Details, Details, Details

By Chris Landry

Many times you can rank the quality of a boat by examining a single component—a hatch lid, the helm wiring, or the joinery in the cabin, for instance. On large fishing boats like the new Sea Vee 390 center console, the fishboxes (their design, construction, and fit and finish) indicate the class of boat. The lids should shut tightly. Stainless steel lifts should help you raise and lower the lids. Either the lids or the perimeter of the hatch should be gasketed to keep out water. Finally, a deep gutter with an overboard drain should rim the hatch opening. The Sea Vee 390 meets the mark in all of these areas. The boat successfully executes it dual purpose as a fishing/day-cruising platform.

Center consoles intended for both day-cruising and fishing are often filled with compromises that hinder the execution of these two purposes. For instance, foredeck seating on many big center consoles gobbles up precious fishing real estate forward. And center consoles with large casting decks lack the seating to make the family happy on day trips.

Thinking Out of the Fish Box

Sea Vee has come up with an effective way to handle this impasse—foldaway bow seats. These seats are recessed in the gunwale while not in use. They utilize beefy stainless hardware. Pulling them into and out of position requires some muscle, but the idea works. Similar recessed seats can be found in the aft corners of the transom, as well. The other enticing feature that makes day-cruising more comfortable is a pneumatic system that actuates the head door. The same system powers the forward fish box lid.

This boat can also be used as a dive boat. It comes with a hull-side dive door with a fold-down ladder. The door does not fold down into the water to act as a ladder. Drawbacks to this approach include the weight of the water upon retrieval.

Power for the Glory

The 390 can be rigged with triple or quad outboards. We tested one with four 300-hp Mercury Verados. The ride was impressive. The boat ignored the 2-foot chop as we ripped up the water at 50 knots. The boat would likely charge through much rougher stuff with its significant deadrise from stem to stern. The test boat’s best mileage—about 1 nautical mile to the gallon—came at 3500 rpm, where the Verados pushed the vessel to 32.4 knots. The boat has a range of 600 nautical miles at this rpm setting.

Fishy Stuff

The 390 is packed with all the fishing features—rod holders, fishboxes, livewells—you’d expect. A 65-gallon transom livewell is standard. The screws that secured the stainless livewell lid on the boat we tested had come loose. Anglers will enjoy the added balance of toe kick space all around the cockpit.

The Sea Vee 390 with standard power (triple 275-hp Verados) retails for $257,000. Our test boat, which was outfitted with a full electronics package and all the bells and whistles, carries a price of $300,000.

• Top speed for the SeaVee 390 is 64.7 mph (104.1 kph), burning 118.6 gallons per hour (gph) or 448.9 liters per hour (lph).


• Best cruise for the SeaVee 390 is 37.3 mph (60 kph), and the boat gets 1.17 miles per gallon (mpg) or 0.5 kilometers per liter (kpl), giving the boat a cruising range of 601 miles (967.22 kilometers).


• Tested power is 4 x 300-hp Mercury Verado Outboards.