2665 experience

D

dmanolis

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Joined
Jan 4, 2008
RO Number
29170
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I'm a current Grady-White owner, and for a variety of reasons, changing my boating style. Strongly considering a Regal 2665. Anyone have experience with this boat? Particularly interested in handling, reliability of all the bells and whistles, and use in salt water. Also any experience with the Volvo
"Neutrasalt" system? Thanks!
 
I own a Regal 2660 which is very close to the 2665. I have loved the Regal since the first day I bought it 2 years ago. My dock is in a salt water creek about 1 mile off the ICW. My boat does not have a lot of bells and whistles, I have added some items such as GPS, ATC, TV, DVD, IPOD etc just to give the book an increased comfort factor since we spend about 30 overnights a year on the boat. I wish my boat had an onboard genny. I bought a portable Honda genny and it works great but at times it is a PITA to lug the 45 lb. genny around on the boat.

A few items have failed to work such as the freshwater tank monitor gauge. One of the motor trim gauges has failed, just little stuff that will happen with any boat. I love the Volvo engines, I do not have the "Neutrasalt" system but I have heard good things about it. My boat has the Perko fresh water engine flush system so I can flush each time I return to the dock.

The Regal factory really stands behing their product and the customer service people are great.
 
We love our 2665! We bought one used in 2006 and have used it for 2 seasons. I think it's one of the best trailerable cruisers you can buy! Ours has a mercruiser 350 MAG/MPI - Don't know about Volvo... We added A/C and water heater. boat has plenty of room & lots of storage with an extended swim platform, windless anchor, remote spotlight and color GPS chartplotter. We spend every weekend on it all season long! Enjoy!
 
We have a 05 2665 we bought new.

The good

Its fast and economical.
Nice layout in cabin
Stand up headroom
Aft bunk very open
We trailer it with a Yukon

The bad
The cockpit is not set up for entertaining
Everyone sits on one side
The trim tabs are too small making the boat hard to get on plane( I installed bigger ones and fixed the problem
The bunk is very hard( I use an air mattress)
The windshield is too low (comon on most cruisers)
The canvas is unusable in the factory config (we made major changes)
I would give it a 7.5

Now every boat is a comprimise based on owners age and needs. We are both seniors and are looking to trade to a 310 Carver for more comfort.
The 2665 has been totally reliable.
We have a Merc 350 MPI B3
 
I have a 2004 2665 which we bought new in May of 2004 and now has about 350 hours on her. We have the mercury 5.7 300 H.P with the bravo three drive. Which I feel is more then adequate for this boat. She is quick to plane without tabs when it is jus the two of us. Unlike Cliff and Jean I feel the size of the tabs are fine. When I took my sea trail I brought along three of my biggest friends as well as the salesman my wife and I plus the captain. (the most weight we’ve ever had on the boat) and she got on plane without to much complaint. She tops out with four medium size people on board at 43 M.P.H in flat seas.
We are on the east coast of Florida and use it on the intercostals as well as the Atlantic. We have been out in six footers and the boat handled it fine (better then me and the admiral). With our type of cursing we average about 10 gallons an hour. The main problem I have with the boat is the fuel fill. I have checked the vent line, cleaned the screen and I still get backflow when I fill it at a normal pace, so I have to fill it very slowly which is very irritating.
I believe we have every option that was available except for the generator. I also lug around a portable Honda but if I were to do it again I would have the genset installed.
The mid cabin is roomy compared to many other cruisers in this size, but it is still tight. When it‘s just the two of us we sleep in the V-Berth. We like the cockpit layout but it’s not suited for everyone and I can see why people do not like it. However there is plenty of storage in the cockpit as well as the cabin.
Some of the hardware Regal used around the boat is not up to the quality that I have seen on some other boat lines. When using the hatch to service the engine and her systems it can be a little tricky. If you take off the four screws and the two drain hoses you can lift out a nice engine access area. It is heavy and a PIA, but with it off you can reach everything.
All and all we love the boat and have had no problems with her, we would buy another one. Good luck on which ever boat you chose. I think it will come down to personal preference on the layout since most boats in this price range are built with equal quality.

Sandy
 
Can't speak to the 2665, however I had a 2465 and was very impressed overall. Check the standup headroom where you will be doing chores. At 6'4" I had to spread my feet to fit. The head was small. The aft berth was literally a queen size berth. The interior space rivaled many 30 footers. A single 5.0 Volvo at 3750 yielded 27kts and 5 gph at slack tide.

