Mercury V-12 600HP Verado outboard!

Their are a lot of innovations, like the 2 speed transmission, gear case turns and not the entire engine, etc. etc. Just can'

The problem is. The beauty of something like the Mag Bay is it's clean transom for fishing. The outboards would make landing a fish extremely hard. On a center console, you have the entire side of the boat to land the fish and still not as ideal as the clean stern of a Sportfish.

Great idea, would love to see what they gain with the extra space. I thought the same about Tiara's 4300.

Agreed but on the other hand, it does enable a shallower draft which can be of importance to certain buyers and would also be a popular move I would think for the current trends.

Thinking out side of the box (building?);
a) Is this why Volvo dropped their 7 gas outboard?
b) Would Mercurys new package design allow for a diesel application in the near future?

That's very good product development and positioning. Same price for the same horsepower and one less engine and its associated drag, reliability penalty and service cost.

Will be interesting to see how the reliability pans out with the rotating lower unit but the performance benefits to cost seems terrific.

Given some of the issues early pod designs had with corrosion etc, I asked about this as well. Apparently hasn't been an issue with the corrosion resistant parts and the fact that everything is pretty well protected in the motor. They have over 5k hours of (in boat) WOT run time on some of their test motors without issue.

Benefit here is that assuming the engines tilt, you can likely service these engines easier than the pod drives that typically requires a haul out.

Its not going to happen on our 42. We designed our 42 as an inboard and its going to stay that way. We are going to do a larger CC and these motors will definitely be accounted for.

That's the problem I see with these motors. Due to their weight, you pretty much have to design a boat around them. In the big CC class, lets say 39-42', right now many can be powered with say 3- 350 to 450hp outboards or 4 of them and the extra 700 lbs back there doesn't effect COG too drastically that changes in design have to be made for the extra motor. With these, they're SOOOOO heavy that you pretty much have to design a boat just for them. The other issue is having a transom strong enough for them. I would imagine between the weight, the duo props AND the 2 speed transmission, they're going to REALLY put a lot of torque on the transom.

Now, as in Mercury fashion, I have a feeling within a year or so we'll see a 700 HP or maybe even a 800HP version and then the weight would make a lot more sense as 2 of them could replace 4 outboards. At 600 HP, their HP to weight ratio just doesn't make sense......

So everyone is thinking about the transom strength with these motors. Hp is hp as far as transom loading is concerned, 2 motors vs 5 of same total hp and torque shouldn't matter. I would suggest that max loading on the transom would be from the thrust from motors times their shaft length. That applied moment trying to tear off the transom should be peak loading. I would think any NA designs the boat to handle the rated hp regardless of motor quantity. Didn't the cc world ready deal with this when they switched from 2 smoke to 4 stroke? What say the group?

There were some issues with switching from 2 stroke to 4 stroke with many builders due to the weight at that time. Many self bailing floors now had water on them 24/7.

It's not just torque, it's the torque applied to the water. Between the duo props, lower gear ratio, total weight of the engine, torque of the engine, and it being more concentrated to a smaller area of the transom (where it bolts), I think builders are going to really need to consider that and beef it up. The bigger problem that I see is the weight compared to the 450 hp.......no matter how you slice the pie, the same combination of V 12's to get the HP of more 450's, it's still a much heavier combination with less V 12's. So I think builders are going to need to move tankage and other weight further forward and design a boat just for the v12's.......or just for the 450HP and under engines. Not be able to say ohhh you can have 3-450's or 4-450's depending on what you want and it doesn't much matter.....

My biggest problem with this entire phenomena, is who the heck wants to sit at the fuel dock after running an entire day, for 2 hours, smelling noxious gas fumes to refill the tank with 600-900 gallons of fuel with a nozzle that only pumps 6-7 GPM, versus a high speed diesel nozzle at 20-30 GPM. Plus gas runs around $1 a gallon more here.......but it seems like a race to the fuel dock.....versus say a 42' Mag Bay or 45' Hatteras EX that cruises at 35 knots and then you're topping off the tank at 20 GPM+ so your total time ends up being the same.

Agree completely about diesel being superior power for these boats but it's their money
I think they like it when everyone can see there big motors hanging off the transom.
As far as transom strength, don't know if there is any appreciable difference between number of outboards. Would think total torque, weight matter for transom strength not number of props.
Agree added weight can and did affect boats waterline compared with 2 smoke. Do these huge new cc's have that little freeboard to spare?

Possibly, could have self bailing floors no longer self bailing and water coming in scuppers, but the biggest issue is COG of the boat. Add an extra 1-2000 lbs on the transom and I see many great running boats, now running very bow high....etc..... Might have to start moving batteries and fuel tanks further forward to compensate.

Duo props and lower gear ratio make a difference on transom stress as you now have a lot more low end torque transmitted to the water......and hole shot.......Looks like several manufacturers have already started putting these on, at least as far as testing goes according to that one website.

One or two press folks who went to the unveiling wrote that it was disorienting not to see the engines swivel when they turned the wheel due to the new drive system. I glance back all the time at my outboards when docking for a visual reference of thrust direction and would miss that useful indicator with these new behemoths.

i never look at my rudders when docking .

It may just be different not to see them swivel, but I can't imagine anyone actually looking at them and using the visible turn when docking. You certainly use feel more than look. If anything, just a little adjustment to one's method.

The new V12 weights about 1250 lbs vs 950 for a 400/450 Yamaha. Triple 400s would eight more than twin 600s

yes the 400 Verados are lighter but I don’t think boats with triple Yamahas have issues, do they?