CONTINUOUSWAVE

In the past I have been a bit skeptical about some of the claims made for the Brunswick-made Mercury-branded propulsion system marketed as the VERADO. Because the engine is supercharged, it has always been lagging behind the rest of the modern outboard engines in fuel economy. However, lackluster fuel economy seems to be a thing of the past. I just turned to page 60 of the JUNE 2016 edition of BOATING magazine, and I read their "BOATING Certified Test Results" for a VERADO 300-HP engine on a FourWinns 27-foot boat.

Let me remind readers that the CERTIFIED test was done NOT by some goofy web-forum anonymous on-line contributor; this is a real MAGAZINE that did this test. A boating magazine that is printed every month. A boating magazine to which boating companies pay big money in order to have their advertisements carried. A magazine that has survived all the travails of publishing a printed monthly magazine, the business downturns that have driven other boating magazine out of business. This is the real deal, not internet garbage. Here are the results of their CERTIFIED tests:

Boat Speed / Fuel Economy
5.1 MPH = 5.1 MPG
7.4 MPH = 7.4 MPG
9.2 MPH = 9.2 MPG
24.1 MPH = 24 MPG
34.1 MPH = 34.1 MPG
54.5 MPH = 54.5 MPG

Wait, you might be thinking, those numbers aren't right. No, I checked the math. You see, the CERTIFIED TEST RESULTS show that the VERADO 300-HP engine only consumes 1-GPH, no matter what the throttle setting. Brunswick must have done something really special with that new VERADO to get that sort of fuel consumption with a supercharged engine. I mean, this sort of fuel economy is really unbelievable. But, remember, these are certified test results.

I can't imagine how Mercury could pull this off. The fuel consumption of the engine is completely uniform, no matter what boat speed is used. It just sips one gallon per hour! This is a real breakthrough. It is so good you can hardly believe it--but remember, this data comes from a certified test.

Maybe part of this performance breakthrough comes from the FourWinns hull design. The boat test does mention that the boat has "the nimble, responsive[,] and smooth ride of a premium V-bottom." Until now, I did not realize that there were grades of V-bottom. Apparently premium is the top. I guess my boat must have a mid-grade or even unleaded V-bottom, because I cannot get anywhere near the sort of performance described in this test. This 26.5-foot boat that weighs 5,050-lbs dry (with no fuel, gear, or crew) hits 54.5-MPH with 300-HP. That is really excellent performance. And when you throw in the fuel economy--Oh my! This is so good it is almost unbelievable.

Now if you are not a BOATING magazine subscriber you can see the certified test results on-line. They are published at

http://www.boatingmag.com/four-winns-hd270#page-17

I have also taken the liberty to reproduce the results below:



Also, please note that in the boat test the propeller was the old-fashioned MIRAGE three-blade. I think if they had tested with the ENERTIA ECO the speed and fuel economy would have been even better, although getting 54-miles-per-gallon is darn good.

Perhaps an intern better qualified to make coffee and go out to pick up lunch was editing the story. That's quite an embarrassment.

Do we know what temperature the water was when they ran the certified test?

I believe the water temperature was 71-degrees and was measured by a certified thermometer.

There is something fishy in this data. The calculated fuel ranges are way off. The FOUR WINNS HD 270 boat has a fuel tank of 70-gallon capacity. If we figure the cruising range on a basis of 90-percent of rated tank capacity, that would give 63-gallons of fuel available. Now if the boat runs at 54-MPH and gets 54-MPG, that sounds like the range should be more like

( 54-MILES / 1-GALLON ) × 63-GALLONS = 3,400-MILES

This would be a great asset to point out to prospective owners. You'd only have to put fuel in the tank about once every five to ten years, as long as you always ran at full throttle. Anyone doing a boat test should have figured this out and highlighted it. I know my boat likes to visit the fuel dock every couple days. Being able to go years without needing fuel would be a big savings.

The concept of a 3400-mile cruising range in a boat this size is also really attractive. For example, you could make a long run in this boat without re-fueling. You could go from San Francisco to Hawaii, assuming you hit a weather window where you could maintain the 54-MPH necessary to get the really good fuel economy. I don't suppose you can have that sort of calm in the Pacific Ocean very often, but, boy oh boy, wouldn't it be a blast to just shove off from the dock in San Fran and head west to Hawaii? In your 27-footer? And no refueling? This boat and engine really re-define the potential of small boat long-distance cruising!

From SF to Hawaii is only 2,325-miles. At 54-MPH that would be 44-hours underway. You'd have to have a backup helmsman and be able to sleep while underway. But, heck, you'd get to Hawaii and you'd have only burned 44-gallons. (It was easy to figure that once I knew the duration of the trip, because the fuel flow is only 1-GPH.) That means you'd have enough fuel left for weeks of cruising in the islands. This combination is really amazing. I would love to have this sort of fuel endurance on my boat.

A fellow boater with a good sense of distance emailed me recently to point out that with the amazingly good fuel economy verified in the CERTIFIED tests performed by BOATING magazine, and again calculating the cruising range of the FOUR WINNS HD 270 boat based on 63-gallons useful fuel available from the 70-gallon tank, that cruising from New York to the U.K would also be possible.

Departing from eastern Long Island and making for Land's End in Wales is a trip of 3,040-miles. This is also well within the boat's range when running at the optimum cruising speed of 54-MPH and getting 54-MPG. The trip will take about 57-hours, and, of course, will burn only 57-gallons at the CERTIFIED fuel consumption rate of 1-GPH from the VERADO.

I really think there is more fuel economy to be had from this boat and engine combination. I wish BOATING would repeat their testing with the ENERTIA ECO propeller. That should improve fuel economy compared to the older-style propeller that was used. But, even with the performance not optimized with the ENERIA ECO, here is a rig that you can take trans-Atlantic on less than one tank of gasoline.

I know that you can't expect to run at 54-MPH in the northern Atlantic all the time, but picking the right weather window should enable this sort of fast jaunt to Europe.

Also, if you departed North America from Halifax, Nova Scotia, and took a great circle route, you could raise Land's End in only 2,330-miles, cutting the time at sea down to just 43-hours. Again, with the amazing fuel economy from this hull and engine, the possibilities are almost unlimited.

I just picked up a 2014 210 Dauntless with 27 hours on the 200-HP four-cylinder Verado. I guess it is time to re-power. With numbers like this my range would be increased from 300 miles to about 3000 miles. I checked those numbers with a certified calculator. On the down side, the fuel will go bad before you could use it all. There is always a catch.