Cobaltchat.com

Hello everyone,

I'm new here and my wife and I are starting to shop for a new boat so we want to get all of the information we can before hand. We are kind of going back and forth between the Sea Ray SLX 310 with twin 380 Mercs and the Cobalt R30 with twin 430HP Mercs and B3XRs. I am leaning towards the Cobalt for both the design and available power. What kind of top speed can I expect with the twin 430s? Will Cobalt be at the LA Boat Show in January?

Thanks for your help.

Welcome going forward.
The Merc 430 ( 8.2 HO ) has a a upgraded camshaft over the 380hp so please order her with captains call. You’ll cruise 50mph at 3400 rpm and I’d guess it may touch 68-70mph for those spool it up runs. ( all depends on elevation etc...).
I’ve owned a sea ray and I was going to stay with them as the fiberglass is great and the rigging is top tier.
As I started looking at older Cobalts it became obvious that the “ shelf life “ appears better in interior construction, and Cobalts gelcoat process was superior.
They all look good day 1, it’s day 10,000 I worry about.
Oh and let’s go white with a black boot stripe.!

I'm sorry not sure if your looking to go fast or have a great ride. Go fast not going to happen. But what is fast? If 50 is fast yep you will get it. All day long I would buy a Cobalt before a SeaRay. The Cobalt will hold its value way longer then the SR. Have you heard anyone say I wish I had a smaller engine. Nope other than DP on here but that's another story. Quality that's not even a question of which is better.
Twin 430s will push that bad boy just fine. Go for it and let's get some pictures posted and quit looking buy that baby. You won't regret it.
Ok sometimes with big boat experience will chime in. I have a tiny boat.

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Hey Frogman524. Welcome to the Cobalt chat forum. So glad you found us.

Sea Ray makes a stellar product particularly with a hull size in the 30+ range. That being said, twin 430 horses in a Cobalt is an easy decision....go Cobalt over the Sea Ray and never look back. The resale value, customer service, and quality are almost above reproach. The only other model I may consider is Formula. Did you look at any?

Again welcome aboard mate!

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Don’t Sea Rays come off the same assembly line as Bayliners? Not knocking either, but you’re never going to get that solid hand crafted construction that comes with Cobalt using volume manufacturing methods.

Thanks for all the input guys. Still looking around but I like a lot of the features of the SLX though we like the power and design of the R30. What is this I'm reading about gel coat issues with the R series? Seems to be a few people experiencing issues with cracking and peeling from the get go.

FROGMAN524 wrote: Wed Dec 11, 2019 1:21 pm Thanks for all the input guys. Still looking around but I like a lot of the features of the SLX though we like the power and design of the R30. What is this I'm reading about gel coat issues with the R series? Seems to be a few people experiencing issues with cracking and peeling from the get go.

As any item could have some initial flaws the question remains how did the MFG resolve the issue. Cobalt goes beyond in my opinion.
I’m sure on the Sea Forum’s you may have seen similar chatter. Second Question is how you feel as everyone will give their opinion.

Still think you should go touch both models that are 2-3 years old ( I know the SLX is recently restyled ).
Keep us posted and post pics!

Keep us posted

I posted the R30 prop chart here: viewtopic.php?p=49568#p49568

I have the dual VP 300s it's plenty fast for me (~53MPH with 13 adults onboard).

FROGMAN524 wrote: Sun Dec 08, 2019 10:18 am Hello everyone,

I'm new here and my wife and I are starting to shop for a new boat so we want to get all of the information we can before hand. We are kind of going back and forth between the Sea Ray SLX 310 with twin 380 Mercs and the Cobalt R30 with twin 430HP Mercs and B3XRs. I am leaning towards the Cobalt for both the design and available power. What kind of top speed can I expect with the twin 430s? Will Cobalt be at the LA Boat Show in January?

Thanks for your help.

The Southern California Cobalt dealer Tilly's had several Cobalts at last year's show. I believe the largest was an R7. You might want to call them to see what exactly they will be bringing to the show next month. Note that you will have to actually purchase through the Phoenix dealer though.

Thanks for all of the help guys. We are going to the boat show next month to put hands on one if they will have one there. I like to do lots of research before spending this kind of money on something.