Bertram Entering the Outboard Market

Pascal, I don’t see a lot of Hondas in Florida or the Bahamas, nor in SE NC where we boat as well. Suzuki seems to be making a run. You get around more than me but I just don’t see a lot of Hondas. I have often wondered why Hondas don’t sell more OBs because their other products cars and small engines are very good. It appears their dealer network is small.

What other areas?
There are few to none from Alaska to San Fran. That is all I know.
I do see the utility and function of the CC, I would love to own one if I were in a more year round sunny local.

That market is starting to grow. The new tariffs to Europe encouraged Sea Ray to add many outboard models and that includes a Sundancer 320. Others have added similar.

We will soon see some pure diesel OB’s in the 300hp range. Hoping they are a success, be nice to have a single fuel onboard.

They all have been chasing the military market as the Coast Guard and Navy are tired of having dual fuels onboard for their RIB’s and over the horizon small craft. Hoping that they can meet the military duty cycle and can translate that to a win on the Rec market.

Since we are discussing it, here is the latest version of the COX 300;

Interestingly, on their web site, they have specs, but do not include the weight in them. Well, it's 826 lbs. Nearly 300 pounds more than Mercury and Yamaha. It is substantially lighter than Sevens.

Conquest 405 is not a CC though. They call it their SUV. Engine choices are quad Mercury, either 300 hp, 350 hp, or 400 hp.

Yep late move from Bertram , but I guess better late then never.
But the brand is slowly returning back and only launch its second 61 model last year.
Having such a pulse in the market, and really being attentive even Viking was late in my book.
CC with outboards have been growing and double digits since 2010.
Hatteras might be next with the returning Cabo name? Watch this spot!
Will be interesting how Contender and SeaVee and others will handle this.

I admit though I can understand outboards and there practicality sub 40 feet twin engines nowadays versus twin diesels and stern drives etc etc, but when you go a triple, quad or more set up, that is never better then a twin diesel with shafts.
Also I never understand how no one factors the performance HP loss in these installations.
Even a twin shaft boat loses about 20% of power to the other prop shaft rudder and lag.
A stern drive and an outboard even more, I think it is about 30%, and that is with twin. I think I was told an estimated that a quad loses half its HP to the props.

Jupiter has been doing a 41 Enclosed OB Express since 2013: https://jupitermarine.com/models/41-sb/

The only market not touched by new OB builders is the 30 - 45' FB SF, although several OB conversions have been down on used FB SF.

I don't think any buyer cares about performance hp loss and I disagree with the statement that "is never better than a twin diesel." Talking the 39-42' range, triple or quad outboards provide significant advantages over diesel in terms of cost, performance, utilization of space, weight, and draft. Seavee tried offering their 39' in a variety of configurations and there was no interest in the diesel as it just didn't compare. Their 39' with triples reaches 57 knots and has a range of over 400 nm at cruise. With quads it reaches 66 knots. Our 39' contender with triple 300's reaches 57 knots. I had never owned an outboard boat. My father had outboard fishing boats growing up. I still don't want a CC for my personal use as ours is for crew to use. However, we have a 44' Riva and it is a bit embarrassing that our CC is faster and has more range. Doesn't matter for one moment to an end user that it's losing HP to the props. That's an engineer's thought, not a user's thought. Only jet applications or surface drives can come close to the performance.

With Bertram’s Italian ownership and distribution channels overseas, I would have thought they would have taken the $15M and developed a few MY models before they pursued the crowded CC world. Hard to get my head around a Bert CC, maybe a chance to come ou5 with a new brand for the builder? It doesn’t seem to me to have a lot of emotional pull/connection to small CC’s.

An inside look at why a SF and MY builder enters the CC market is apparent in this article:

https://www.tradeonlytoday.com/tech/flibs-2019-new-imo-emissions-regulations-raise-concerns

Since PC broke the ice, another read on the IMO and Viking Yacht (and others).
https://www.ibinews.com/regulation/...d-hurt-large-diesel-yachts-jobs/35070.article

I have my 50 Hatteras on Yachtworld for well under $200k with just a few tire kickers. I'm about ready to break out the Sawsall & outboard brackets and make it into a CC for someone to buy.

Honda's are long gone as far as market share is concerned. First to the table, yet they never improved technology.
Suzuki's are a repower motor only, virtually no OEM's use them for good reasons, they're good but not as good as Mercury or Yamaha.

Yamaha's are very popular in the Bahamas because of servicing, but they're had their share of major issues in the last 10 years. 350HP is a troublesome motor with no proper fix. 225/250HP had mid sections that the exhaust would rot out and they'd overheat, etc. They're still one of the top 2.

Mercury is right up there in quality with some of Yamaha's best motors. The other HP ranges are better than Yamaha. Mercury has turned into a **** good motor. A lot of OEM's are using them and not favoring Yamaha anymore.

Frankly, you usually can't go wrong with Mercury or Yamaha, but what kind of dealer support is the big question.