Supplied as standard are two seats and there are four in-deck spigots for different seating plans.Ī petite bow roller leads anchor line into a smallish, self-draining, carpeted anchor well. Three hefty fellers could move about the boat with no argument.Ī beam of 2.2 metres makes for space and plenty of it to fish and maybe store the odd esky or two.
With a full-flotation Mod Pod, the cockpit is big.
I ran my eye and my tape measure over the side-console Nomad to check its functionality as a fishing platform. Evinrude states E-Tecs need no run-in period, which meant that I could operate this engine at all speed right from the start with no break-in period – another unique feature. There is no choke lever or button and, even in the cold conditions, the motor ran smoothly at idle. I turned the key and the 40hp Evinrude E-TEC gurgled into life. Roger and I were well rugged up as we slipped the boat in at Kangaroo Point near Brooklyn, on the mighty Hawkesbury River. It was a cold, windy Winter’s day with the odd spray of rain. Tweaking the engine by computer to accept the special Evinrude XD100 lubricant, a tank of outboard oil should last around a year of standard operation.Īll this is a big call for an outboard and I must admit I shook my head with more than a degree of scepticism when Roger Huett, of Huett Marine, espoused the virtues of the new Evinrude on a radio show we co-hosted. It was heralded as a two-stroke motor that was as quiet as a four-stroke, belched fewer fumes, was as economical as a four-stroke and needed servicing only every 300 hours or three years. Money was ladled into the brands, firstly to establish them as one of the best in bolt-on power and, secondly, to comply with the very strict emission codes of the US.Įvinrude was chosen as the brand that would lead with all this new-fangled technology and the direct-injection E-Tec emerged.
Bombardier swept the outboards into its loving, mega-rich arms and offered the engines back to the public with full service and parts back-up. However, along came Bombardier, a giant Canadian foster-parent with a huge manufacturing base encompassing everything from commercial and executive aircraft to railway locomotives to snowmobiles, quad bikes and personal water craft. A few years ago, Outboard Marine Corporation, the long-time manufacturers of Johnson and Evinrude, ran into financial difficulty and the brands looked like they might be orphaned. This engine marks the latest chapter in the interesting Evinrude/Johnson story. There’s been a lot of publicity and hype preceding the release of these motors and I wanted to separate truth from fiction by going for a test run.
I was keen to have my first ride in a boat powered by the new Evinrude E-Tec engines. ALTHOUGH I was giving the Stacer 460 Nomad an evaluation, it was the new technology on the back that took a lot of my interest.