• Mercury Blog Post: Breakout Show!

    My first indication this was going to be a breakout Miami show was first thing Thursday. We had a huge gathering of media and trade professionals for our 10:05 a.m. press conference.

    Kevin Grodzki was first up to unveil the Mercury 150 Fourstroke outboard for its debut appearance at the world’s largest boat show. Fred Kiekhaefer followed with his unveiling of our all-new 565 sterndrive. Both engines were very well received. From that point on – the show was a non-stop-go.

    Development of the 565 [conception to production] was done in one year. A limited number of engines were built, sold and delivered to boat builders in time for the show. Cigarette Racing purchased a set of Devil Red Eye 565s for display in their new 38 Top Gun 90+ MPH hull. We also had two 565 powered boats in water for demo rides at the Sea Isle Marina. Nor-Tech brought their new 420 Monte Carlo with twin 565s. Formula showcased a 400 Super Sport FX hull; also with 565 power. That boat didn’t move much – and for good reason. It was sold a few weeks prior to the show. There was no need to run it. The idea having a pair of high performance big blocks, with plenty of snort and torque, sold itself.


    A couple, who formerly owned a Formula 382 FASTech sport boat, told 565 engine tech Steve Draves they wanted to get a cruiser like the 400 Super Sport so they can enjoy time on the water with the grand kids yet still enjoy performance similar to what they experienced in the FASTech. They left the Mercury dock to order their new from Formula with 565 power.

    Skater Nation supplied us with the fastest boat at Sea Isle Marina; a beautiful 444 Skater with twin 1350s. The boat, capable of 170 mph, was a memorable ride for those lucky enough to get a ride. Thank you to driver Grant Bruggemann, Tommy Hoffstetter and the Skater Nation crew for helping us demo the performance capabilities of the 1350 sterndrives.

    “The boat tops out at about 63 mph with the diesels. We got to 86 with the 565s. When you compare fuel prices [diesel versus gas] and engine costs, the 565s are a no brainer,” Nils said. “Fuel economy is quite good. We are getting around two miles-per-gallon at the 60 mph cruise speed. We are seeing better fuel economy with the 565s than we do with outboards [the Monte Carlo is based on the same hull used on Nor-Tech's 39 outboard center console],” said Nils.

    Cigarette Racing again had an incredible booth, featuring an AMG themed 50 Marauder with twin 1350s and a 42-foot Huntress center console with five Verado 350 SCi outboards! They too had a successful show. I was there when Phil Lipschutz (owner of Lip-Ship Performance) told Cigarette CEO Skip Braver he sold two Marauder’s at the show. Skip was very pleased. Before the show ended, all the Cigarettes had happy owners!

    Read the full blog post here >>
Frank Mole Transport