Power To Play

New Outboards, Sterndrives, Pods And More.

- Chris Landry

After several years of high-horsepower introductions, outboard manufacturers have shifted their focus to the midrange, with Yamaha debuting a much lighter 90-hp 4-stroke and Evinrude pushing out 2-strokes from 150 to 200 hp with its G2 technology.

Meanwhile, the popularity of wake surfing and other tow sports has prompted the arrival of new wave-shaping propulsion systems created through boat and engine manufacturer partnerships. Mercury announced that its Joystick Piloting technology can now be used in applications with inboard power. Sea Ray uses the Mercury joystick on its new 230-W SLX, an inboard boat built with a new system consisting of trim tabs, fins and ballast tanks that controls the wake. Chaparral also has a wake-surfing line, but it uses Volvo Penta’s Forward Drive and Malibu’s wake-surf system.

Volvo Penta at this year’s Miami International Boat Show introduced the last of its next-generation gasoline sterndrives (380- and 430-hp models). The Swedish engine manufacturer in mid-2016 also introduced a joystick system specifically for inboard boats, along with another diesel and accompanying IPS pod drive. Here’s a closer look at what the major engine manufacturers have been up to.

YAMAHA

Yamaha introduced two new outboards this spring — the F90/F75 and the F25. The F90/F75 is a more powerful but lighter engine than its predecessor, which was introduced in 2005. The new 353-pound F90 has a displacement of 1.8 liters and is 13 pounds lighter than the previous, 366-pound model. “It’s a real gutsy engine, with a single overhead cam driving four valves per cylinder,” says David Meeler, Yamaha information manager. “It shares the same block as our F115 but is a completely new engine.”