Boat photo three outboard engines on a fish boat

Mercury Marine’s Merc Racing took a 38’ fishing boat to 80 MPH with three 350 horsepower supercharged outboards. These engines also only took 6.5 seconds to go 0 to 30 mph in an acceleration test the same day on the same boat. That is performance.

The props were 151/4” by 26” 4 blade Bravo I Mercury Racing Props (lab finished, which is readily available to the boating public via a request back to Merc Racing through a dealer) and they turned the engines at their WOT rated 6,800 rpms to record that speed. That is 10,600 lbs. (dry weight) of fast fiberglass fishing boat flying across the water faster than many go-fast boats can achieve.

These are stock, two year warranty, engines. Just think for a moment, only 475.5 cubic inches of pump gas marine engines making 1,050 Hp. combined. And that is on a Tournament Fishing Boat with a stepped v-bottom hull shape. This offshore center console really goes good, huh?

The hull shape for this fish boat comes from the lessons learned on a race course. The pad in the bottom at the keel, the placement of the steps to ventilate the water passing under the fish boat, the deadrise, and the longitudinal angles of the surface that the boat runs on are all perfected for speed on the water. Also the notch in the boat bottom and transom bracket style shape at the stern works well with helping to adjust and set the angle that the boat takes across any waves and wind chop.

fish boat with three Mercury outboards for power in the open ocean

2012 boat photo Yamaha outboard

The cleanest engines are the inboard / outboards. They come with Catalytic Converters and other tweaks to get a 4 star rating as compared to a 3 star rating for the outboards. Which means that the outboard engines are the “worst for the environment” engines compared to I/O power packages.

It is surprising that the 2 stroke Evinrude and the newest 4 stroke Yamaha are both equally rated at 3 stars. The I/O engine packages have simply pulled ahead of the outboard packages for 2012 for the cleanest level in environmental boating.

Evinrude makes the lightest outboard engine package at a stated weight of 524 lbs. for a 250 Horsepower engine. It’s a 200 cu. in. two stroke engine. It should be propped to run between 4,500 – 5,800 rpms. Some say it’s the least complicated and has the lowest number of parts. And it may take the least attention and maintenance over a season of use.

Yamaha makes a F250 Offshore outboard that is a four stroke engine. It has a stated weight of 562 lbs. It also has more parts (pretty much all the valves and camshaft parts) than a two stroke. The displacement is 254 cu. in. I cannot tell if the smaller displacement two stroke will be faster in a 0 to 30 mph acceleration test than the bigger cu. in. 4 stroke outboard, but in similar displacement two strokes compared to similar displacement four strokes tests show the two strokes really beating the four stroke.

2012 boat photo evinrude outboard motor

The stern drive I/O is a four stroke 305 cu. in. engine based on a Chevy block that is then made into a marine engine by Volvo – Penta. It has a horsepower of 270 and can come with the efficiency of two propellers on one shaft in its Duo-Prop Stern Drive. This one weights in right at 1,000 lbs.

2012 boat photo volvo penta inboard outboard engine

It is important to note that both the torque and the peak horsepower are at a 1,000 rpms lower than the outboards.

So, a cleaner for the environment drive package. Lower engine rpms needed to get a boat up on plane and at a cruising speed. Some more weight within the power package. The I/O choice of the efficiency of a Duo-Prop outdrive. All of this says that a I/O is the way to go in 2012 for seabuddy.

Classic design Stauter Built wood runabout boat photo

Stauter-Built boats is a classic wood boat that often has used the same design as they have for many years.

classic wood boat photo from stauter built

Most are pure open fishing boats. A few are somewhat decked over and are used as a wooden runabout. All use a antique or modern outboard motor for power. They are light and easy to power as they use a shallow draft, almost flat bottom hull design to get performance from low horsepower outboards.

classic wood runabout boat photo

Take a restored classic wooden boat like I show here. Its powered by an old, antique motor. The photos show the loving attention to keeping an old boat, a good, useful boat that is an antique and classic boat show standout. She is mostly a plywood boat, glued and screwed together to take on most waters.

classic wood fishing boat stauter built

I show another Stauter Built boat from their promotional material. It is 151/2’ long and 51/2’ in its beam. It can take up to a 50 Hp. outboard engine and weights in around 425 lbs. It is a Vee shaped bow to cut through the chop coupled with a fairly flat deadrise across the transom boat design. Not a deep vee offshore racer.

She is intended for the waters around Dauphin Island in the Gulf of Mexico, which is roughly 40 miles south of Mobile, AL.

This new wood fishing boat is called the V-bottom Cedar Point Special by Stauter-Built. She maybe a classic in design, but it is too new in its date of manufacture to be an antique boat.

classic wood boat photo of a open fishing runabout outboard

wood boat photo of stauter built runabout fishing model

2012 Mercury Marine outboard motor

Look for the lightest, newest, marine torque big block Mercury Four Stroke outboard in a small package that is on today’s outboard motor boating marketplace at the Baltimore Boat Show. It has shown to have very high durability partly because of its robust part choices where other outboard motors have had trouble. This outboard has almost 10,000 hours of engineer’s time and testing in the field to make a durable marine engine.

