366 is in

striped bass

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I saw a floor model in a Massachusetts showroom. Awesome boat and a real beast size wise. I agree with you, trips would be the best power configuration for this beast. The family and ladies will like the grill. For a fishing boat a good tackle locker would be a better option in place of the grill.
 

Potterbuilt

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A good friend of ours ordered hull #1 (production boat) and it just came into Mariner Marine on Friday. I've been meaning to go down to look at it. Will probably go down tomorrow to see it and take some pictures.

He ordered it with twin 350's and said when he was up at GW and tested the boat in the pictures he said it handled better than his 336 Canyon. The trips made it too fast - go figure!! He said 46mph top end was fine for him and his family. Also he said he liked all the new features like the grille, the new console and the amount of interior room under the console.

I will post the pictures when I get down to look at it.
 

striped bass

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The Express Cabin is a good alternative to the hardtop with all the bulky aluminum piping. I never did like all the awkward pipes screwed into the deck to hold on the hardtop. The Express Cabin looks more integrated into the design and flow of the vessel. I hope to see more of these on the other GW Express boats.
 

BobP

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I'm glad to see Grady offering no canvas bridges, it's about time, especially for us up north. Others have done it - Pursuit)

Nothing matches glass for clarity, day and night.
Nothing matches glass for lifespan
Nothing matches glass for no maintenance

Looking forward to seeing the boats at the NY and/or Tobay shows.

36 foot center console - stern looks barren with twin 350s, can park a car between them!

I like the grill, can catch and cook your own lunch! Deli business near marina is going to take a hit.
 

Christos

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Wow, what a beast! I currently have a 336 (very happy with it) and love the look of the 366, especially the integrated hard top. On my boat it looks like an option (which it is), however, on the 366 it truly looks like part of the boat. Well positioned and makes the boat look very sleek.
Also, you have to go with the trips... I agree with Bob P that the twins look out of place on this massive transom, besides the fuel burn at cruise is not much difference and you are cruising faster! If you have the type of money to buy a new 366, I think that it would be a shame to not go all the way. Anyway just my thoughts.

great job GW!
 

Potterbuilt

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The pictures are of the test boat. If you look closely at the rear picture with the twins you can see the bolt holes for where the third engine was mounted. When ordered with the twins, the engines are a little closer together for optimum performance.
 

sel1005

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OMG - OMG what were they thinking??

I know GW monitors this board daily, but I have to say, as the owner of a 360 Express, past owner of a 330 and 180 Sportsman, this is one of the ugliest boats I have ever seen in my life.

No offense to the owner of the first boat, guess everyone likes something, but compared to a Yellowfin or Intrepid or Edgewater or any of another half dozen very large center consoles, I would not ever consider riding in one much less owning one.

The hardtop looks like an afterthought - who will stay dry under that? A table up front? Want 360 degree fishibility, well, I guess you ask the folks up front to slide the plates over while you crawl over them with your 50 wide....

GW is OBVIOUSLY mass marketing here, boat sales are down so lets try to sell to the people that just want a big party boat, serious fishing can be compromised in the name of revenue for a few years. Fine, totally understand, but how many people will pay $500K for a 36 ft deck boat that will go 50 mph and get .6 mpg?

I keep hoping GW will return to its roots, bring out the 420 Express with triple 400 Yamahas and a 15' beam and maybe start to compete heads up with the likes of Yellowfin and Cabo and Intrepid and take the lead again.

My 360 is 4 years old now but I have yet to see anything new that matches what I need to cruise and fish come out on the market that is an obvious improvement.

Take this wonderful new 366 out on a January - February (pick a month) day and a 25 kt wind and some 4-6 ft rollers and see how the lack of - a windshield, large hardtop, windshield wipers, helm AC / heater, direct access to the cabin / head, on and on - compares to other boats.

Prepare to watch this one flash and disappear, trash me as you will but there is a limit to expensive deck boats and I think GW may have just reached it......
 

NOTHING ELSE MATTERS

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I'm also so,so about the new design on the 360 and 366, but i think that this is an option. I like the idea of a pilot house for us up here in the NE, but it makes the boat look like a Whaler. I would love to get the 366 with trip 350's with the regular enclosure/t-top, but as i said on a another thread, i will wait for that 42 to show up.
Grady, how much longer?
 

whitey

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how are you supposed to fish off that boat ? ugly,that's a word that sure fits that boat.
 

BobP

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Perhaps it's intended for the more sporting picnic boat markets(?)

Nonetheless, Grady has been designing and selling multipurpose boats for many years now to a multi purpose user market.

I don't like the side window shape myself, will still take it because it's glass clear.

