Riviera, Maritimo sideline 600hp Verado V12 – for now

Both Riviera and cross-water rival Maritimo have said while they’re interested in what Mercury is doing with big outboard engines, adopting the technology for their own products wasn’t yet in any business plans.

Mercury Marine Australia was out in force at the recent 2021 Sanctuary Cove International Boat Show, bringing both boat-builders up to speed on the new product that introduces a radical lower steering gearbox that leaves the outboard engine fixed solidly to the transom.

The engine already is proving a popular choice among US brands rolling out big saltwater centre consoles stretching more than 14 metres in length – a very different boat to those produced in Australia for the global market. 

However, due to the 576kg weight and the enormous power of the 7.6-litre V12 engine, the boats that will use it need significant structural support around the transom and aft section that also adds significant weight.

Not only that, to push transom-heavy boats up onto the plane, the boats are likely to need at least two V12 engines – each with a set of counter-rotating propellers that double the bite on the water – just to get the traction they need.

The Mercury V12 Verado is believed to be due in Australia in about August, fitted to either a New Zealand-made Protector RIB or a US-sourced Boston Whaler fibreglass boat – both the brands are held by US-based Brunswick Corp, the same company that owns Mercury.

Riviera chief executive Wes Moxley said his brand was so busy with its current product mix that the V12 was off the radar, at least for the current five-year business plan.

“It would be nice to have it [the Mercury V12] for Riviera, and we’d never say never, but Riviera has never built an outboard-engined boat,” Moxley said.

“We really like the technology that inboard engines like those from Volvo Penta bring to the table.

“It’s good that Mercury is committed to the industry with products like the V12, but our hands [at Riviera] are pretty full at the moment.”

Over at Maritimo – which races boats with outboard engines – the feeling is mutual.

Maritimo’s chief designer, Tom Barry-Cotter, said his brand had nothing planned for Mercury’s V12 for the time being.

“I think it’s an incredible product,” Barry-Cotter said. “I think Mercury does a great job in the industry in as far as what they’re doing.

“They will do with that engine, and I think that certainly opens up doors as to what you can do," he said.

“I told them [Mercury] that we have no plans of doing anything.”

However, he said Mercury should also be exploring what the possibilities were with the new engine, not just boat designers.

Barry-Cotter said designing a boat for the new Mercury V12s would be just as involved as designing a new platform for electrification or pod drives.

“It’s a completely different product.”