I
laughed out loud
when I went to the
Mercury webpage
to check specs –
the first heading
I saw was: ‘Intelligence
Meets Testosterone’ then:
‘Outrageous Power – Refined
Experience’. Those few words
could just about summarise
this entire boat and engine
test for me!
The Mercury Verado 350hp
is a supercharged 2598cc
inline six-cylinder engine
with electronic fuel injection
and air-to-air intercooler.
It features electronic
boost pressure control,
sequential multi-port EFI, a
70-amp/882W belt-driven
alternator, SmartCraft Digital
diagnostics and built-in
electro-hydraulic power
steering. They come in three
colours, including the Warm
Fusion White here.
The recommended rev
range is 5800-6400rpm,
and the level, height and
propeller choice – 20in
Revolution 4 stainless steel
four-blade – seemed right. In
bumpy conditions, with four
crew and 600 litres of fuel
aboard, we hit 6000rpm WOT
and as they were quite new
I’d expect a few hundred revs
more once run in.
A cold-air intake systemis designed to capture cool
air from outside the cowl
and deliver it directly to the
supercharger, while a unique
labyrinth design in the top
cowl keeps the powerhead
dry. The slimmer inline –
rather than V – engine design
suits multi-motor fit-ups
like this, and is aided by the
streamlined cowl, while at
303kg the 350 Verado is the
lightest in its class, beating
the Yamaha F350 V8 by more
than 60kg per engine, which
is a significant difference.
The new Flo-Torq Soft
Shift Rubber (SSR) HD
propeller hub system was
noticeable, reducing the
usual chunky gearshifts of
the strong 5.44in-diameter
Mercury Offshore gearcase
with its 1.75 gear ratio and
1.25in prop shaft. Mercury
claims it’s “the quietest
and smoothest hub system
ever created” and I can
say it seemed to work. Soft
gearshifts are enormously
important when combined
with joystick control, but
in the case of this Boston
Whaler without the joystick
option, the old Mercury gear
clunk wasn’t evident even in
tight marina operations.
We got the frankly
amazing Boston Whaler
350 Outrage hull planing by3000rpm and 15.5kt. Open it
up a touch to 4000rpm – easy
with the light and user-
friendly Digital Throttle Shift
electronic binnacle – and we
were comfortable at 29kt.
What surprised me was the
low total fuel consumption
of only 118 litres per hour,
giving us our best economy
of 0.24 nautical miles per
litre (0.44km/l). With an
estimated on-water weight
of almost 7000kg, plus
our crew of four, that’s an
amazing result.What amazed me more,
though, was how the
combination felt with more
speed. Right up to our wide-
open throttle maximum
speed of 48kt, the triple 350s
remained smooth and near-
silent, and again weren’t bad
on fuel with a combined
flow of 348L/h. To put that
into perspective, that’s
each 350hp engine using
116L/h – a great result for
so much oomph. It mightn’t
be sensible for some, but by
God it was fun!28 trade aboat.com.au