Boat Test: 2025 Hurricane SunDeck 3200 OB

Overview

Boating with small children can be a fraught experience. I have a pair of toddler grandchildren, and they sure move fast. There’s a low-level hum of anxiety when they are aboard, even though they are buttoned up in their life jackets. For family boating, security is paramount, which is why we think this new Hurricane SunDeck 3200 OB deserves consideration if some of your crew are about knee-high. Which is not to imply that swingin’ singles or empty nesters won’t also enjoy the SunDeck 3200. It’s packed with a lot of great design features.

Engines

Hurricane takes a step away from its 50-year-old deck-boat roots with the launch of this wide-beam 32-foot model envisioned as the ultimate dayboat. Squeezing every ­desirable ­feature into any boat will always require some give-and-take, but ­Hurricane has found ways to give us exceptional room for entertaining, lounging, and casual overnighting with minimal compromise. Hurricane also offers good value in this segment. Consider its go-to competitor, a 34-foot-9-inch Sea Ray Sundancer 320 OB—a slightly longer wide-beam, cabin- and hardtop-equipped dayboat with bow seating and outboard power. Base price with twin Mercury Verado 400 outboards is about $507,000. That price includes joystick control—a $25,000 option from Hurricane—but it does not include features such as premium audio, an aft-facing seat at the transom, a windlass, a cabin television and a twin 12-inch MFD, all of which are standard equipment on the SunDeck 3200.

A key design element of the SunDeck 3200 is its high freeboard, ­measuring about 5 feet, 6 inches from gunwale to waterline. This enables both a very deep bow cockpit and a cabin with 6 feet, 3 inches of headroom. The disadvantage could be added windage and an elevated center of gravity, both of which could make the boat tender and prone to ­heeling in a crosswind. To mitigate this, Hurricane commissioned a hardtop and supports formed of carbon-fiber composite that it claims weighs only 270 pounds.

Interior and Accessories

The thought of kids on a boat came to mind when we walked forward on a passway to port, with 35 inches of depth that is maintained throughout the bow cockpit. Here, there’s a three-wide seat that also wraps to starboard around a table, which can be lowered and covered with a matching pad to ­create an expansive lounge. The very broad bow is squared off and covered with soft MarineMat, with two steps to port for easy egress if ­boarding at the bow from a dock. Compartments in the bow deck can hold 12-inch fenders, and in the center is a hatch over the ­standard Lewmar windlass.

If you’d prefer to lounge at the stern, there is a cove-ready swing-back seat at the transom, so you can choose to face the water or join seating in the cockpit that wraps around a table. The table lowers and can be covered to create an aft sun lounge. A galley console to starboard incorporates a wide countertop with a sink and space for an optional grill ($1,244) topping a slide-out 4.5-cubic-foot ­refrigerator/freezer and a drawer designed to hold a 30-quart cooler.

In place of a midcabin, Hurricane chose to create massive stowage below the cockpit sole accessed through a 30-by-30-inch hatch. Close to 4 feet deep, it has space for an optional Seakeeper 2 gyrostabilizer ($41,660), with plenty of room left for all your stuff. There’s also ­excellent access here to well-organized connections for audio components and the ­C-Zone digital switching network. Batteries and space for an optional 7.5 kW genset are ­below the aft seat base.

Through a sliding hatch and down three steps to the cabin, you’ll find a space with all that headroom and plenty of ambient light. Forward is a settee with a small table that converts to a V-berth that’s a good size for those little boaters come nap time. The breaker panel, a small microwave and a 20-liter fridge are at the base of the steps, with an enclosed head across the way.

A double-wide helm seat fronts a dash with a pair of 12-inch Simrad NSX displays. Other helm features include a wireless device charger, a Mercury VesselView screen, a pair of heated/chilled drink holders and an audio remote.

We took the SunDeck 3200 for a spin on Lake Wawasee in Indiana and immediately noted the excellent visibility from the helm because the main support for the hardtop is well behind the captain’s line of sight. The V-10 Mercury outboards are designed for thrust, and they did not disappoint, hoisting us on plane in about 7 seconds and charging to 30 mph in 12.2 seconds, with a full load of fuel and five people aboard. The boat handles well but is a little tender in a crosswind and leans into the slightest motion of the wheel. We think that Lenco Pro Control auto tabs ($2,535) to stabilize both pitch and roll would be an ideal option to check on the order form. So, take your kids boating! Just keep their sticky fingers off the Simrad screens.

Read Next: Hurricane SunDeck 2600 OB

How We Tested

• Engines: Twin Mercury V-10 Verado 400 outboards
• Drive/Prop: Outboard/18″ x 21″ Mercury Revolution X 4-blade
• Gear Ratio: 2.08:1 Fuel Load: 248 gal. Water on Board: NA Crew Weight: 1,000 lb.

High Points

• Designed from the inside out, with cabin headroom as the first priority. The requisite freeboard results in a deep, comfortable bow cockpit, an elevated helm, and cavernous stowage below the sole.
• Smart to skip a midberth and devote that space to stowage and a Seakeeper.
• Nice standard features include the hardtop, premium audio, and a pair of 12-inch MFDs.

Low Points

• No gate between the cockpit and the transom platform.
• No audio remote at the transom or bow seating areas.

Pricing and Specs

Speed, Efficiency, Operation