Carver Owners Forum

Hi All,

I am looking at a 1986 3207 aft cabin with a pair of 270HP Crusaders. My question is how many adults on board before performance suffers and it’s hard to plane?

I currently have an 88 Sea Ray 300 Sundancer and it planes out pretty good until we have 10 or more adults on board.

We have a lot of friends that like to come out on the boat and I’m hoping the 3207 will still perform well loaded down.

Thanks!

I had a 1986 Carver 3207. I know I had a few people on that boat with no issues. You must remember that the Carver has the engines in the midship, as opposed to your Sea Ray that were in the rear. It would take more thrust to get year Sea Ray on plain compared to the Carver 3207. That Carver should plain at just above 15 mph, compared to 21 mph on the Sea Ray. In addition, on the Carver, folks can be distributed front, mid and aft, where on your Sea Ray I would think all would be ,mostly, in the cockpit where the heavy engines are.

Also remember that all boats have a limit to how many folks they will carry without effecting performance. 10 or more adults on any boat that size may have an impact, but I think less on the Carver.

Just a thought.

That’s exactly what I was thinking. Absolutely all of the weight on the Sundancer is in the rear. We had 12 on board a few weeks ago and it would not place out until I sent 2 to the v berth in the front of the cabin. I agree weight seems to be distributed much better in the Carver.

I have a slightly smaller version of your 3207. I have a 3007 and I have had 6 people on board and I did not notice any drop off in performance. I have the same 270 Crusaders you have. Your boat being bigger you would have more hull to plane off with than I do. I do believe that if you have 10 or 12 on board you will notice some difference in performance.

One thing I did notice with my 3007 when I had the 6 on board 5 of us were up in the cockpit. There is seating for 5 on my boat. It was a bit more tippy with those 5 up top. Something for you to think about.

Wow, 12 people an a 300 DA, That's crowded.
As mentioned, the carver will have more weight forward for better balance, but it also has more weight period. Unloaded the DA should be faster to plane and faster at WOT. I would think this would be the same at any load with similar power.
I have had 10 on my 355 with no major performance changes, but prefer no more than 8 for comfort and safety reasons.

Whenever anyone asks me how many my boat will sleep, I I always ask couples or women? My wife is used to it now.

Your boat can hold way more than you would bring comfortable. Just keep them evenly spread out.

Thanks everyone. Makes me feel better. We are a family of 8 so just a few friends makes it a big bunch of people. I have 3 3207’s identified that I am interested in. After New Years it’s time to pull the trigger and bring one home. Thanks!!