fastest mercury

[Tim Kurcz]

Not sure about those records........ Just drove this drag hydro two weeks ago. It's a 2.5 L Merc V-6 EFI (F1) on what looks like a Pugh boat. With only a 34" wide tunnel it's a little dicey turning around. Lots of torque roll. Also, the driver must be in the boat for launch or it sinks. Owner Dixon Smith is handling for the start. As a newbie, I drove it to 115+ from just on plane in only 4-5 seconds - what a rush!!!! The former owner claimed 8.7 sec and 143 in the quarter mile dead dig - I believe it! Nothing like the shriek of that Merc quickly winding up!

Tim

[hebert51]

So fast the engine cowling flew off.....lol I dont have any pictures of it right now, but a man i know has a real similar hydro with a triple C on it in his shop, when they were racing, it was burning methanol, and im pretty sure it had a nitrous bottle in it too, but its been a while since i looked at it........I do remember him telling me they were getting speeds real similar to this boat above

[hydroplay]

For most HP, you gotta give the nod to the Hauenstein brothers and Bill Chatfield for their Wizard Merc. They put together an OZ class motor that was so fast that OMC quickly moved to have it banned. It had marvelous engineering and machining to maximize the output of 2 Champ-like powerheads. I think they were only using 2 liter versions back then so it ended up being a 4 liter, 12 cylinder, 600 hp motor with cylinders grouped in 3s for maximum exhaust scavenging with a compact, simple sytem.