Sea Ray's newest SLX family member, the SLX 360 Outboard, arrives as a premium day boat designed to bridge the gap between outboard-powered performance and the kind of onboard comfort buyers would normally associate with significantly larger vessels.
The unveiling took place at the 2026 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, a venue more familiar with screens and gadgets than fibreglass and saltwater. The choice was deliberate. The SLX 360 is built around how its systems think and communicate, not just how it moves through the water.
Stretching to just over 36 feet, or 38 feet overall once engines and anchor are deployed, the SLX 360 Outboard occupies the upper reaches of the day-boat segment. It is aimed at owners who want genuine space and confident handling without committing to a flybridge layout.
The helm is where the most significant changes reveal themselves. Sea Ray's approach has not been to pile on features, but to make the features that matter work together more intelligently. Twin ultra-wide Simrad NSX displays anchor the dash, while steering wheel-mounted controls handle functions that would otherwise require digging through menus. Navigation, lighting, propulsion data, and onboard diagnostics all feed into the same system, reducing the amount of time a skipper needs to look down when running at speed.
Three Mercury 300hp Verado V8 outboards provide the power, managed through joystick control and paired with an integrated bow thruster. The emphasis on docking and close-quarters manoeuvring is clear, making the boat particularly well-suited to owners moving up from smaller craft or those regularly handling the boat with a reduced crew.
Optional additions include Brunswick's Fathom e-Power energy management system and a gyro stabiliser, both pointing toward a boat capable of longer days out and better-behaved when conditions turn uncomfortable.
Beyond the helm, Sea Ray has clearly thought hard about how this boat gets used across a full day rather than just how it presents at a marina. A climate-controlled cockpit and a private cabin extend its usefulness well past the warmest months. The full stand-up head is reached from inside, so guests can move below without needing to pass through the cockpit, a detail that sounds minor until you are actually using the boat.
Access to the water is improved through a swim terrace door, and the cockpit itself has been arranged to allow easy movement fore and aft without disrupting the social layout. A convertible summer galley, a powered helm seat, and a rotating powered port companion seat all contribute flexibility without making the space feel busy or overloaded.
Large hullside windows in the bow area draw in natural light and help avoid the slightly compressed atmosphere that boats of this size can sometimes produce. Storage has been given genuine thought too, with a deep in-floor cockpit locker of the kind typically reserved for considerably larger cruisers.
The decision to fit triple outboards rather than inboards or sterndrives reflects how thoroughly modern outboard technology has matured. The Verado V8s deliver strong performance and more straightforward servicing, while also freeing up interior space that shaft-drive arrangements would otherwise consume.
With a beam of 10 feet 10 inches and a dry weight of around 8.2 tonnes, the SLX 360 carries a footprint more in keeping with a larger boat than its day-boat classification might suggest. Fuel capacity is 275 gallons, supported by 30 gallons of freshwater onboard, giving the boat the range and self-sufficiency needed for extended coastal runs, island-hopping, or full days on the water with a crowd aboard.
Sea Ray president Keith Yunger has said the SLX 360 Outboard reflects a deliberate shift in how the brand thinks about design, bringing technology and layout into conversation with each other rather than developing them as separate concerns.
For New Zealand buyers, Sea Ray is represented locally by , with sales and support available across the range.
Strip away the launch theatre and the marketing language, and the SLX 360 Outboard reads as a clear statement about the direction premium day boats are taking. Buyers in this segment want something that handles well, rewards time spent aboard, and keeps its systems quietly in the background unless they are needed. Sea Ray's latest SLX makes a persuasive case for having got that balance right.
