The new 230 SLX is part of a 5-boat premium line of Sea Ray sportboats that combines striking good looks, up-scale amenities with lots of watersports functionality. Standard features include upgrades such as keyless dash, SmartCraft diagnostic gauges, leather and wood trim and accents, and an adjustable sunpad/rumble seat. Then, there are her options which allow owners to customize the boat for specific activities. We found that the only thing better than the 230 SLX's sleek styling is the fun we had driving her.

Printer Friendly Report

With a LOA of 23’ (7.0 m) and a beam of 8’6” (2.59 m) the Sea Ray 230 SLX is an easy boat to trailer and bring on vacation.

Mission Statement

The 230 SLX is part of a five boat lineup that offers upgrade features to the premium level. The concept is for Sea Ray to offer a boat that is not only one of the best-handling vessels in class, but also one that match premium-level competitors in terms of amenities and fit-and-finish.

These features include premium soft-touch dashboards with double-top stitching, treatments in wood, SmartCraft diagnostic instrumentation, and hinged storage compartments under the bow seating. Customizing options include two-tone gel coat, upgraded graphics, and full color hull bottoms.

Distinguishing Features

• Full color hull bottoms – Rather than just offer topside colors sea Ray is now offering full color hull bottoms. Available colors are black, Sea Ray Blue, Burgundy or Patina. This is a cool option for people who will dry-sail their boat.

• Aggressive standards list – This includes battery switch, SmartCraft instrumentation, Sea Ray cast logo’d cleats, upgraded painted trailer, Soft Tough dashboard, double-top stitching, and wood treatments.

• Standard 260 hp 5.0L engine with B3 outdrive. No cheaping out in order to project a lower price here. Options allow for up to 300hp.

• Lots of leather treatments – Panel shades, bulwark trim, it all adds to the eye appeal of the 230 SLX.

• More room at the bow- The bow foot well is more squared off rather than tapering as it reaches the bow. Seats are hinged to provide friendlier access to the storage beneath. Even the seatbacks are secured with piano hinges to access the consoles.

• Upgraded trailer- No simple painted trailer is this. Protected bearings, disc brakes, retractable straps, and swivel tongue are for starters. Options make the trailer look just as good as the boat. Ion alloy wheels, radial tires, 2-tone paint scheme, Sea Ray backlit logo, LED up-lights shining on the hull, and matching spare tire. Once the whole package is seen, resistance is futile. It’s just gorgeous.

Performance

The Sea Ray 230 SLX has an LOA of 23’ (7.01 m), a beam of 8'6" (2.59 m), and a draft of 38” (96.5 cm). With an empty weight of 4,244 pounds (1,925 kg), 60% fuel and two people on board we had a test weight of 4,993 pounds (2,265 kg).

With a 300-hp 350 MAG MerCruiser turning a Bravo III outdrive we reached a top speed at 5150 rpm of 50.3 mph. At that speed fuel burn was 23.7 gph giving us a range of 96 miles. Best cruise came in at 3000 rpm and 26.8 mph. That speed reduced the fuel burn to only 7.2 gph which the 230 SLX could keep up for six hours and 18 min. and 168 statute miles while still maintaining a 10% reserve.

We had a quick time to plane of 3.4 seconds, accelerated to 20 mph in 5.4 seconds, 30 in 8.5 seconds, 40 in 11.7 seconds, and reached 50 mph and 20.8 seconds.

Handling

On accelerating the 230 bow comes up 15-degrees causing no loss of visibility to the horizon. Once up on plane she settles into a five-degree bow high attitude. As with most Sea Ray's, the 230 is sensitive to trim so only about 6 shots of up trim is all that is needed to get her into the cruising attitude that she's looking for. The boost in performance is felt and the spray will go from the helm back to the stern quarters. If the trim is brought up any higher the propeller will begin to ventilate. And of course before starting any maneuvers, bring the trim down first.

Features Walkthrough

The Stern. The stern of the 230 is raked forward in a reverse transom below the swim platform. The molded in swim platform, of course, being full beam and coming out 1'11" (.58 m) from the aft seat. An optional SeaDek swim platform pad has a rubberized nonskid ($308). Customers may also want to consider the transom trim switch ($123) and transom stereo remote ($231). Sea Ray’s done a nice job with the aft-facing seat and it easily converts to a sunpad. There’s a self draining storage compartment under the seat back that would make a great place to leave the wet swimsuits and towels. The seat back props up with two legs for support.



There’s wet storage underneath the aft seatback. This would make an excellent place to dry out wet towels and swimsuits as it's right over the heat of the engine.

