MODERN MARVEL
THE VOLVO PENTA
FORWARD DRIVE
In response to the increasing
popularity of wakesurfi ng and
the demand for more afford-
able family boats with that
capability, Volvo Penta did a
180-degree take on the original
Aquamatic, putting the props
in front of the lower unit. The
Forward Drive is an adapta-
tion of the tractor drive, which
uses the propeller system to
pull, rather than push, the boat
through the water. With the
props tucked 21 inches farther
forward than with a rear-facing
sterndrive, the Forward Drive
lets surfers shred safely behind
any boat.JIM WYNNE
While Ole Evinrude — and later Carl Kiekhaefer of Mercury — brought recreational boat-
ing to the masses with outboard power in the 1930s, ’40s and ’50s, an industry executive
and racing enthusiast changed the game again with his popularization of the sterndrive,
also known as the inboard/outboard. Ironically, Wynne was working for Kiekhaefer when
he helped develop the fi rst sterndrive engine. According to Mercury’s own history, Wynne
worked for Mercury from 1953 until 1958. It was there that Wynne worked in secret on
the design of the sterndrive, under the direction of the famous Mercury executive Charles
Strang, who actually fi rst conceived of the idea in 1948. Kiekhaefer had originally rejected
the concept, so Strang worked on it with Wynne in secret. In 1958, Wynne left Mercury
and began assembling a sterndrive prototype out of outboard parts in his garage in Miami.
Later, Wynne traveled to Sweden to present the idea directly to Volvo Penta’s president,
who liked it enough to reach a licensing agreement with him.
At the New York Boat Show in 1959, Wynne publicly introduced the fi rst Volvo Penta
Aquamatic sterndrive, paired with an 80 hp engine block. An enthusiastic boat racer,
Wynne also worked with Don Aronow to help build what eventually became the vener-
able Donzi Sweet 16. Mercury joined the party in 1961, and sterndrives started winning
over boaters. Over the next decade, boat-racing enthusiasts began to phase out outboard
power in favor of sterndrive applications because the design allowed builders to mount
bigger, more powerful engine blocks directly into the hull and couple them with the
drive. In terms of horsepower, outboards at the time just couldn’t compete. Soon gasoline
sterndrive applications became synonymous with boats, from the family runabout up to
PHOTOS: COURTESY VOLVO PENTAthe midsize cruiser, and racing would never look back.
Jim Wynne brought the
idea of the sterndrive to
Volvo Penta, which built
them for production and
changed the face of
recreational boating.BOATINGMAG.COM | JUNE 2018 | 87