July 22, 2025

As you are reading this on Tuesday July 22, I’m in Florida as the guest of Mercury Marine to learn the details of a new engine and to review two boats powered with the new (so far secret) engine. What will it be? With a lineup of Mercury outboards that already spans a range from 2.5 to 600 horsepower, it’s hard to see where there is a gap in the lineup. Might they bump their V12 / 600 up to 650 or even 700 hp? Or is there a gap somewhere? Like maybe in the V10 range? That engine had its debut just three years ago and I was at Lake X in Florida to run the new engine. It was a mighty 350 or 400 hp V10 that was smooth and sexy-sounding with plenty of muscle for bigger boats.

However, I don’t find the V10 on the Mercury website today. Is that simply a website situation or a hint of a coming change? I could not imagine the V10 being discontinued – it was awesome. Will I learn about the change in Florida this week? Certainly, the market for bigger boats, offshore centre consoles and ever-bigger and more elaborate day boats has been where the sales action is, and therefore the big money. But maybe Mercury has plans for the smaller end of the market. While their range seems very complete, maybe there is a new thrust for smaller and more affordable boats. I’d really like to see that. Not every boating area needs, or can even accommodate big boats and big power. Our island on Charleston Lake in eastern Ontario was well-served by a fleet of 15 and 16-footers over the years and 40 hp was sufficient. Is there a unserved market waiting for new boats in that range?

At the Toronto International Boat Show this past January, I was stopped dead in my tracks by a brand-new but retro-styled Starcraft -a new reproduction of their 1957 Ski Champ runabout. The boat was attractive, very authentic and with a colour-matched Mercury 25 was priced about $25,000. ‘Amazing and attracting buyers. Here is our Starcraft Ski Champ story from last March: https://canadianboating.ca/news/boat-shows/starcraft-1957-ski-champ-replica-makes-waves/

I see a bifurcation in boating. The high-end wake sports boats, luxury day boats and over-the-top centre consoles are certainly exciting and can deliver a fabulous boating experience but could a little boat like the Starcraft also create great memories?

I think it could and sales reports indicate that worthwhile numbers of boat buyers agree. Maybe as an industry we should support and applaud buyers who just want a simple boat to get out and enjoy boating.

Stay tuned for next week when we reveal the new Mercury engine. Can’t wait to see what Mercury is focused on this time!

Andy Adams – Editor