Ironically I find myself writing my monthly column on an airplane bound for home as I make my way back from the fourth engine media press event in 25 days. At this point I’ve seen the regular marine journalists representing other boating publications more than I’ve seen my own family this month. In a way a lot of these writers have become like family to me, which makes life on the road a little bit easier. If it sounds like I’m complaining, I’m really not because these last few weeks have been very rewarding as a boating enthusiast.
There was a time when I would come to these media events that were hosted by top outboard manufacturers and even though they’d have a half-dozen or more boats in the water, none of them would be pontoons. The engine manufacturers pair up their brand new engines with a variety of different boats so marine journalists can test and review them for the different publications that we represent. However, it’s kind of hard to do your job when the two types of boats that you represent as editor of Pontoon & Deck Boat magazine are nowhere to be found.
That was then, this is now and to be honest it still surprises me that pontoon boats are getting so much recognition in the boating industry today. It would be hard—if not impossible—to attend an engine media event and not find at least one pontoon in the water.
Suzuki Marine held its media event in the Florida Keys at the start of the month and even though the Key Largo, Fla., marina was loaded with large, ocean-going vessels, Suzuki brought in five pontoons for us to review. Crest, Misty Harbor, Qwest, Bentley and the new Caravelle Razor E-Toon were all in the water as the manufacturer revealed its all-new DF200A, the company’s first four-cylinder 200hp engine, as well as its new DF25A and DF30A outboards.
A week or so later, Evinrude made some noise with its unveiling of the second generation of BRP’s Evinrude E-TEC line of two-stroke outboards in Milwaukee, Wis. The line was introduced in 2003, but this E-TEC is an entirely different animal. The E-TEC G2, as it is branded, is the first outboard the manufacturer has built “from the prop shaft to the fly wheel” and BRP boldly promises as much as 75 percent fewer emissions, 15 percent better fuel efficiency and 20 percent more torque than leading four-stroke engines. Kept under wraps during its two years in development, the G2 is also the first outboard designed for the direct injection system. At this event we were able to try out the new engines on a Bennington pontoon, a twin-engine Premier pontoon, as well as a Starcraft deck boat.
Then a few days later, Mercury Marine introduced its new 75, 90 and 115hp FourStroke outboards as well as its new MerCruiser 4.5L 250hp sterndrive at its Fond du Lac, Wis., media event. Here there were two South Bay pontoons—one with the new 115hp and the other with the 4.5L sterndrive as well as a Harris FloteBote pontoon.
The fourth and final engine media event took me to Lake Oconee in Greensboro, Ga., to find out what Honda Marine has been up to. What I found here was Manitou’s 2015 Legacy 25 pontoon, equipped with the powerful 250hp four-stroke from Honda. This is Honda’s flagship engine and the pontoon was clearly the most popular boat on the docks.
Full details on each of these events will be covered in the next issue of PDB magazine. Of course, that all depends on if I can get some time in the office to actually write about all the great engines I’ve seen this month.
