Mercury's Active Trim available in Australia

Mercury Marine officially launched it new automatic Active Trim system at the recent 2016 Miami International Boat Show. Now the local Mercury Marine boys have disseminated the information for the local release of the product.

"It also solves issues with the engine trimming up too early or too late while the boat is getting up on a plane. It’s a great system that’s a step ahead of the rest," Paul added.

The new GPS-based system is designed to make boating easier and more enjoyable by automatically trimming outboard and sterndrive engines to optimum performance levels.

Mercury says it has tested Active Trim with countless boaters, dealers and boat builders and the response was overwhelmingly positive. Apparently, boaters likened Active Trim to moving from manual to automatic transmission on a car.

Taking care of the so-called black art of boat trim (which isn't that hard to master, really), the new Active Trim system means newbie boaters are immediately able to drive a properly trimmed with no intimidating learning curve, Mercury says.

Active Trim has been designed to assist expert boaters, improve engine performance and decreasing fuel costs.

BROAD COMPATIBILITY
A big selling point is the fact that Active Trim is compatible with 40hp to 400hp Mercury FourStroke outboards, two-stroke outboards with SmartCraft, and all petrol and diesel MerCruiser sterndrive engines with SmartCraft.

The system is also available for retrofitting to engines already in the field, says Merc.

The new Mercury auto-trim system follows competitor's Volvo Penta's
Automatic Boat Trim that uses its proprietary Interceptor trim tabs and
integrated GPS receivers to keep your boat in optimum trim.

During our international travels, we are finding more and more new boats for testing with auto trim systems. Active Trim will add to that. But Mercury
is keen to point out some key differences with its system...

MERCURY DIFFERENCES
Mercury says that the key to its Active Trim is its own exclusive and patented GPS-based control system.

Unlike systems that use only engine rpm to control trimming, Mercury’s Active Trim controls the trim in accordance with boat speed and engine rpm to avoid potential problems such as engines trimming up (instead of down) if the propeller breaks loose in a hard turn.

Mercury says it also avoids issues with the engine trimming up too early or too late when the boat is getting on plane.

Mercury says an Active Trim exclusive is its five selectable trim profiles that accommodate a wide range of boats from small runabouts, pontoons, bass boats and cruisers to high-performance applications.

There’s no need to manually enter trim settings versus rpm into a multi-functional display, as required by some systems. Simply run the boat and select the profile that is best suited for that application.

These profiles allow operators to further personalise Active Trim to suit their driving style and/or compensate for changes in boat load, operator preference and weather conditions, while maintaining full auto operation.

MANUAL OVERRIDE
For operators wanting to get the last knot out of their boat, Active Trim can be overridden by using the regular manual trim buttons, though auto mode can be easily re-engaged.

For your boatsales and BoatPoint crew, we feel these auto-trim systems remove some of the enjoyment of driving a boat well. Knowing how to use trim tabs and engine trim is one of the satisfying parts of setting up a boat and maximising its performance.

But for newbies, these trim systems will make boat driving a no-brainer and the big engine makers are all simplifying operation.

Active Trim is now available from Mercury dealers in Australia. More at our local brand of  Mercury Marine.