Going Green with Evinrude

During the 1980s and 90s Neil Holmes was possibly Britain’s most successful offshore racing driver in the 2 and 4 litre classes collecting countless National and World championship. Possibly the most memorable for most of us was when accompanied by navigator Jim Cox, the partnership won the World Class 2 title when it was staged in Poole. What made it so remarkable was that Neil was driving ‘Fina Unleaded’ basically a 4 litre catamaran against the likes of Andreas Ugland in a large diesel powered Buzzi monohull. Neil was also one of the pioneers of racing in the UAE long before Victory joined the party. The Holmes family also owner South Godstone Marine in Surrey where Neil established an enviable reputation as being one of Britain’s most successful preparers of racing outboards. Jacqui Missen is now Neil’s other half and helps in their powerboat training school. During the 80s and 90s I raced with dirty, smelly, gas guzzling 2 stroke engines, and whilst they may have contributed to the state the environment is in now, they performed well enough to allow me to win many races.

But with Global warming dominating the headlines and D environmental pollution reaching an all time high, eco agencies have been issuing strict regulations on the use of internal combustion engines. In an attempt to address the problem of making powerboat racing more environment friendly, several manufactures produced normally aspirated and super charged 4 stroke outboard engines to replace the old 2 stroke engines which work on the principal of burning the lubrication oil off into the air. However, whilst the 4 stroke outboard engines have their merits in producing lower exhaust emissions, the engine’s lubrication oil kept in the sump means that at some point you will still need to find a way of disposing of a bucket full of dirty oil. One of the engine manufactures who are focussing on the environmental issues is BRP (Bombardier Recreational Products), and in 2003 they launched the Evinrude E-TEC range of outboard engines. This engine produces less than half the total reportable emissions of competitive technologies today.

Its fully stratified combustion system ensures no smoke, and three times lower carbon monoxide emissions. If you have run a performance 2 stroke engine in the past you will recall that with the engine running it was hard to hear yourself think, and that the amount of smoke billowing from the back would alert the fire brigade! Nowadays fuel charge never escapes the combustion chamber as it is burned and is turned into pure power as opposed to the unburnt fuel seeping out, laying a colourful but pollutant film across the water. The direct injection provides up to twice the fuel efficiency of competitive technologies at specific RPM ranges as its Engine Management Module (EMM) calculates the right amount of fuel needed and delivers precisely into the combustion chamber for fast response and low fuel consumption, and the sealed fuel system minimises evaporative emissions. The design of the Evinrude E-TEC has enabled its assembly head to only consist of two parts.

There are no belts, no timing chains, camshafts or valves to change. This means no scheduled dealer maintenance until three years or 300 hours. Previous high powered 2 strokes would need a major engine rebuild after 40 hours of competitive use. The E-TEC is incredibly quiet due to the idle air bypass circuit, acoustically tuned air intakes and exhaust silencers, and acoustics foam lining, in fact it is so quiet you can forget that you even left it running! It was developed not only to be clean and quiet, but also to ensure an efficient and powerful ride. The E-TEC low weight design, superior torque and horsepower allows a superior power to weight ratio enabling the boat to get onto the plane quicker. In fact our training boat fitted with a 250 HO E-Tec reaches 0-60mph in approx 8 seconds. Keith Whittle from Powertech Marine in Hampshire runs a race circuit catamaran fitted with the same engine married onto a racing lower unit. This outfit has produced spectacular results and reliability, and Keith reports no lack of power, therefore, it’s only a matter of time before this unit becomes a serious contender for honours on the race circuit. However, like most new engines it needs to be marketed at a much higher level than it currently enjoys. The racing 250 HO E-Tech has been the result of a tremendous amount of hard-work and money by Keith and his team, but until other drivers ‘bite the bullet’ and go racing with the engine, it will take time for it to become an established unit. Having looked at how the Evinrude –E-TEC engine contributes positively to the environment, what about the benefits to the average power boater? Well for a start the servicing costs should be minimal, fuel consumption is significantly lower than from the old style 2 strokes, and the power to weight ratio is a major benefit Many emissions standards are met or exceeded with the Evinrude E-TEC outboard engine, including the European Union emissions standards that went into effect on 1st January 2007.

The first full line of outboard engines to receive the California Air Resources Board’s (CARB) 3-star designation for Ultra Low Emissions was the Evinrude E-TEC range which was also the first outboard engine to receive the Clean Air Excellence Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection agency (EPA), in 2005. To suit a range of boating needs, the Evinrude E-TEC is available in a variety of sizes; from 40hp to 250hp, and uniquely – even a colour choice of white or blue.