A goal of the motor was for it to weight within the weight of a battery and a two stroke outboard combined together and yet have the most displacement cubic inches for marine power in its Hp class. The Mercury Marine FourStroke 150 Hp accomplishes both goals. It weights around 455 lbs. while Honda’s engine weights around 478 lbs. for its 150 Hp.

On the water, expect less vibration because of the powerhead mounts and location. The transom brackets are heavier, too. It’s a good salt or brackish water engine, too, because of a new bonding paint system that is 18 steps in all and the engine has waterproof connectors and an electric system within the cowling that is sealed away more from water than most. She has a fresh water flushing that works at idle engine speeds and also when it is turned off.

Maintenance is once a year (every 100 hours) and every three years (every 300 hours) simple thing to do. On the Chesapeake Bay it is suggested that you apply anti-seize compound on the spark plug threads each year, for instance.

Mercury Marine covers the entire engine with a 3 year non-declining warranty backed by the factory.

8.1 power boat engine from Volvo

Volvo makes an 8.1 gas big block engine for the most torque and horse power for a power boat. Volvo has been a leader in marine pleasure boat power in the USA since 1959.

The 8.1 engine comes with a choice of camshafts that are selected based on where you as a boater want your power. Use 4,200 rpm and above mostly and pick the high Hp cam, use 4,000 rpm and below for almost all your time boating, select the 375-400 Hp engine cam. So, a true “hot rod” boat speed freak boater best uses the high performance camshaft and everyone else should use the regular cam. It is a no brainer, really, as you know going into a boat show if you want the most power you can get out of the engine below 4,000 rpm (even more power than the performance cam at these “below  4,000 rpms” engine speeds). Remember, the 375-400 Hp engine is the “Hole Shot” engine choice for the quickest 0 to 30 mph acceleration tests.

Volvo Penta gas power boat engine

Either the 375 or the 400 Hp engines are rated to run as fast as 4,600 to 4,800 rpms. They just do not develop as much power at those rpms as the Hi-Po camshaft engine.

All of these engines are 8.1 in displacement or big cubic inch engines developed from a Chevy based v-8 engine. They are fuel injected engines using a MPI fuel delivery system. Fresh water cooling and  the drive system is separate choice.

Absolute 43 yacht with Volvo Penta power

power boat underway with Volvo Penta power

2012 Chris Craft I. O. power boat

She is a sport boat on the exterior and a four sleeper, complete galley, and head down below. This power boat tops out at 48 mph and cruises from as low as 16 mph to as high 42 mph with the same fuel economy. The photo shows how this performance boat handles in a turn. Should one call her a sporty boat, a performance boat, or a cabin cruiser?

Chris Craft builds a stylish way to run around all the waterways in its Corsair 36 power boat model. In the USA she usually runs twin 8.1 Volvo gas engines with twin diesels as an optional choice. Volvo marine engines has tested and approved the engine installation details in this boat model. She went from 0 to 30 mph in acceleration boat tests in less than 10 seconds while weighing just under 10 tons with some 2,500 lbs. of fuel, water, crew, gear weight onboard and are willing to show their test report numbers to interested boaters.

2012 Chris Craft Corsair power boat

This model of the Corsair series is actually over 38 feet including the swim platform and 36’ 3” without it. The beam is 12’ 6”. She weights some 16,000 – 16,500 lbs. dry. Air Conditioning, two refrigerators, a microwave, a cabinet mounted coffee maker, a convertible dinette, and then a queen size bed in the owner’s cabin all of which is done in a high nautical fashion makes for a luxurious boat.

Take a look at your local boat show, where she may be what you need for this coming summer’s adventures on the water.

power boat cockpit of a Chris Craft Corsair

layout with its private owner's cabin

1,350 Hp Merc Racing engine photo

Mercury Marine offers through its Merc Racing division a 1,350 Hp engine with a one year warranty for recreational boating. This engine uses four cams (or quad cams) with four valves in an engine that is turbocharged (turbo-compressor induction in Mercury Marine speak) with a 6,500 rpm redline to get this top power from the 9 liter engine displacement (552 cu. in.).

This 1,720 lb. engine requires a Merc Racing’s dry-sump M8 stern drive which uses a integral Merc Racing dry-sump Hydraulic transmission. Expensive stuff, these M8 out drive pieces, but they are built to take the torque of this engine.

M8 Merc Racing outdrive

Additional Hp above the 1,350 Hp quoted is available with a proper engine room design by the boat builder that allows for lower engine intake air temperatures. Some say it can go up to shh! Hp with the right spirit of coordination between Merc Racing and your high performance boat builder. But, that is still a secret number for now.

Use 91 octane fuel only in this engine and select your out drive reduction ratios with the boat, load, and use in mind.

