Sea Ray Inboard Wake Boat | Jeanneau Leader 36 | Ocean Alexander 85
The Sea Ray SLX-W 230 is a dedicated watersports platform with all of the bells and whistles required for serious wakeboarding and tow sports. She comes standard with three ballast tanks and the Dynamic Running Surface with Wake-Shaping tabs instantly turns the boat into a towing platform that should impress serious wake surfers. She’s inboard-powered like many dedicated watersports boats, but bow and stern thrusters and joystick control eliminate all issues with low-speed handling at the docks or when picking up those in the water.
Privacy is a hard thing to come by when overnighting on a 36’ (10.97 m) cruiser, but the Jeanneau Leader 36's helm mitigates the visual aspects of it with two sliding pocket doors. As can be seen in the drawing above, the forward cabin is open by day with L-shaped seating and an open salon/galley. At night, the pocket doors are closed, creating a good-sized stateroom. The seat back of the settee folds up to become the foot of the bed. The mid-cabin has a pair of single berths that can be slid together to make a double, plus an added single berth/sofa on the port side. The setup welcomes weekending or island hopping for two couples or a family of five.
The Ocean Alexander 85 Motoryacht rides on a semi-displacement hull with a LOA of 85’9” (26.4 m), a waterline length of 72’ 4” (22.05 m), and a beam of 20’1” (6.12 m), providing plenty of living space belowdecks and also allowing for an engine room that an owner/operator or a professional captain could grow to love. The twin MTU 10V2000 1600-hp engines fit easily into the space, with good access between them for daily checks and basic maintenance. Bronze thru-hull fittings and SonicShields protect the hull, props, and shafts from corrosion and marine growth.
The massive 260-quart (246 L) built-in ice chest under the aft-facing seat of the Boston Whaler 380 Realm can be accessed from the top to add ice and food, or from the clear flip-open window in the front to take out drinks. It’s lighted and lots more LED courtesy lights are found all around the cockpit. This seat likely will be the preferred spot from which to watch trolling lures in the wake, or perhaps the kids on the end of the tow line when watersports are the order of the day. The seat back over the ice chest can also be flipped back to allow forward-facing seating when underway and the helm seat rotates, making this a spot for some socializing when back at the dock.
The Evinrude ICON digital control system is available for one to five Evinrude E-TEC G2 outboards. Touching the “RPM” button increases or decreases engine speed 50 rpm per touch, useful when setting trolling speed and traveling through no-wake zones as well as when maintaining distance while overtaking another boat. PowerSync automatically synchronizes multiple engine rpm and delivers a new level of convenience for controlling multiple engines with a single throttle. A single master engine trim switch is installed on the shift lever to control all engines.
Formula has built a major part of its reputation on the amazing selection of paint colors and graphics available as well as the deep, lustrous finishes comparable to the finest automobiles on the market. The process starts with an Axalta Chroma Premier base coat, sanded smooth and then sprayed with multiple layers of paint and Imron clearcoat. Last but not least is the extensive buffing process, which goes on for hours (and days) to bring out a deep, mirror-like finish. All graphics on Formula boats are also painted on — there’s no accent tape. Buyers can choose a nearly unlimited range of colors and designs under the FormulaFlex upgrade.
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