280 Express

A popular model during her seven-year production run, the Thundercraft 280 Express is a well-arranged midcabin cruiser with a modern sportboat profile on the outside and family-size accommodations below. She’s built in Quebec on a cored hull with a solid fiberglass bottom, moderate beam and relatively high freeboard for standing headroom in the cabin. Inside, there are berths for six (with the dinette converted), and both fore and aft sleeping areas have privacy curtains. Storage is very good—better than many other family cruisers her size—and the hardware, furnishings, and fabrics are all of good quality. Outside, her wraparound windshield and integral swim platform give the Thundercraft 280 a modern sportboat appearance. Lounge seating is provided for six in the cockpit, and the somewhat narrow side decks provide access to a sun pad on the foredeck. A good-running boat when the seas pick up, twin 175hp MerCruiser V-6 sterndrives (standard) will cruise the 280 Express in the low 20s and deliver a top speed in the mid 30s. Range with just 90 gallons of fuel is seriously limited.