May 31, 2013
By Florida Sportsman Editor
lorida Sportsman Editor Jeff Weakley attended an exclusive media event hosted by Mercury Marine on May 20-22, 2013. Boats were docked at Bourgeois Charters in Lafitte, about 45 minutes outside of New Orleans. All indications are that Mercury is gearing up for a big season in advance of its 75th anniversary in 2014. The company recently made a $15 million investment in testing facilities, hired 70 new engineers this year and has committed to rolling out new product every 6 weeks. Some spicy tidbits we gathered: Mercury will be unveiling “affordable racing” engines; increased applications for high-speed diesel power; greater emphasis on user-friendly, customizable displays and controls, and of course, a renewed push to develop and expand fishing boat applications for Mercury outboards—which was our primary area of interest. Shearwater 26 LTZ with Mercury 300 Verado Shearwater 26 LTZ is a new model for 2013. I'd been looking forward to putting this boat through the paces, after talking with fellow editor Dave East, host of the upcoming Florida Sportsman Best Boat TV series. East raved about the Shearwater, after testing it among a small fleet of bay boats in Stuart, FL.Speed I expected out of this package—with three of us on board, and a half-tank of fuel, we topped out at a little over 55 mph at 6,450 rpm. That was pushing the rev capacity (5,800-6,400 rpm) and suggested that with a higher-pitch prop (test boat had a 19” Mirage) we'd make 60 easy. What was most impressive to me, however, was the fuel efficiency at speed . The best I could make, according to the Mercury gauge, was 3 mpg. Okay, you're not impressed. But what if I told you that figure came at 39 mph? For a lot of bayboat packages out there, that's close to top end. Crazier still, at WOT the Verado 300 wasn't sucking in a whole lot more petrol, making just under 2 mpg. This is a boat-motor package for the angler who wants to get somewhere fast. And with 130 gallon fuel capacity, that somewhere might be a long way from home! Mercury recommends 92 octane fuel for the Verado, but the engines are “compatible” with 87 octane. Performance suffers to some degree with the lower-octane fuel, as the engines' knock sensor backs down the power to avoid predetonation. Something else about the bayboat installation of the Verado: These engines are built with dual water inlets—including low-water pickups at the nose of the torpedo. That's comforting for an angler planning to take advantage of a hydraulic jackplate, such as the Bob's Machine Shop model on the transom of the Shearwater 26LTZ. Sundance FX17 Spyder with Mercury 60 FourStroke BigFoot
Sundance Boats , we got to run a pair of FX17 Spyder skiffs on the Intracoastal Waterway. One was rigged with the Mercury 60 BigFoot; the other, a Yamaha F70. We raced these boats to see which was quicker to plane. Each had a man at the wheel, a passenger on the console seat. We didn't notice much difference. Talk at the dock among Merc staffers indicated the 60 BigFoot sells for $2,000 less than the Yamaha, but the Yamaha has a 1 mph advantage (an edge so minor it could be offset by a few bags of ice). Of course a buyer has lots of other considerations when looking at engines, but I was very happy with how that Spyder ran with the 60 BigFoot. The engine mates an inline 4-cylinder 995 cc powerplant with a 2.33:1 gear ratio. Forty- and 50-hp versions are also available.I didn't get a good fuel efficiency read on the two Spyders; the Merc gauge was set for gallons per hour, while my brain was set for miles per gallon. Performance wise, we got over 40 mph, which is impressive in a boat this size. Tidewater 2200 Carolina Bay with Mercury 150 FourStroke
Carolina Bay is rated for up to 250 hp, but with a light load (2 persons; fuel about 40 gallons out of 60 available), she performed splendidly with the 150 FourStroke. Fuel burn was a miserly 5.1 mpg at 32 mph and 3,500 rpm. At wide open, turning 5,500 rpm at 45 mph, she made just 3 mpg.Joystick Piloting for Verado SeaVee center console with quad 300 Verados, and a 31 Yellowfin with twin 300s.ne significant advantage Mercury built into the Verado Joystick Piloting system borrows from the Axius system: SkyHook. GPS antenna. It works, and it's very convenient when idling in a harbor, preparing lines, or catching bait. I had engaged SkyHook with the Sea Vee's formidable bow quartering upwind—a tricky place to stay put (the system is accurate enough to maintain not only position, but heading!). When I noticed the engines seemed to be shifting more than I'd like, we altered our heading so that the stern was into the wind, minimizing the forces acting on the big boat. In this attitude, steering and shifting were minor. The SeaVee was equipped with Merc's latest multifunction touch-screen “Vessel View” instrument, a 7-inch screen reporting on up to 30 vessel parameters, including fuel level and range, oil temperature, and depth. All that data can be networked to a MFD (such as the Simrad plotter on the SeaVee) as well as a wireless tablet device. Making a Statement for Diesel Power Statement 38SUV IO roaring up the ditch in Lafitte. The powerplants are twin 4.2-liter, V8 TDI Diesels with Axius stern drives. The boat is built in St. Petersburg, FL.www.mercurymarine.com .
