CONTINUOUSWAVE

I have owned [a 1998 DAUNTLESS 15] boat since 2001. I live on a canal in southern Florida. [The 1998 DAUNTLESS 15 is powered by] a 1998 Mercury 75-HP two-stroke-power-cycle engine that weighs about 300-lbs.

I may re-power with a Mercury 75 FOURSTROKE or a SUZUKI DF70, and both weight about 350-lbs.

Give me other engine brands, models, and horsepower for re-powering. Most of the prior threads on [the subject of a re-power of a c.1998 DAUNTLESS 15] are old.

Note the Mercury 75, 90 and 115-HP FOURSTROKE models weigh the same. I find that to be interesting from the perspective of increased take off, not from the perspective of top speed.

I was a forum participant many years ago, I am just now coming back. Thank you--Bob

The Suzuki 70 should weigh less than 350-lbs. The first-generation was 358-lbs and newer models are much lighter.

If you are OK with over powering, there are other very viable options.

To determine if the 1998 DAUNTLESS 15 can handle the extra weight look at the boat itself.

Q1: Is the battery in the stern? If so moving that forward would shift 50 to 60- lbs.

Q2: What about putting a spare battery in the stern to decide [test] if your boat is okay with another 50 to 60-lbs?

Although there are many benefits of a four-stroke- over a two-stroke-power-cycle engine. acceleration from a standing start is normally NOT one of them due to torque range.

If you do not want to overpower and still maintain the performance you have now, consider the E-TEC 75-HP three-cylinder engine. Personally don't mind adding additional ponies, but many here will differ. Also the less horsepower engine the less expensive usually.

Much appreciate the fast response. I am gathering information and right now [the repower engine choice] looks to be one of two directions; either:

--a lightwieght Yamaha F70 at 250-lbs, but only 1 liter displacement,; I am concerned about the torque; or,

--a Mercury 115-HP, as I might as well get the 115-HP since the 75-HP and 90-HP models are the same 350-lbs weight and 2.1-liter displacement.

As a lifelong multiple boat owner I am not an OMC fan so I'm ruling out the E-TEC.

[Your] Ideas [about engine choices will be] appreciated.

Does a Yamaha F70 have enough torque?

Good news is OMC went banckrupt almost 20 years ago and Bombardier is now the owner. The E-TEC is not an OMC product and was developed by Bombardier. I really don't care what engine you buy, just noting that OMC is a distant memory.

Many are very happy with the performance of their Yamaha F70 four-stroke engines on both their 15 and 17 classics.

Not sure if anyone here has re-powered a Dauntless that could give you more performance data.

You may want to try looking at [the Yamaha outboard engine] website and finding a boat of your size and weight, and look at their performance figures and compare.

Whaler might have Dauntless data on their website to compare as well.

I believe on a 950-lbs Montauk people are seeing 35 to37-MPH top speed, but not sure of the oomph. If you are OK with the weight of your current engine, not sure dropping 50-lbs with the 70 would make much of a difference, especially in performance.

My friend's Dad had a 17-foot Edgewater with a Yamaha F100 4 stroke and re-powered it with the F70. It does OK but nothing like the 100-HP, which he got tired of fiddling with the carbs and wanted EFI.

You did not state where your battery is located.

Battery [on the DAUNTLESS 15 boat] is in the center console.

I forgot about Bombardier buying the assets of OMC. I have had good luck with Bombardier products.

The weight of the [unspecified model] E-TEC is about 325-lbs.

Some clarification seems necessary regarding Evinrude and Bombardier:

Evinrude was a brand of OMC. In 1997 OMC was in serious financial difficulty and was sold to a private group led by Alfred Kingsley and backed by George Soros for US-$337-million. About three years later in December 2000, OMC filed for bankruptcy.

