Engine Survey

[jimh]

On our 2014 Cruise from Little Current, we had quite a collection of boats and engines:


Photo credit: Don McIntyre

Here is a breakdown of the boats and engines as seen above:

Random Engine Survey
Nine Boats, Main Propulsion Engines

WHITEWATER, 25-footer, twin 150-HP, two-stroke, Evinrude, carburetors, original c.1992
EASTPORT, 20-footer 150-HP, two-stroke, Mercury, OptiMax, original c.2005
OUTRE, 22-footer, 300-HP, two-stroke, Evinrude, E-TEC, re-power 2014
HOLLY MARIE, 26-footer, twin 200-HP, two-stroke, Yamaha, carburetors, original c.1992
OUTLIER, 23-footer, 250-HP, four-stroke, Yamaha, EFI, original c.2010
DEFIANCE, 32-footer, twin 300-HP, two-stroke, Evinrude, E-TEC, re-power c.2010
CONTINOUSWAVE, 24-footer, 225-HP, two-stroke, Evinrude, E-TEC, re-power c.2010
LUCKY TWO, 28-footer, twin 250-HP, two-stroke, Evinrude, E-TEC, re-power 2014
MANIC MOMENT, 23-footer, twin 150-HP, four-stroke, Yamaha, EFI, re-power c.2012

Brand distribution
EVINRUDE = five boats, eight engines, 1,925-HP
YAMAHA = three boats, five engines, 950-HP
MERCURY = one boat, one engine, 150-HP

Engines
14 engines for a total 3,025-HP

Two-stroke = 11 engines:
--six E-TEC for 1,625-HP
--four carburetor for 700-HP
--one OptiMax 150-HP
Total 2,475-HP

Four-stroke = three engines:
--three EFI for 550-HP

Re-power = five boats, eight engines:
--six E-TEC,
--two Yamaha F-series.

Original = four boats, six engines:
--two Evinrude carburetor,
--two Yamaha carburetor,
--one Optimax,
--one Yamaha F-series

[Masbama]

Evinrudes are rare around here, Mobile, Alabama. Not as rare as they used to be but still quite rare. I'm talking about all local boats, not just Whalers. Even rarer are the G2's. I have not seen one yet. Mobile County is dominated by Yamaha and Mercury. Suzuki is third and then Evinrude and Honda tie for distant fourth. I have noticed numerous new Tracker boats this spring. I bet Bass Pro Shops is making a killing.

[Combined three posts into one--jimh]

[jimh]

If anyone has more sample data, please feel free to share it. I always like to see actual data. If you go boating with a group of classic Boston Whaler boats that have been recently re-powered, I don't think you could conclude that Evinrude engines were "rare."

[Jefecinco]

Around the Gulf Shores area I'm seeing mostly Mercury engines with a surprising number of Verados on larger boats. Yamaha is also quite popular probably followed by Evinrude. Suzuki trails and Hondas are rarely seen. I wouldn't bet that Mercury is more popular than Yamaha but that is my impression.

[jimh]

Other than on some new Boston Whaler boats in a showroom and some Homeland Security boats, I have only seen one private recreational boat on the upper Great Lakes underway and powered by a VERADO. I do think the VERADO is very popular on new, really big, really expensive, multi-engine, offshore boats in coastal areas. But in the many years since the VERADO has been introduced, I can only recall hearing of one or two instances of a classic Boston Whaler boat being re-powered by a VERADO. The VERADO appeared around c.2004, so it has been out for about 12 years. It has almost no presence in the re-powering of classic Boston Whaler boats. Even the most over-the-top-Mercury-super-fans don't put VERADO engines on their classic Boston Whaler boats when re-powering. As you can see in my survey data in the first article, exactly zero of the re-powered boats chose a Mercury engine, and of those zero Mercury engines there were zero VERADO engines.

Engine brand dominance can be very localized. I recall cruising into a marina on Sanibel Island and finding that just about every outboard-powered boat had a Yamaha outboard engine.

