 390Zs of the same year can look like different boats.

390Z or 400Z: what the extra money buys

The 400Z keeps the twin-step concept but raises the deck to gain about 110 gallons of fuel and more storage, moves from a single transom well to twin 40-gallon corner wells, narrows the transom so anglers get closer to the engines, and adds a new console with 18 rod holders on its sides. Current SeaVee data lists it at 39 feet 4 inches, 11 feet 3 inches of beam and 15,200 pounds dry.

If range and a more modern console matter, the 400Z is a real step forward. If you fish within 60 miles of the inlet and like the 390Z's single big transom well, a late 390Z with modern V10 or XTO power gives you a proven boat for hundreds of thousands less.

Running costs on a triple or quad 39-footer

At Sport Fishing's best cruise of 29.2 gph, a 100-mile day burns roughly 80 to 90 gallons once idling and trolling are added. Three or four outboards mean three or four sets of annual service, plus a hull of this size usually lives on a lift, in dry stack or in a slip with bottom paint. Insurance on a 70 mph boat is also higher. Budget $40,000 to $85,000 a year before depreciation, more if you fish tournaments with a hired captain.