Engine Room

BluNav Studies Whales: Builds New Prop

By Peter Janssen on April 10, 2024 Cruising Life, Engine Room

BluNav, a French start-up, has a new idea for boat propellers. After studying humpback whales, it developed a Whale Design prop for its electric drives with the blades set on a magnetically driven inner ring. So far, of course, traditional boat propellers have been mounted on a shaft. But BluNav likes to think outside the box. Founded in 2020, the company wants to promote electric power for recreational and commercial vessels. Recently it has taken a hybrid approach, developing its BlueSpin electric propulsion system that can be used with a boat’s original combustion engine. The BlueSpin provides silent propulsion with…

Sharrow Unveils New Contra-Rotating Props

By Peter Janssen on March 27, 2024 Engine Room

Sharrow Marine apparently believes, with good reason, that two are better than one. Its revolutionary no-blade prop represented the first major design change in fixed propellers in a century when it was introduced in 2020. Now, the Michigan company just announced that it will make an upgrade, the CX contra-rotating prop for outboards and sterndrives. The two props will rotate in opposite directions on a single shaft. Sharrow will offer the CX for Volvo Penta DuoProp sterndrives, Mercury V12 outboards, Bravo 3 sterndrives, and Suzuki 300- and 350-hp outboards. The basic Sharrow uses loops to produce thrust, not blades. The…

Cox Launches New 350-hp Diesel Outboard

By Peter Janssen on March 5, 2024 Engine Room

Cox Marine recently introduced its new 350-hp diesel-powered outboard. The British builder says it’s the largest V-8 diesel outboard in the world. The new 350 is designed to narrow the gap between gas- and diesel-powered outboards. Cox started its move into the international diesel outboard market with a V-8 300-hp entry, which was approved for sale in the U.S. a few years ago, satisfying all the environmental and safety regulations. The 350 simply ups the ante. The new 350 generates 776 pounds of torque at 2600 rpm, compared to 707 pounds on the 300, according to the company. It also…

Tohatsu Unveils New 6kW Electric Outboard

By Peter Janssen on February 14, 2024 Boat Reviews, Engine Room

Tohatsu, Japan’s oldest builder of outboard motors, just unveiled its first all-electric outboard at the big Miami show. The new outboard, developed in partnership with Ilmor Marine in Detroit, delivers 6kW (the equivalent of 8.2-hp), enough to power a small boat or RIB. The 6kW outboard is just the first in a new family of electric outboards, Tohatsu said. It has integrated tilt and trim, a touchscreen to run all its systems, and many options for shafts and props. It will be available in the U.S., Canada and Europe later this year. The Miami announcement is just the latest in…

New Electric Outboard with Dolphin-like Drive

By Peter Janssen on February 6, 2024 Engine Room

FinX, a French startup, just introduced its revolutionary electric-powered outboard motor that uses fin-driven thrust, copied from the movement of dolphins, instead of a propeller. The basic idea is that FinX replaces the propeller with a fin-like undulating membrane; when it’s agitated by the electric motor, the membrane develops thrust that pushes the boat forward. The linear motor excites a ring-shaped membrane, causing it to undulate and send wave energy through the water, creating thrust. The basic FinX outboard has a 72-A 48-V lithium battery that will drive a small boat or a RIB up to a top speed of…

New eLite Electric Outboard: 14.7 Pounds

By Peter Janssen on January 23, 2024 Engine Room, Gear

ePropulsion, the major marine electric-propulsion company, just launched its new 500W eLite electric outboard motor at the Düsseldorf show. The new eLite is compact, less than three feet long, and lightweight, coming in at just 14.7 pounds, including the battery. It’s designed for the tender, RIB and smaller boating market, offering clean, quiet and eco-friendly propulsion. It has a direct-drive motor and an advanced propeller design, and it requires very little maintenance. Danny Tao, co-founder and CEO of ePropulsion, called the new eLite “a game-changer in marine propulsion. With its innovative features and commitment to sustainability, we believe the eLite…

Yamaha Unveils New, Light, V6 F350 Outboard

By Peter Janssen on January 22, 2024 Cruising Life, Engine Room

Yamaha just announced that it’s making a new 4.3L V6 Offshore F350 outboard that weighs just 629 pounds and that delivers a powerful 11:1 compression ratio. The new F350, available for OEM or repowering applications, fits between Yamaha’s F300 and EXT Offshore 425 outboards. It replaces the V8 350 that Yamaha produced from 2007 to 2019, which was popular for its horsepower but had a high power-to-weight ratio. The new V6 F350 comes in at 175 pounds less than the old V8; indeed, Yamaha says the new F350 has the best power-to-weight ratio in its class. It produces 70 amps…

Mercury Debuts 2 New Electric Outboards

By Peter Janssen on January 16, 2024 Cruising Life, Engine Room

Mercury just introduced two new, more powerful, Avator electric outboards at the big Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Mercury now has a total of five electric outboards on the market. The new outboards are called the Avator 75e (10-hp) and the Avator 110e (15-hp). The high-torque, portable and rechargeable outboards are designed for small boats or tenders for cruising boats. The appeal for larger boat owners is that they can have an environment-friendly outboard for their tender and they don’t have to carry gas on board if they have a diesel-powered cruiser. The new Avators require minimal maintenance, and…

Yanmar Building New Hydrogen Engine

By Peter Janssen on January 9, 2024 Engine Room

Yanmar just announced that it’s making a 4-stroke, high-speed marine engine that uses hydrogen fuel. The goal is to develop hydrogen power for zero-emission vessels. Yanmar is working with the commercial coastal cruising industry in Japan on the hydrogen power project now, but the implications for recreational cruising boats in the future are vast. While it is developing the new hydrogen engine, Yanmar is also working on a hybrid-electric-propulsion vessel that would combine hydrogen-engine generators with batteries. The preliminary innovative design incorporates a container type of a hydrogen power generation system on the upper deck. As part of its transition…

7-Point Diesel Engine Checklist

By co_admin on January 1, 2024 Cruising Life, Engine Room

Here’s some basic, but important, advice from Skipper Tips about how to make sure that all is well once you start your boat’s diesel engine(s): You turn the key, push the diesel engine starter button and your engine starts just like you expect it to. But did you realize that you have seven quick checks to make that could spell the difference between a trouble-free day or a long, slow tow back to the marina dock? Follow these seven tips from marine diesel guru Peter Compton: 1. Watch for Exhaust Water. Look over the side. Make sure you have water…

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