Facts about Evinrude/Johnson racing outboards made my OMC

**WaterZebra** · 10-20-2024, 03:29 PM

Originally Posted by 2us70

OMC sold those motors in the US at that time and they were not competitive with the 44ci Mercurys over here. I wonder what made the difference?

We had an SD class in Region 10 and with a little prop rigging and weight balance changes, those OMC 50s beat Mercs..................

**lars strom** · 10-20-2024, 04:11 PM

Early summer of 1975 the Danish boat builder Christian Molgaard surprised the UIM SD class world by winning the UIM European SD championship race with his new cat and the new Evinrude 50HP.
This is me and him in the Swedish Newspaper after the race.
First picture
Second is his winning boat.

**lars strom** · 10-21-2024, 01:35 AM

Up to this race 1975 the UIM SD class was ruled by the Swedish made outboard 60HP Archimedes/Penta ( 3 cylinder/looper ) owned by Volvo Penta.
The Danish driver put an end to that..!!..with a 2 cylinder/looper.

**lars strom** · 10-21-2024, 12:57 PM

Keith Whittle
Stewartby, UK 2008.
Thanks Fast on Water

**lars strom** · 10-22-2024, 01:56 PM

Jack Aylsworth
Group expert

All-star contributor

Loop-Charging & Increased Cubes Ruled the Late 1980’s

New Looper V8’s - Outboard performance took a major leap forward in 1985 with the introduction of the World’s First Production V8 motor. The Evinrude 3.6XP V8 (and Johnson 3.6GT) would also lay claim to being the “First Loop-Charged V8” motor. 1986 would see a second V8 with the launch of the Evinrude (and Johnson) loop-charged 275 horsepower V8 model. (The 3.6 & 275 V8’s both sported a healthy 220 cubes.)

New Looped-Charged V6’s - While the 3.6 V8’s provided industry bragging rights for being “Worlds Most Powerful Production Outboards”, the introduction of their first looped-charged V6 in 1986 provided significantly greater market potential. At that time in marine history, there were far more boats available for the new loop-charged 225 horsepower 165 cubes V6 motor.

New Loop-Charged V4’s and More - An even broader market awaited the introduction of first loop-charged V4’s - the new 110 cubes 120 & 140 horsepower motors. 1985 and 1986 were indeed two very significant years for OMC. In addition, Evinrude & Johnson’s bolstered their highly-successful “cross-charged” V6 lineups with a hot new cross-charged 175 horsepower 160 cubes model. (Two 200 horsepower loop-charged V6 models, which included a high-performance Evinrude XP200 (and Johnson GT200), would soon follow.)

More Cubes – More Performance - By 1988, the 275 and XP300 V8’s had even more performance having been increased to 244 cubes. And, the loop-charged 225, 200 & XP200 V6’s were even stronger having been increased to 183 cubes. The V6 cross-charged lineup continued with the 160 cubes 175, plus the 149 cubes 150 and XP150.

Demand for More Horsepower - Average horsepower had grown a remarkable 25 percent between 1980 and 1988 driven by the ever increasing horsepower of the V8’s, V6’s and V4s. The number of Evinrude & Johnson outboard models had also grown dramatically counting 100 models in 34 horsepower categories for each brand.

Photo montage – 1986 Evinrude V6 ad and catalog pages.

**lars strom** · 10-25-2024, 01:46 AM

Matt Bucknell

My dad Todd Bucknell leading the field in SE class, I believe ‘91? Maybe somebody can help me out if they recognize the picture or people in it.

**2us70** · 10-25-2024, 09:13 AM

When did production of the 3cyl 49in OMC motors stop?

**lars strom** · 10-25-2024, 11:19 AM

@2us70

If I remember correct the last Sprint 3 cyl 49 cubic inch was 1992/93. After that the 3 cyl. was 56 cubic inch

This is from the 1992 sales brochure and the Sprint/FormulaE 75 49 cubic inch was still in production..

**lars strom** · 10-26-2024, 02:15 PM

Renato 1984.

**lars strom** · 10-28-2024, 02:13 AM

Jerry Kashmerick

While working at OMC I designed and built two reverse 3 point hydroplanes. Using a 115hp Evinrude the first boat went 55mph, the second boat (lower one) went 82 mph. The wings achieved lift to reduce water drag, and reduce chance of flipping over from the front.

**2us70** · 10-28-2024, 10:13 AM

I wonder how drivable those boats were?. Never saw a boat like that at a race.

**peterse90** · 10-28-2024, 10:34 AM

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Never saw a boat like that at a race.

James Beard in a boat of his own design.

**Instigator** · 10-28-2024, 11:35 AM

Looks like a stuff waiting to happen!

Originally Posted by peterse90

Never saw a boat like that at a race.

James Beard in a boat of his own design.

**2us70** · 10-28-2024, 11:38 AM

That one looks more like a short tunnel boat with a long cockpit center section rather than a 3 point hydro. Always wanted to try a cabover hydro but never got the chance.

**2us70** · 10-28-2024, 11:48 AM

My perspective on this stuff may be a little different due to my age. I can recall when it seemed like a good idea to run a Inboard Hydroplane in a two day 60 mile each way marathon. Mind you that these boats were designed to be run in 5 mile closed course heats. I think the Italians have a race kind of like that still today.