You will need a 10K A/C unit to cool the boat if you have to add. Regal historically undersized their A/C units from the factory and dependent on the year boat it may be something to look at.
 
We have a 2004 2665 with a Yanmar diesel 200HP. It is our first Regal and we love it. We use her on sweet and salt water without any problem. There are some differences in using a boat of this size in Europe vs the US. actually we don't trailer this, but I can imagine that this is a usp for you. I have a few extra's like the electric anchor winch and this works fine. The diesel engine is great but a little under powered. Regal has changed this now (2007) into a 260 HP Volvo however, the price increased with 15.000 euro (22K US$) and no other options (by the way: who can explain this??)
The only problem I have is the proportion between length and with, it makes the boat a little unstable but I gues this has to do with the trailability. Also we mis the genny, but I concidder a Honda. All over we are very satisfied!
 
I have a 2003 2665, and have used it one season. That one season, though, was every weekend last year....lol. Anyway, great boat, but as another eluded the trim tabs are too small. I will be making that adjustment this month. Other than that what an excellent experience for my wife, child and I.
 
quote:
Originally posted by Supsan

.....The main problem I have with the boat is the fuel fill. I have checked the vent line, cleaned the screen and I still get backflow when I fill it at a normal pace, so I have to fill it very slowly which is very irritating.....

Sandy

Click to expand...


This is endemic to the 2465 as well. If you have the all in one filler / tank vent, you can eliminate it by closing off the internal vent and replacing it with an external vent. That helped my situation a lot. Make sure there are no kinks in the vent line and the fuel line does not have a low spot from the tank entrance to the fuel fill. Additionally, you have to allow to the air to evac the fuel tank as fast as the tank is being filled. It can be solved a larger vent line or multiple vent lines for the one tank. On a good day with a tail wind, the factory design is horrible but can be corrected.

HTH
 
Kida,

Did you made this replacement with an external vent line? I'm very interested (if you have pictures it will help, of course). I have the same problem, I tried to tie the vent line above the fueling line and avoid lower spot.....always the same sh...t when refueling: it ended with plenty of fuel on the shoes....!!

DSC06069-00.jpg


DSC06064.jpg


DSC06063-1.jpg
 
Yes, I used an external vent. Sorry, I have no pictures of the fix, and the boat is sold. I still had a slight problem if I tried to refill over 3/4 speed on the pump, but nothing like the old way.

I have seen it done 2 ways. one is to cut the hose at a point where you can reach it and cap it. Another is to remove the fill assembly and fill the vent with Permatex or 5200. That involves removing the hot water heater and is a royal PIA. I would recommend a combination of the two. Cut the vent hose, insert a bolt and clamp it. On the other end, inject some Permatex or 5200 and feather it smooth over the vent hole and let it dry. you should be fine.

In retrospect, if you decide to go the first route, Cut a hole in the cockpit wall and insert an inspection port when you are done.

I am convinced a lot of the problem had to do with the way the fill hose is angled as well. I would venture to guess if you were to put a level to it you would find it running uphill in spots, hence the need to fill so slowly. That too is fixable, but not nearly as easy considering the location of the tank.

HTH

Good Luck
 
Many thanks for your answer David. I don't know yet what solution I will use, but I have to do something about this.

In fact I don't know if the excess of fuel is coming through the vent line or the fueling line itself. According the rate and the amount of fuel gushing out, I'm more incline to think it's from the fueling line itself. I have to check that.
 
quote:
Originally posted by Nouchka

Many thanks for your answer David. I don't know yet what solution I will use, but I have to do something about this.

In fact I don't know if the excess of fuel is coming through the vent line or the fueling line itself. According the rate and the amount of fuel gushing out, I'm more incline to think it's from the fueling line itself. I have to check that.

Click to expand...

Post some pix of the fill and vent lines. Maybe we can help.
 
My understanding is that with the MPI the entire fuel system must be sealed just like on modern cars.

If you use a separate vent you defeat the design of the system unless you put a valve and a T in the vent line and only use it during fueling.
 
David,

Above are all the pictures I have (up to now). On the third one you can see both lines and the fill device. The vent line is the "small" one of course.

Cliff,

I have a Volvo 5.0 GL engine. It's a "normal" carburator engine, no injection.

Best regards,
 
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