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Author Topic:   Whalers at the Fort Lauderdale Boat show

Knockerjoe posted 11-01-2002 10:09 AM ET (US)
I just went to the Fort Lauderdale Boat show and spent some time at the Boston Whaler Display. Here are a few of my observations: Every large Whaler (24' and over) has a Mercury 225 4 stroke on it. As you all know that really is a Yamaha painted Black. I guess this is a compromise for the Bunswick corp? Also got a chance to look at the new models, the 21 and 24 outrage. These boats have become increasingly cramped due to larger center consoles and leaning posts also they have added cushions to the bow of the boat giving it the appearance of a bow rider. Along with the euro transom i really don't know where you would fish! On the up side the quality of boat was among the best at the show. IMO the Pursuits were the only boats to show equal or better quality then Whaler. This of course is not without cost!.....Joe
lhg posted 11-01-2002 06:58 PM ET (US)
My guess is that they were desperate to get 4-strokes on the big Whalers. The whole deal could have even been made for Whaler's sake.
I think the problem was the big Gradys coming pre-rigged with the Yamaha 225's, making tough competition for BW with some of the 225 Opti problems of 2001. The Yamaha 225 has been hugely successful, and probably really helped Grady make sales over Whaler, in spite of it's sluggish performance. So now, BW is in on the action until Mercury gets their own 4-strokes out. Wonder what the delay is? But the boat market is so slow right now, it probably doesn't matter that much, and the Black Yamaha's will pull them through temporarily.
smgrogue posted 11-01-2002 08:05 PM ET (US)
Did you happen to stop by the Evinrude booth? Supposedly they are "sneak peeking" something new at that show...
Knockerjoe posted 11-01-2002 08:33 PM ET (US)
All I saw at the Evinrude booth was dozens of Fichts. I did not see anything new. Just the same old Fichts dressed up in new fancy cowlings. Also did not see anything new over at Mercury. Yamaha had the new 250 HPDI.
jimh posted 11-01-2002 09:48 PM ET (US)
Thanks for the report from the Ft. Lauderdale boat show. Perhaps Mercury is holding off on the introduction of their new line of 4-strokes until the Miami boat show...
Seriously, after making so many intentional and public hints about these yet-to-be-seen engines--Buckley's presentations 6-months ago, magazine columns, etc.--you begin to wonder just where are these new engines?
The marketing arrangement with Yamaha (to sell the 225-HP 4-stroke engine) looks more important than ever.
Bigshot posted 11-04-2002 10:21 AM ET (US)
Mercury's booth was a friggin joke! They had 2 I/O's and like 3 engines.....anyway, I did not see the Whalers. Were they at the other building where the smaller boats reside? I did notice that the majority of boats there had 4 strokes, including the 39 Midnight express with 4 honda 225's or 3 Merc 300's, your choice....DOOF! The majority I saw had Yamaha's but I was ultimately surprised at the amount of SUZUKI's hanging off factory boats(wellcraft for example). The most expensive boat I saw was $29,950,000. It did not have a Whaler logo on it. As far as quality goes, I think that new Dusky 33 was very nice for the $$ and the Yellowfin basically blows about every center console away.....WOW!
Then our alternator went bad and we had to get towed from Naples to Sarasota.....DOOOF! again.
stlawrence posted 11-04-2002 04:19 PM ET (US)
Did the four-stroke Mercurys have the SmartCraft instrument package? As I understand it, in 2002 you could not get anything but the analog guage package with the four-strokes, but they were going to change that in 2003.
PMUCCIOLO posted 11-07-2002 11:41 AM ET (US)
Prior to a conference in Miami Beach, I took two full days to inspect the boats at the Fort Lauderdale show. Knockerjoe is correct in that the larger Boston Whalers had Mercury 225PH 4-stroke power, but this was from the 270 Outrage up. The 240 Outrage had a 225HP Optimax on it. None of the 4-stroke powered boats had the Smart Craft gauge package; however, the 240 Outrage was equipped with the Smart Craft package.
At the Convention Center, the indoor Mercury display was adjacent to the Boston Whaler display. The second Mercury display was outdoors in a tent (perhaps that's the one to which Bigshot is referring).
I noticed nothing new at the Bombardier, Yamaha, Honda, or Mercury booths. All of the products displayed had been described extensively in a number of boating periodicals. The staff of the Mercury booth indicated that the "Project X" 4-stroke would have elements of its technology displayed at the Miami Show in February.
The new 250 Optimax diplayed (per the Mercury representative) requires "at least 92 Octane gasoline." Where does one find that on the water? What would it cost to enhance the 87 or 89 Octane fuels with some sort of aftermarket booster? How does one meter that accurately? That motor seems more suitable for racing applications.
John Bocskay posted 11-07-2002 08:17 PM ET (US)
The new Outrage 24's have about as much fishing room as the older Outrage 18's.
I would love to know what the useable square footage is. The newer BW CC's have too much smootz.

