Too Bad !

[Alan]

Somehow I think the marine industry is headed in the wrong direction. I just read a trade journal that is touting a new outboard motor from Seven Marine. This monster outboard is a supercharged Cadillac CTSV V8 engine that produces 557 HP. Now more idiots can tear through the water at ridiculous speeds and suck up even more fuel in order to get to the other end of the bay 60 seconds sooner and can do it all with little more than a joystick while sucking down a cold one.
An awful lot of time and money has gone into this enterprise. This effort could have been much better spent on developing smaller more fuel efficient engines or alternative power sources. Bigger and faster are not the right mindset.

 

[Tim R.]

I used to be involved with auto racing and the key to speed was not HP but rather power to weight ratio. I have no problem with responsible boaters wanting to go fast but this thing was clearly designed for testosterone junkies that may be lacking in some areas.

 

[kloudie1]

Yeah, that is like the "Big Boy" motorcycles where a BIG Chebby V-8 is put on an extended frame.. Good shock value but terrible in application .You have to ask it a half mile in advance to get it around a corner.. . Costs are usually so high that the market doesn't see enough of 'em to make a difference.. Once again, an example of "Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should do it !" I reckon at $4.50/gallon for the premium that it needs, there won't be many takers..

 

[Tim R.]

Claude, that is known as the "Boss Hog". It is a chevy 350 v8. Mainly sold to those who need to feel something big between their legs.

 

[Bill Roosa]

Frotunatly we live in the "land of the free"

They spends their money and gets what they wants.
It is not the motor that is causing the problem. The motor is a symptom of the problem. That big engine is putting someone's kid through college.

 

[DianaOfBurlington]

I am reluctant to consider anyone interested in a 500-HP outboard (let alone three of them, as I have seen) for purposes other than competitive sport as having 'too much testosterone'. I would contend the problem is exactly the reverse. This is a sign of a lack of qualities that make someone truly adult and truly masculine. Any REAL man knows that just because you CAN do something doesn't mean you SHOULD do it. This misinterpretation is responsible for many ills of modern society, waste and arrogance being two of the big ones.

To my mind a REAL man, fully-endowed with the appropriate quantity of testosterone, is one who responds to real needs of his family, his community, and himself, in due proportions. (He also gets round in the middle, narrow in the mind and thin in the hair with age, which probably describes most of the men on this web net!) I have found also that women tend to respect this kind of individual more than the self-important guy who feels a need to put 1500 HP worth of outboards on the back of his boat just because he CAN... and appealing to intelligent and sensitive women is:

1. what these other guys don't seem to value or understand; and
2. kind of the whole point to masculine maturity.

(BTW the gas here just went to 3.20/gallon. I would expect that a 500-HP outboard would be near to negative miles-per-gallon numbers. Imagine the expense.)

Just my two pence

 

[Tim R.]

Diana, I used the term "testosterone junkie" referring to someone who does not have enough and needs to suppliment with big powerful toys.

 

[jackhartjr]

Now ya'll should be carefull here...after all the immigration and border patrol folks have put 3 and 4 outboards rated at 275HP each on the back of their boats. Oh...wait a minute...we bought thoses boats didn't we?

 

[Witzend]

The problem I have is not the high power boats themselves, but where they are running them. Here on the Elk where the C&D canal comes forth, the cigarette boats are pushing 100mph and 120dbls, in their drag racing displays. Now this is a public waterway, should be no different than a public highway, you can't drive a funny car on 95, so why should these "well endowed" guys be aloud to run their penis extensions on our public waterway?

 

[Tim R.]

The problem I have is not the high power boats themselves, but where they are running them. Here on the Elk where the C&D canal comes forth, the cigarette boats are pushing 100mph and 120dbls, in their drag racing displays. Now this is a public waterway, should be no different than a public highway, you can't drive a funny car on 95, so why should these "well endowed" guys be aloud to run their penis extensions on our public waterway?

Agreed, although you have it easy there. Some of the guys who run the go fast boats up here do it in fog.

 

[JK_Boston_Catalina310]

I think you guys are making way too much of this

I am reluctant to consider anyone interested in a 500-HP outboard (let alone three of them, as I have seen) for purposes other than competitive sport as having 'too much testosterone'.

Hey, I hate the ignorant power boater that wakes you as much as the next guy. Just ask my wife how many times she yells at me for giving the finger to some jerk or how much she is afraid of what I will say over the VHF to some of these guys now that I have a RAM Mic at the helm.

But there is good and responsible use of engines of this type. I'll give you an example. I love to go deep sea fishing when we go on vacation but my wife hates it. So when we go on vacation, I will typically book a half day or day of fishing while she goes shopping or to the spa.

Since my time fishing is limited, I want to make the most of it and usually go for a good quality center console with two or three big engines. I do this because I want no fuss fishing and as much as I can get in. I don't need the frills of a cabin. The large engines in the hands of a capable captain get me to the fishing grounds quicker. I usually have to pay more for these charters and the price of fuel is one of the reasons.

When I was in St. Thomas, we went 15-20 miles offshore and we fished for 6 of the 8 hours we had the charter (we spent 1 hour netting live bait and the other hour going to and from the fishing area).

Also, having multiple engines gives you a redundant back up if something goes wrong (I had a shaft shear off in a power yacht on our way from St. Thomas to the BVI. Thank good that had a second engine to get us back).

I wouldn't put one of those big engines on my Catalina but I understand why some people want them. And I have no problem with that as long as they use them responsibly.

 

[mark_swart]

Honestly, it's not the power, it's the sound. If it's so loud that it affects others ability to enjoy time on the water, that's definitely a problem.

 

[Rick Webb]

Actually Makes Some Sense

If you had a 32' fishing boat that would usually use two 250 HP motors you can now use just one. Cuts your maintaince cost in about half, less weight over all, lots of other reasons there. Relibility is up to the point where having two motor is not a real big safety point. Same thing in aircraft the large airframes have gone from four engines to three and now only two. Now putting two of those montors on a 32' boat would a little insane kinda like when we dropped a 302 into a Pinto to beat the guy down the street who put a 350 in a Vega, we smoked him big time.

 

[duality]

i wonder if my catalina can handle it? hmmmmmm.

 

[alexco38]

Some people buy those big motor (and boat) for just 1 trip. No one admit it but that is a much bigger business than recreation.

500 hp Inboard is pretty common but a lot harder to put it a boat. Hang a big outboard on the transom is easy especially in the jungle.

 

[Witzend]

Honestly, it's not the power, it's the sound. If it's so loud that it affects others ability to enjoy time on the water, that's definitely a problem.

I second that!
Why should these guys opperating on inland public waterways be exempt from the same noise laws that apply to the auto industry ?