Cockpit Features

The transom walk-through measures 16” (40.6 cm) and there is a gate that lies flush against the port side of the walk-through. There’s a hatch in the deck which leads to a second battery and two steps measuring 7” (17.8 cm) each lead into the cockpit.



Battery accesses conveniently located underneath the transom walk-through.

The Cockpit. The cockpit is fully fiberglass lined. Our test boat was equipped with the standard snap in carpet. L-shaped seating is to the stern and in the center is a pull down armrest that also accommodates two stainless steel drink holders. All grab handles are stainless steel and there are LED courtesy lights thoughtfully placed around the cockpit. Forward of the cockpit deck are two Sony speakers facing aft into the cockpit.

Cockpit Seating. The cockpit has what would be defined as sport seating with two bucket seats and the L-shaped seating to the stern. There’s storage underneath all of the cushions, and the bench seat has insulated storage that drains into the bilge, so go ahead and fill it up with ice and drinks. In the center of the seatback is a flip-out armrest with recessed drink holders.



Both the captain and the observer get comfortable wraparound bucket seats that swivel and slide.

Forward, both bucket seats slide and swivel and have flip up bolsters. Adjustable height pedestals are offered for both bucket seats ($154 each). There are sizable armrests to the portside bulwarks that also have an integrated grab handle, storage underneath and a stainless steel drink holder.



Cockpit seating consists of dual bucket seats with L-shaped seating to the stern. Notice the flip out armrest in the center of the aft bench seat.



The flip out armrest has two drink holders and notice how well done the embroidered upholstery is.

Engine Access

The aft seatback lifts to access the engine compartment. Standard engine is a 260-hp MerCruiser 5.0 L MPI ECT. Our test boat was equipped with a 300-hp 350 MAG MerCruiser ($1723 with Alpha 1 outdrive, $5046 with Bravo III outdrive and SmartCraft instrumentation). There’s room at the front of the engine for getting to the engine checks and there are two bulkheads to either side which make for a tight fit but for any involved maintenance those bulkheads are easily removed. To the outboard of the engine is the engine start battery and power steering pump, so there’s no real storage access to the outboard sides of the engine. A dual battery switch with second battery tray is offered as an option ($131). We would also recommend the automatic fire suppression system ($538).



Engine access is limited under the aft seatback but offers plenty of room for daily checks. By removing the support struts and side bulkheads more aggressive maintenance can be accomplished.



Storage to both sides of the engine is taken up by either the transom walk-through or mechanical components but there's plenty of additional storage throughout the 230.

Storage

Forward, and to port, the dash panel is treated in leather and double stitched. The glove box has a leather insert surrounded by a wood frame. Storage is nice and deep and houses the stereo with MP3 port and the hatch and the glove box lid is held open by a gas assist strut. There is also sole storage in between the two bucket seats.



The observer seat has a comfortable armrest with grab handle recessed into the bulwarks. There's storage underneath and in the glove box. Notice the wood trimmed leather door to the glove storage and leather eyebrow just above.



Surprisingly the glove box is held open by a gas strut. Most of the storage space is taken up with the stereo but there's plenty of additional storage around this seat.

Helm

I found the helm to be ergonomically comfortable. From the seated position the captains of my height will be looking directly at the windshield frame but only during slow cruise. On plane the 230 SLX rides in a 5-degree bow high attitude bringing the frame above the line of sight. Of course when sitting up on the bolster the eyes are above the windshield frame anyway.



The helm has a leather visor in wood trimmed surrounding three gauges with extended chrome bezels.

Dash Data. The leather dash continues on the helm side with three gauges keeping clutter to a minimum. A speedometer is over to the portside, a four-in-one multifunction gauge is front and center and a SmartCraft gauge that is also combined with tachometer is over to the starboard side. All of the rocker switches are toggle and lighted to show when activated. The horn is easily located in red.

There are separate armrests for when driving from the seated position as well as when up on the bolster. I found the Mercury SmartCraft digital throttle to be easy to operate. The stereo remote is over to the left side of the helm and an optional Ritchie compass ($154) is mounted just to the left of the captain’s line of sight.



The helm is comfortable with plenty of leg room. The snap in carpet is standard. Notice the courtesy light on the starboard bulkhead.



A lot of extra touches went into the 230 SLX such as the quilted padding on the bulkheads and leather accents. On the side of the engine control is a single press engine start/stop button.

To the Bow

Moving forward the windshield walk-through measures 18” (45.7 cm) across. The windshield is held open by a strap and snap. Two anodized aluminum supports hold the windshield frames in place which easily support my weight. Stainless windshield frames are offered as an option ($385). A bi-fold door to block off the wind is flush mounted to the port side console.