I've gotten used to the big BW glass bridge shape, just have to spend more time away from aluminum tubing.

Grady's design shapes for the tubing on the hardtops and T tops has been very attractive as it evolved over the years, perhaps that's another reason some of you guys are welded to aluminum tubes.

It may take Grady a few attempts to find the right glass bridge shape.
 

Potterbuilt

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The center console / pilot house is what you get. It is not an option. They have a canvas T-Top drop curtain as an option to protect you more from the elements. I feel it looks more like an Everglades pilot house / console. I'm going down today to look at it at the dealer. I will take my camera and snap a few pictures and post them when I return.

Also per GW, the 28, 30, 33 and the 36 CC are all going to be called the Canyon in 2010. I feel they are going to change all the consoles to look like the new 366. Just my feeling. We will see....
 

megabytes

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Is it time to renew the "Save The Marlin" campaign? :lol:

I'm on the fence with respect to the integated hardtop approach. Pursuit, Scout, Everglades, BW have all produced similar models so there clearly must be demand. There are times I wish I didn't have canvas while other times I unzip the sides and am darn glad I do.

It will be interesting to see how this is received by GW owners and if it filters down to other models; a typical trend for popular GW features.
I am hoping by the time I am ready for Megabytes III that the 300 is too radically altered. Add a helm deck A/C option, underwater lights, LEDs, a slick finished hardtop w/ recessed lighting, finished bilge areas, freshwater washdown with hose, and I am good to go!

PS: The slick finished hardop could replace the netting with a hatch like the 305. I can't put an life vests up there anyhow due to mildew.
 

BobP

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Heck Mega B, your boat is 5 yrs old already?

Seems like it was yesterday you got it!

Time flies when you are on a Grady having fun!


Once I saw the Sailfish go and the Cheaspeake arrive to replace it, I thru in the towel on the "Save the Marlin" effort. Broke my grady heart to see the lengendary Sailfish gone. The Marlin is no legend.

The Sailfish to go and not the Marlin first (or next)? Makes no sense.

Marlin goes next, so it follows the Islander, Sailfish, then Marlin, all the traditional walkaround designs. Looks like they overlooked the Gulfstream (?)

How about a Grady version of the Parker / Steiger Pilot House 25? Grady would sell more than the Marlin, 30 foot dual console, Gulfstream, 33 and 36 footers, and Cheasapeake ALL COMBINED. Have yet to see a Cheasapeake anywhere (on the water), nor join here as a GG member.

I can see that and I'm not even in the marine industry.

At least up north here - to the fisherman market of course. No multipurpose folks need to sign up.
 

megabytes

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It will be 6 in November. Hard to believe. Still love the boat.

I too was sad to see the Sailfish go but I understand the reasoning, although it stills seems to close to a 300 and leaves a pretty big gap now that the 270 is gone. The Marlin is a legend however since it was the first GW to have a SV2 hull and the integrated bracket.

Given the economy, it is hard to predict future boating trends. GW is hedging their bets but doing things like the 275, 290, 305, 307, 336, and now 366. That is quite a few new models in recent years,
 

BobP

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Comparable to a Sailfish, the Marlin is no legend, never was a popular boat in the 90's. Only became popular this decade.

Sailfish goes way back into the earlier 80's, and copied dimentionally by all others.
The Sailfish had 6 or 9 different models for sale on same hull in same year - during heydey, including a single diesel I/O, why? There was a market base for all these different models cut from same single magic mold.

Marlin has always played a single tune, from day 1, 1989.

Sailfish created and sustained the offshore capable wide beam twin outboard so called "pocket rocket" designs.

And the Marlin is just a larger Sailfish, yes it was first Grady to have a glass euro transom.

I bet the Sailfish was a close contender for most Gradys sold, after the Overnigher.

So who owns a Cheasapeake on this site?
 

sel1005

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Megabytes is showing his age, as am I.....

Maybe that's it after all, new styles vs the old guard. Who knows. I just know what I like, and the new styles don't cut it for me. I want the comfort, safety and looks that will last, not for the next two or three years but 5-7-10 years down the road someone will look at my GW when its time to trade up and think "that's a hell of a boat" and want to buy it....

No worries, we don't get a vote in what GW or anyone else brings out anymore so all we can do is react. With the DOW reaching 9,000 today I'm hoping maybe in another year or two things will start to settle down enough that GW may remember some of us oldtimers and think about the 420 Express and triple 400 Yamahas and some "classic styling" again and produce something that will last 20 years at a price we can still afford.

Then again, I've spent the last 20 years trying to win the Lotto and have yet to make that mark either............