Now, if you want to use 89 octane gas and use a cheaper/lighter stern drive (the dry-sump NX1 SSM), get Merc Racing’s sister offering, a 1,100 Hp. engine, although some reduction grear ratios cause even this engine to be matched to the M8 stern drive and transmission, for good durability to handle the torque multiplier in a performance boat . This engine has the same compression ratio, same bore and stroke, and the same four cam design.

This one is a torque monster developing 1,100 lb-ft as low as 2,500 rpm. It does a single throttle body rather than the two that comes with the 1,350. The warranty stays the same at one year for recreational boating.

Mercury Marine offers through its Merc Racing division a 1,350 Hp engine with a one year warranty for recreational boating. This engine uses four cams (or quad cams) with four valves in an engine that is turbocharged (turbo-compressor induction in Mercury Marine speak) with a 6,500 rpm redline to get this top power from the 9 liter engine displacement (552 cu. in.).

This 1,720 lb. engine requires a Merc Racing’s dry-sump M8 stern drive which uses a integral Merc Racing dry-sump Hydraulic transmission. Expensive stuff, these M8 out drive pieces, but they are built to take the torque of this engine.

Additional Hp above the 1,350 Hp quoted is available with a proper engine room design by the boat builder that allows for lower engine intake air temperatures. Some say it can go up to shh! Hp with the right spirit of coordination between Merc Racing and your high performance boat builder. But, that is still a secret number for now.

Use 91 octane fuel only in this engine and select your out drive reduction ratios with the boat, load, and use in mind.

Now, if you want to use 89 octane gas and use a cheaper/lighter stern drive (the dry-sump NX1 SSM), get Merc Racing’s sister offering, a 1,100 Hp. engine, although some reduction grear ratios cause even this engine to be matched to the M8 stern drive and transmission, for good durability to handle the torque multiplier in a performance boat . This engine has the same compression ratio, same bore and stroke, and the same four cam design.

Merc Racing NXT1 SSM stern drive

This 1,100 Hp one is a torque monster developing 1,100 lb-ft as low as 2,500 rpm. It does a single throttle body rather than the two that comes with the 1,350. The warranty stays the same at one year for recreational boating.

Merc Racing 1,100 Hp engine

Boat Show Grady White boat / Yamaha outboard

Grady White invented the walk around cuddy cabin family fishing boat and they teamed up with Yamaha outboards to make this class leader. Note the recess walk way in the deck all the way around the bow and cabin house. That makes this 232 Grady White a Walk Around model boat within the boating industry. Yamaha is a leading boating industry manufacturer of 4 stroke outboard motors. The match up makes a very good marriage.

A boat and motor combination is all about performance on the water. A 300 Hp single  Yamaha outboard on the 232 Grady White power boat gives a best cruising speed between 4,000 rpms (about 24 mph according to the test) and 4,500 rpms (about 31 mph in the test). It is the right outboard match for the boat with these kind of numbers. The top speed at just under 44 mph at 5,900 rpms is far secondary to the best economy (at reasonable engine rpms) cruising speeds.

The boat by its self is 4,500 – 4,600 lbs. With the engine, some fuel, people, and gear the test weight was 6,711 lbs. On a trailer, figure on a tow package weight of 9,000 lbs. or so.

The hull length is 23’ 5” with a beam (that needs a simple wide load road permit) is 9’ 3”. The standard fuel tank capacity is 150 gal.

Grady White has won awards after awards for their good boats and I would be remiss if I did not mention this here.

While at the show, allow time to try your hand at the free power boat docking game where you maneuver a model boat in a test tank using a full scale boat helm into a marina slip. It’s a timed test, with offsets for bumping, that is a challenge for beginner and even if you believe yourself a pro boater.

232 grady white layout at boat show

wood yacht sportfisherman with Volvo IPS

Take four fisherman plus two to four crew at and back some 250 miles offshore in a wood boat in comfort using a custom boat powered by Volvo IPS to get this performance.

The room created by the IPS system allows for two double berths under the salon deck for the crew while two luxurious staterooms accommodate the owner’s party with two large heads. So it’s a three stateroom / two head boat.

She is all about good fuel economy, offshore high performance, quick maneuverability, ease of handling, and big fish fighting ability. “Spencer Yachts has taken the Carolina style and tradition of boat building with a unique look and transformed it into a World Class and high performance Sport Fishing Yacht”

 She has South Carolina flair, outstanding styling, and the world class fit and finish of the highest class custom boat.

 This sportfisher is 57’ long with a beam of 16’ 10”. Her engines are Twin 1200 model 900 Hp Volvo Diesel D 13s. Fuel capacity is 1450 gal. Her draft is 4’ 5”. She weighs 26 tons. It has been said that it’s the most maneuverable boat of its size on the market. It certainly has  outstanding looks.

Spencer yachts are in Wanchese, NC at 252-473-6567, with their hull boat building plant at Manns Harbor.

One final quote…. “Amazing is the only word for (the boat’s) handling, maneuverability, spinning and backing down on a blue marlin.”

wood boat layout photo by Spencer Yachts

wood composite yacht image with Volvo IPS