Sea Ray Merges Cruising and Fishing Once Again

The 270 Amberjack combines the best of both worlds when it comes to comfort and fishability.

By Capt. Bob Smith

Every year when I return to a builder for the new model year testing I expect improvements on the past. This year, Sea Ray surprised me again with the all new 270 Amberjack. The company has married the features and comforts of a cruising model with the needs of a serious sport fishing nut.

Features

Starting at the bow the 270 has nice high, sturdy rails for safety. Deck fills are separated with the fuel fill near the stern area and the water fill near the bow. This feels rather clunky, but you are less likely to mix up the water tank for the fuel at the docks. My test ride was outfitted with an optional windlass with foot controls as well as a floodlight/spotlight with joystick at the helm. The wraparound windshield has a starboard wiper for clear view in rainy weather.

Getting up front is made simple using molded-in steps in the center hatch and walkthrough windshield. The companion seats on my test boat were back-to-back ski boat style, that flatten for a lounger. Personally, I would exchange this for a bucket seat, but hey, that’s me.

At the Controls

The helm does have a bucket seat and the dash has standard Mercury SmartCraft diagnostics which I really like. Our boat also had the optional Raymarine Chartplotter/Fishfinder/GPS which comes with the fishing package. Another great feature of the fishing package is the bait-prep station just behind the helm. It has a recirculating live baitwell system with a light for finding the bait in low light, sink with pull out sprayer, cutting board and carry-on cooler.

Down Below

The cabin has cherry wood Formica cabinetry, a full galley with microwave, sink with faucet and a refrigerator/freezer below. The V-berth provides a comfortable area to set up the table for serving meals, playing cards or dropping the table and relaxing for the night. The starboard side head has a vanity with sink and pull out shower, VacuFlush toilet and a shower curtain.

Cockpit Features

The cockpit has a large in-floor storage space with a stainless gas assist shock. The battery switch and main breakers are on a panel in here as well. Aft of this storage space is an easy lift floor hatch for access to the engine room, which I found spacious. With twin 496 Mags in here, I still had room to stand inside to check out the set up. The water tank was on the starboard side and water heater was over on the port. There is even room forward for the optional generator, which still would not crowd the space.

Moving Aft

Sea Ray has come up with a handy rear bench that you don’t have to stow to open the engine hatch. When it is stowed, my only complaint was it didn’t leave any toe kick space at the stern. There are bolsters on both sides and a large fish box is built into the stern wall, and a port side walkthrough makes access from the stern easy. The swim platform has plenty of room for playing at anchor and in the stern hatch are the shore connections and line organizers.

Specs

The 270 Amberjack measures 30’0” length overall and has a beam width of 8’6”. She weighs in at just 7,325 lbs dry. Draft requirements are 15” with the outdrive up and 44 inches with the outdrive in the full down position. You can plan a long day offshore or weekend with this one since she carries up to 100 gallons of fuel on board and 28 gallons of water.

Performance

The 270 was smooth out of the hole and handled well in a strong current going up river. I had to stay off the trim tabs until I got used to them, but this boat really doesn’t seem to need them anyway. I found she could be on plane in just 5.5 seconds and up to 30mph in only 9.6 seconds. We found her best cruise speed at 33mph turning 4000 rpm, which gave us a cruising range of about 162 miles on a full tank. At wide-open-throttle she was traveling 41.9mph at 5000rpm with a fuel burn of 31.1gph and range of about 121 miles. The 270 did a great job of making quick turns to miss the sticks and debris coming down river and glided smoothly to the dock when we finished.

If you enjoy getting out for a day of serious fishing, yet typically have friends and family aboard for cruising Sea Ray has a great new model for you to see. The 270 Amberjack looks and feels just as comfortable as a cruiser as she does a coastal fishing boat.

Speeds measured with Stalker ProSports radar gun. Fuel consumption (gallons per hour) measured with Floscan digital fuel-flow meter on gas inboards, sterndrives, and outboards, TechMate electronic scan tool on gas EFI inboards, Caterpillar digital fuel-flow meter on diesel engines, or permanently installed fuel-monitoring equipment. Range is based on 90% of published fuel capacity. Sound levels determined using Radio Shack digital decibel meter on A scale. 68 dBA is the level of normal conversation.

Performance Chart

Test Conditions