Galeon 380 Flybridge
Wide range of choices; 2/3
cabins, five engine options and
shaft or stern drives. Prices start
at £220,000 for a 2013 boat.Bénéteau Antares 42
Larger and shaftdrive but a very
similar internal layout other than
the galley location. Prices start
at £210,000 for a 2013 boat.Prestige 420
IPS drive and a full-beam master
feature in this two-cabin two-
heads flybridge cruiser. Prices
at £330,000 for a 2015 boat.Date 2015 Price £245,000
Located Penton Hook
Twin Volvo Penta D4-260 260hp
diesel. One owner, bow and stern
thrusters, Fusion hi-fi upgrade.
Contact http://www.tbsboats.comDate 2015 Price £255,000
Located Puerto Banus
Twin Volvo Penta D6-330 330hp
diesel. High-spec air conditioning,
leather upholstery and the largest
engines. Contact http://www.tbsboats.comDate 2014 Price £239,995
Located Largs
Twin Volvo Penta D4-300 300hp
diesel. High spec includes nav pack,
generator and central heating.
Contact http://www.ddzmarine.co.ukcurtains for the saloon door and
blinds for the windows. In reality,
although both packs were technically
optional extras, I don’t think we ever
sold a single F380 without both of
these.” Other option packs covered
things like Navigation Package, which
came in three stages and included
items such as Raymarine chartplotter
screens and an autopilot, and
Entertainment Packages offering
a selection of Fusion hi-fi options.
Another unusual option worth
looking out for is the hull colour.
Sealine offered a huge range of
choices via the Alexseal Yacht Coating
System, including metallic finishes,
although given that they cost up to
£21,000, it was understandably rare.
Cheaper and more practical options
included a double-berth conversion
for the saloon settee and interior
finish upgrades from the standard
(and popular) ‘Wellington Walnut’
colour to ‘Florentine Oak’ or
‘Manhattan Cherry’, both available
in high gloss at extra cost again.
(In fact only the high-gloss finish
is a real wood veneer, the others
are a laminate finish.) A conversion
to allow the cockpit seat backrests
to hinge forward to create aft-facing
seating was also available, although
it was a rather clunky setup that few
boats were fitted with.ON ALL CYLINDERS...
There was also a choice of engines
when new. All were twin installations
from Volvo Penta, starting with 3.7-
litre D4s in 260hp or 300hp guise
rising to the six-cylinder 5.5-litre D6s
with 330hp. All are sterndrive with the
engines pushed way back in the hull.
This leaves a large void beneath the
cockpit sole, which can be used for
storage if secured carefully as there
is no partition separating this space
from the engines. The other side
effect is superb engine access.Basing his boat on the river, Ian opted
for the twin D4-260 option, although
he does take the boat right down
the Thames Estuary and around to
Chatham. He finds the engines very
economical and the boat planes well
with a maximum speed toward the
mid twenties, but says the motors
are working hard to push the boat
on to the plane. Buying the show boat,
Andrew didn’t have a choice, and has
the largest D6-330 engines, to which
he added joystick control to help
take the sting out of first-boat close-
quarter jitters. Initially moored at Bray
on the Thames, Andrew wasn’t able
to take advantage of the performance,
but after seven months, he had the
boat moved to Puerto Banus. “We
mostly cruise gently at 10-14 knots
enjoying the weather and the scenery,
but coming back from Nikki Beach,
about ten miles from Puerto Banus
and with a plane to catch, we cruised
back at 27 knots very comfortably.”
Positioning the engines so far aft
means that it’s a quiet boat at cruise
too. When Jack Haines tested the veryfirst boat for M B Y, he recorded a
hushed 79dB(A) in the saloon even
flat out. But what he raved most about
was the handling, reporting, “It never
falls out of line, even though you can
achieve some hilarious angles of heel.
Trust the grip and the hull’s refusal to
slide at the stern and you can really
start to have some fun. Proper laugh-
out-loud, grinning-like-an-idiot fun.
There are 700hp RIBs that are less
enjoyable to hare around in than this!”
Despite selling over 30 boats
(and winning the 2015 Motor Boat
of the Year in the flybridge up to 55ft
category), production of the Sealine
F380 ceased in 2017, and with it the
legacy of Kidderminster, as every
boat in the Sealine range is now
Hanse developed and built.VALUE ★★★★
BUILD QUALITY ★★★★
ACCOMMODATION ★★★★★
PERFORMANCE ★★★★
OUR VERDICT 85%Next month Nelson 80RIVALS
WHAT’S ON THE MARKET
Sterndrive engines deliver
strong performance and
fuel effi ciency106USEDB OAT BOAT MASTER