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Author	Topic: Whalers at the Fort Lauderdale Boat show
Knockerjoe	posted 11-01-2002 10:09 AM ET (US) I just went to the Fort Lauderdale Boat show and spent some time at the Boston Whaler Display. Here are a few of my observations: Every large Whaler (24' and over) has a Mercury 225 4 stroke on it. As you all know that really is a Yamaha painted Black. I guess this is a compromise for the Bunswick corp? Also got a chance to look at the new models, the 21 and 24 outrage. These boats have become increasingly cramped due to larger center consoles and leaning posts also they have added cushions to the bow of the boat giving it the appearance of a bow rider. Along with the euro transom i really don't know where you would fish! On the up side the quality of boat was among the best at the show. IMO the Pursuits were the only boats to show equal or better quality then Whaler. This of course is not without cost!.....Joe
lhg	posted 11-01-2002 06:58 PM ET (US) My guess is that they were desperate to get 4-strokes on the big Whalers. The whole deal could have even been made for Whaler's sake. I think the problem was the big Gradys coming pre-rigged with the Yamaha 225's, making tough competition for BW with some of the 225 Opti problems of 2001. The Yamaha 225 has been hugely successful, and probably really helped Grady make sales over Whaler, in spite of it's sluggish performance. So now, BW is in on the action until Mercury gets their own 4-strokes out. Wonder what the delay is? But the boat market is so slow right now, it probably doesn't matter that much, and the Black Yamaha's will pull them through temporarily.
smgrogue	posted 11-01-2002 08:05 PM ET (US) Did you happen to stop by the Evinrude booth? Supposedly they are "sneak peeking" something new at that show...
Knockerjoe	posted 11-01-2002 08:33 PM ET (US) All I saw at the Evinrude booth was dozens of Fichts. I did not see anything new. Just the same old Fichts dressed up in new fancy cowlings. Also did not see anything new over at Mercury. Yamaha had the new 250 HPDI.
jimh	posted 11-01-2002 09:48 PM ET (US) Thanks for the report from the Ft. Lauderdale boat show. Perhaps Mercury is holding off on the introduction of their new line of 4-strokes until the Miami boat show... Seriously, after making so many intentional and public hints about these yet-to-be-seen engines--Buckley's presentations 6-months ago, magazine columns, etc.--you begin to wonder just where are these new engines? The marketing arrangement with Yamaha (to sell the 225-HP 4-stroke engine) looks more important than ever.
Bigshot	posted 11-04-2002 10:21 AM ET (US) Mercury's booth was a friggin joke! They had 2 I/O's and like 3 engines.....anyway, I did not see the Whalers. Were they at the other building where the smaller boats reside? I did notice that the majority of boats there had 4 strokes, including the 39 Midnight express with 4 honda 225's or 3 Merc 300's, your choice....DOOF! The majority I saw had Yamaha's but I was ultimately surprised at the amount of SUZUKI's hanging off factory boats(wellcraft for example). The most expensive boat I saw was $29,950,000. It did not have a Whaler logo on it. As far as quality goes, I think that new Dusky 33 was very nice for the $$ and the Yellowfin basically blows about every center console away.....WOW! Then our alternator went bad and we had to get towed from Naples to Sarasota.....DOOOF! again.
stlawrence	posted 11-04-2002 04:19 PM ET (US) Did the four-stroke Mercurys have the SmartCraft instrument package? As I understand it, in 2002 you could not get anything but the analog guage package with the four-strokes, but they were going to change that in 2003.
PMUCCIOLO	posted 11-07-2002 11:41 AM ET (US) Prior to a conference in Miami Beach, I took two full days to inspect the boats at the Fort Lauderdale show. Knockerjoe is correct in that the larger Boston Whalers had Mercury 225PH 4-stroke power, but this was from the 270 Outrage up. The 240 Outrage had a 225HP Optimax on it. None of the 4-stroke powered boats had the Smart Craft gauge package; however, the 240 Outrage was equipped with the Smart Craft package. At the Convention Center, the indoor Mercury display was adjacent to the Boston Whaler display. The second Mercury display was outdoors in a tent (perhaps that's the one to which Bigshot is referring). I noticed nothing new at the Bombardier, Yamaha, Honda, or Mercury booths. All of the products displayed had been described extensively in a number of boating periodicals. The staff of the Mercury booth indicated that the "Project X" 4-stroke would have elements of its technology displayed at the Miami Show in February. The new 250 Optimax diplayed (per the Mercury representative) requires "at least 92 Octane gasoline." Where does one find that on the water? What would it cost to enhance the 87 or 89 Octane fuels with some sort of aftermarket booster? How does one meter that accurately? That motor seems more suitable for racing applications.
John Bocskay	posted 11-07-2002 08:17 PM ET (US) The new Outrage 24's have about as much fishing room as the older Outrage 18's. I would love to know what the useable square footage is. The newer BW CC's have too much smootz.