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.

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 power boat 1959 Lyman 16.5 foot outboard model

This power boat is shown being restored in Maine. The photo is from Androscoggin Wooden Boat Works (207) 685-9805. It shows the nice work that they do, particularly on Lyman Boats. This classic outboard runabout is said to be a boat for sale and at a very attractive price. Give them a telephone call if this is something that you need for this upcoming summer boating adventure season.

This outboard Lyman boat seems to have been updated with a painted finish rather than a varnished, but not stained, boat hull interior. The seats, deck and other parts show, to me, the correct, as built, finishes. Lyman mahogany filler stain with varnish over that would be the proper choice. Lyman was also known for its use of ribbon striped (sometimes called tiger striped) mahogany veneered marine-grade plywood in its decks. Check for that feature on this boat. Most restorers use a different style of mahogany plywood if they replace the deck on a Lyman runabout.

The 16.5 foot boat was a popular boat model and it was in production from 1957-1960. In 1959 they made 366 of these. It is a 16’ 7” long runabout with a beam of 70”. It weighs 560 lbs. and could take up to a 60 Hp outboard. That is Hp that is rated at the power head, not rated at the prop shaft as outboards are rated today. Use an older motor or drop back to a maximum rating of about 54 Hp. She goes real well with a 35 Hp, by the way.

Lymans are clinker built or a lapstrake construction style of planking. Each plank edge overlaps the other and are clinched nailed to the ribs and screwed to the frames such that an edge is shown at each plank its full length along the hull side that helps soften the ride, and they are flexible boats that can twist over the waves somewhat to give a better ride than a classic boat person would expect. Ride a Lyman to experience this for yourself. I know of several prior owners of carvel, hard chine classic wood boats that marvel at the ride that they get in their Lyman compared to what they are used to.

By the way, get a Lyman model a little older than this model year and you will see a dimpled finish in the planking on the outside of the hull. Lyman used a duck billed clinch nail for better holding strength and sometime (in the mid-50s?) began to completely fair over both the screws and the duck billed nails for a smooth exterior finish.

This is the book for a Christmas present to a boater.

John Crouse, Dick Genth, Yachting magazine, Jim Wynne, Mike Gordon, the Beatles, Chubby Brown, Walt Walters, the Donzi sweet 16, Bobby Moore, Knocky House, the models, some of the tricks, the Wyn-Mill II, the Banana  boat, outboards, inboards, I/O, Mercury Marine, Magnum Missile, Molinari, Carl Kiekhaefer, Aeromarine, Roger Penske, Betty Cook, and Mark Donohue are all in the book.

It is a who’s who of power boating and power boat racing offshore. A real history of the racing scene.

Don Aronow made the offshore power boat racing scene very early on and made it into the force it is today. He left New Jersey for south Florida while still a young man and built an empire of race wins, trophies, championships, boat building companies, showmanship, and hard work.

It is only really available on the collector book market. The ISBN number is 0945903227.

Get a nice one and have a good look all at the photos and a good read from the material that Michael shares about a rare man in the boating business in this boating book.

Check out the back seat leg room for the O/B verison versas the I/O verison. Big Difference.

Nice boat with a nice ride, but many families will need more.

    Wednesday – January 19 12:00pm to 9:00pm

    Thursday – January 20 12:00pm to 9:00pm

    Friday – January 21 12:00pm to 9:00pm

    Saturday – January 22 10:00am to 9:00pm

    Sunday – January 23 10:00am to 6:00pm

Parking-

Astor Parking Corporation, 1515 Broadway at 44th Street, 212.869.3543

Central Parking System  www.parking.com  800-836-6666.

485 10th avenue

433 West 37th street

453 West 35th street

550 West 37th street

Convention Center- 551 W. 38th street

417 W. 35th street

447-9th avenue

490 11th avenue

521 9th avenue

346 W. 40th street

Lincoln- 324 W. 34th street

West 40th street

640 W. 42nd street, New York

Penn Mark Garage- 304 W. 34th street

Oil Market Garage- 575 11th avenue

New York City Post Office- 360 W. 31st street

Port Authority Bus Terminal- 628 8th avenue

Enterprise Parking System www.enterpriseparking.com 212-564-3199

          404 West 37th Street (btw 9th and 10th Avenue)

          453 West 38th Street (btw 10th and 9th Avenue)

          451 10th Avenue (btw 35th and 36th Street)

          343 10th Avenue (on the corner of 10th Ave and 30th Street)

          506 West 30th Street (btw 11th and 10th Avenue)

          447 West 35th Street (btw 10th and Dryer)

          444 10th Avenue (btw 35th and 34th Street) 320 West 30th Street (btw 9th and 8th Avenue)

Square Industries, 306 West 44th Street, 212.247.5807

For the 2011 model year, Grady-White offers 26 models including ten center consoles from 18-36 feet in length, three express cabins 30-36 feet, seven walkaround cabins 20-30 feet and six dual consoles from 19-30 feet, each one a truly great value in fishing and family boating especially during this sale. Now is a good time for customers to lock in long-term satisfaction

These factory-sponsored incentives will be available only through March 6, and will not be repeated during the 2011 model year.

press release