[Jefecinco]

Verados are LARGE engines and would look a bit strange on most classics. They are popular along the central Gulf coast on 20 footers and above and in multi-engine applications. Verado owners often repower with Verados. The larger the boat the more likely it is to be powered with a Verado engine. In the 300 horsepower segment we seem to be seeing only Verados, Yamahas and Suzuki engines. I believe that segment, down here, is ruled by the Verado. I don't believe I've seen a 300 HP Evinrude. Were they manufactured at some time?

[jimh]

BUTCH--I don't have at my fingertips the exact and comprehensive production history of the E-TEC 300-HP engine. It has been available for several years, as I recall. There has been speculation about several of the "300" HP models from all the engine makers not really making 300-HP, but I think the latest E-TEC G2 300-HP should get over that threshold without a problem.

The VERADO has moved on to even more horsepower, but I believe those versions are limited-warranty racing engines, and come with a very premium price. I think in some boating areas there is more to be gained in terms of prestige than there is in actual performance by getting the super-duper model with some special cowling decorations instead of "the fishing motor." If you want to turn heads when you are cruising the coastal waterways of SE Florida, then better get triple VERADO engines with the racing division decorations. But, again, they just doesn't work on any of the classic hulls. I do note that a fellow with a 27-foot classic Boston Whaler has re-powered with twin VERADO engines. I think that is the first mention in twelve years of any installation of twin VERADO engines for a re-power on a Boston Whaler classic boat. You need a monster hull to make those engine look proportional, and, even then, they are enormous. It is only that our sensibilities of boat and engine proportions have been warped by a decade of monster-sized outboards that we would even think a VERADO could fit on a boat under 35-feet in length.

[Oldslowandugly]

I am in Western Reynolds Channel, Debs Inlet, South Shore of Long Island NY. Without exception, every new boat is powered by a Mercury as if they had a monopoly. However, also without exception, every repower is an E-tec. Around ten years ago it was Yamaha dominating the repowers, but as they aged, they were also replaced by E-tecs. Most of the new police/fire/CG/rescue craft seem to be sporting the G-2s.

[Jefecinco]

I certainly agree [with jimh]: the Verados are huge and look a bit wrong on smaller boats. My 190 Montauk is powered with a Gen2 L4 135-HP Verado and that is a very large engine for the hull. I don't think it looks particularly ugly back there but I wouldn't call it a thing of beauty, either.

Functionally, however, the small Verado (L4) is a masterpiece and beautiful. I wouldn't mind a little less vibration at idle but otherwise perfection is not too strong a word.

For a little perspective on size, to remove the engine cowling with the boat on it's trailer I need a step ladder or a helper. Checking the engine oil level is a pain.

[jimh]

Following up on the production history of the E-TEC 300-HP engine, I found an older discussion that remarked on its first showing at a boat show in October of 2007. See

http://continuouswave.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/015116.html

In the survey, there is one E-TEC 300-HP engine. It is powering the OUTRAGE 22 boat.

[jimh]

In my survey data we can also look at the re-powered boats. They are

OUTRE, 22-footer, 300-HP, two-stroke, Evinrude, E-TEC, re-power 2014
DEFIANCE, 32-footer, twin 300-HP, two-stroke, Evinrude, E-TEC, re-power c.2010
CONTINOUSWAVE, 24-footer, 225-HP, two-stroke, Evinrude, E-TEC, re-power c.2010
LUCKY TWO, 28-footer, twin 250-HP, two-stroke, Evinrude, E-TEC, re-power 2014
MANIC MOMENT, 23-footer, twin 150-HP, four-stroke, Yamaha, EFI, re-power c.2012

OUTRE re-powered from Evinrude to Evinrude E-TEC;
DEFIANCE re-powered from Mercury to Evinrude E-TEC;
CONTINUOUSWAVE re-powered from Evinrude to Evinrude E-TEC;
LUCKY TWO re-powered from Yamaha to Evinrude E-TEC;
MANIC MOMENT re-powered from Yamaha to Yamaha F-Series.

[Masbama]

Just came back from our family vacation at Dauphin Island, Alabama. I don't know about other areas but I could not believe the number of new boats. They are mostly more than 21-feet in length. Lots of brands I'm not familiar with, and it seems they are all powered by Yamaha.