In 2001 Bombardier, the large aircraft and railcar manufacturing corporation in Canada, acquired the remnants of OMC from the bankruptcy court in a bid process (with bid partner JTC Acquisition LLC, the affiliate of Minneapolis-based Genmar) for US-$95-million. Soon after, Genmar took the boat building assets (Chris-Craft, Javelin and Four Winn brands) and Bombardier retained the the Johnson and Evinrude outboard-engine lines as well as certain fuel-injection technology intellectual property, and the ownership partnership between Bombardier Inc and JTC Acquisition LLC (Genmar) ended.

In 2003 Bombardier, Inc., spun off a subsidiary (Bombardier Recreational Products or BRP) which included SKI-DOO snow machines, SEA DOO personal watercraft, CAN AM off-road and on-road vehicles, ROTAX engines, and Evinrude and Johnson outboard engines and associated intellectual property, and sold them to a buying group. The buyers were, in short, the Bombardier family, a Canadian investment group 4338618 Canada Inc, and Bane Capital Management, a global investment group.

The Wall Street Journal wrote:MONTREAL -- Bombardier Inc. agreed to sell its recreational-products business to a group including Bain Capital and the Bombardier family for 1.23 billion Canadian dollars (US$879 million), largely completing a recapitalization program that leaves the company focused on its big aircraft and rail-equipment divisions.

Since 2003 BRP Inc. was a privately held corporation, but in 2013 BRP had an initial public offering (IPO) of shares at CA-$21.50. The present BRP is now an public equity-stock owned corporation and listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under symbol DOO. Buying shares in BRP Inc. in 2003 would have been a good investment as their stock rose to around CA-$74 in February, 2020. The stock price, of course, has recently fallen due to problems related to a global pandemic.

The present BRP Inc. now manufacturers the follow brands of products:

• Ski-Doo
• Lynx (snow machines)
• Sea-Doo
• Evinrude
• Rotax
• Can-Am Off-Road
• Can-Am On-Road
• Alumacraft
• Manitou
• Telwater

If you look at the annual report from BRP Inc., you will see that in terms of total sales revenue, the Evinrude operation is not exactly a huge percentage of BRP Inc.'s total revenue. Many badly-informed OMC-haters used to spread fear, uncertaintly, and doubt (FUD) about BRP being poorly capitalized or teetering on the edge. None of that was true. Dock talk about engine brands or off-the-cuff remarks in web forums about engine brands should generally be ignored unless some sort of actual data is cited.

I decided on a Mercury 75 FOURSTROKE [to re-power the 1998 DAUNTLESS 15].

[The DAUNTLESS 15 boat] is at the shop now. I hope to be running [the DAUNTLESS 15 with the Mercury 75 FOURSTROKE in three days]

I will follow up once I form some impressions. Thank you all for the help. Bob

Good choice. What happed to the 90 or 115?

I have run the new Mercury 75 FOURSTROKE engine on the DAUNTLESS 15 for 3.5 hours. The sea state has been too rough for top speed. The highest engine speed so far is 5000-RPM; I think the engine can get to about 5500-RPM. The low engine speed power is good. The 50 to 60-lbs weight increase in the new engine compared to the old engine can be felt isn't causing any problems. The quietness and smoothness of the Mercury 75 FOURSTROKE is incredible. I should have [re-powered with a modern engine] years ago.

NICK--I decided not to spend the extra money to get a 90 to 115-HP engine for re-power. I use this boat to sightsee and cruise around my local area. I rarely run it fast. I have other boats for that.

Good idea [to just re-power the DAUNTLESS 15 with 75-HP]. I was just curious [why you didn't get the 90 to 115-HP engines mentioned earlier].

When I repowered my Banana 19 Revenge in 2006 I did the same. I bought a new in-the-crate 2005 Suzuki 115-HP engine for $5,995 out the door with a six-year warranty. To get a 140-HP engine was almost another $1,400. I did not feel the need to spend $1,400 for 25-HP and a 2-MPH gain. It was a prudent move as the first generation Suzuki DF140 engines were over rated [at 140-HP] and really produced more like 125-HP.