Victoria's Water Police Supercharged

Victoria’s Water Police are relying on twin 350hp SCi Verado’s behind three new Zodiac Hurricane RIBs (Rigid Inflatable Boats) to catch virtually anything on the water and get to incidents as quickly as possible.

“A key requirement was that the engines needed to drive the RIBs to at least 50kts,” said Mercury’s David Meehan.

“Even though the weather was a bit rough during testing we hit that target — these are fast boats!”

The high-performance top-of-the-range Verados feature a 2.6lt supercharged six-cylinder engine with electronically controlled sequential multi-port fuel injection, four valves per cylinder, double overhead cam design, a charge-air cooler and electronic boost bypass control.

Victoria’s Water Police coordinate all marine incidents throughout the state, and receive more than 700 calls a year for assistance. The new Verado-powered RIBs are based at Williamstown, with duties including beach patrols, rescues, boarding and pursuits.

Mercury supplied the six engines with heavy duty gear-cases to provide the ultimate in durability in a heavy commercial environment.

“There’s plenty of torque to get those big RIBs out of the water and they’re very quiet even when going flat out,” said Meehan.

For more information, go to www.mercurymarine.com.au

Quick Specs:
350 SCi Verado

MAKE/MODEL: Mercury 350 SCi Verado
TYPE: Supercharged in-line six cylinder petrol outboard
RATED HP: 350
REC. MAX RPM: 6200 to 6800
DISPLACEMENT: 2.6lt
GEAR RATIO: 1.71:1
DRIVESHAFT LENGTHS: 20in; 25in; 30in
WEIGHT: Approx 300kg (dry)