The walk-through to the bow measures 18” (45.7 cm) across and an air dam lies flush against the port console.

Bow Seating. Forward, the bow seating measures 44” (111.7 cm) fore and aft which is just enough room for me to sit and have my legs fully extended, but guests that are taller than my 5'8" (1.72 m) will have their knees bent. (If they complain leave them on shore.) Optional filler cushions ($354) will turn the entire bow into a sunpad. Stainless steel grab handles continue and there is storage underneath the port and starboard seats, and the cushions lift on articulating hinges.

Storage is also under the forward seat cushion and there is an anchor locker forward that has an anchor keeper and a notch for the anchor rode to run through. I'd like to see an additional cleat inside the anchor locker as currently the anchor rode will be secured to one of the two 6” (15.2 cm) cleats to either side of the bow.



The bow seats were just long enough for me to stretch my legs out. Anchor storage is in the foredeck.

Both seatbacks are also hinged and swing open towards the centerline of the boat and that allows access into both consoles with deep and roomy storage to both sides. The seatbacks are secured by stainless steel piano hinges 14 ½” (36.8 cm) long. The upholstery treatment at the bow (and elsewhere) is impressive and goes a long way to 230 SLX the classy boat that it is. There are quilted inserts inside the padded bulwarks.



The bow seating features hinged cushions leading to storage under the seats and seatbacks.

Our boat was also equipped with the optional canvas package ($1015) that included a cockpit cover/tonneau cover and canvas bag.



The anchor storage compartment has an anchor keeper and the perimeter is notched for the rode to run through. But the rode will need to be secured to one of the cleats at the sides.

Tow the Line

We also had the optional black forward-facing tow arch ($7538) with bimini top and the anchor light mounts into the top of the tow point which is located 6'9" (2.1 m) off the deck. The arch really added to the classy looks of the 230 and it’s collapsible, folding forward making for easy storage in the garage. There is also an option for bolting on swivel board ($769) racks to the outside of the ski tow arch and it is pre-molded to accommodate those racks.



The optional ski tow arch not only looks great but has an aerodynamic design to reduce drag and prevent flapping while underway.

The arch bimini top is structured much like an airplane wing as it is curved at the top. That prevents any flapping and noise and it also reduces resistance. As I tested the 230 I noticed that it didn't flap at all and remained rigid and quiet even at top speed.

Observations

Base price for the Sea Ray 230 SLX $71,539 MSRP. Fully loaded she'll approach $94,000 including the premium trailer. Clearly Sea Ray pulled out all the stops on this boat and it shows at every turn. It's not only evident in the look but when walking through the boat and touching and feeling the leather, the soft vinyl, the additional padding of the seats. Undoubtedly the 230 SLX is a boat that will not only generate good times on the water but pride of ownership.

Test Power: 1 x 300-hp MerCruiser 350 MAG

						Range
RPM	MPH	Knots	Total GPH	MPG	NMPG	Stat. Mile	NM	KM	KPH	LPH	KPL	dBA
610	4.0	3.5	0.80	5.00	4.35	225	196	362	6.44	3	2.13	64
1000	5.9	5.1	1.40	4.21	3.66	190	165	306	9.5	5.3	1.79	72
1500	7.6	6.6	2.50	3.02	2.63	136	118	219	12.23	9.5	1.28	80
2000	9.8	8.5	4.35	2.24	1.95	101	88	163	15.77	16.5	0.95	82
2500	20.0	17.3	5.85	3.41	2.97	153	133	246	32.19	22.1	1.45	83
3000	26.8	23.3	7.20	3.72	3.24	168	146	270	43.13	27.3	1.58	87
3500	32.4	28.2	9.30	3.48	3.03	157	136	253	52.14	35.2	1.48	85
4000	37.7	32.8	12.10	3.12	2.71	140	122	225	60.67	45.8	1.33	91
4500	44.3	38.5	17.20	2.57	2.24	116	101	187	71.29	65.1	1.09	95
5000	47.8	41.5	21.10	2.26	1.97	102	89	164	76.93	79.9	0.96	95
5150	50.3	43.7	23.65	2.12	1.85	96	83	154	80.95	89.5	0.9	95

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

Test Power: 1 x 300-hp MerCruiser 350 MAG

Time To Plane	3.4 sec.
0 to 30	8.5 sec.
Test Power	1 x 300-hp MerCruiser 350 MAG
Transmission	N/A
Ratio	2.2 : 1
Props	N/A
Load	2 persons, 2/3 fuel, no water, 50 lbs.of gear
Climate	97 deg.; 90% humidity; wind: 0 mph; seas: calm