Mercury FourStroke 60

We recently reviewed am Anglapro Sniper 484 in Royal National Park, a mere 15km from the Sydney CBD. The latest tinnie from Anglapro Boats, the Sniper 484 is capable of running a 90hp outboard motor. The most popular engine choice is a 70hp, but our review boat was fitted with a budget-conscious 60hp engine instead.

I was very interested to see how the Anglapro Sniper 484 would perform with this budget-conscious engine. In soon realised that I shouldn’t have worried – the combination worked well and in the calm waters of Botany Bay we achieved 28.5kts three-up and with nearly a full tank of fuel.

We were out of the hole at 12.7kt and cruising easily at 20kt around 4300rpm. The performance owes much to the new generation Mercury fuel-injected four-stroke, the normal-sized gearbox and a stainless steel Trophy 12in pitch four-blade propeller.

This allowed us to run it right out to its 6000rpm maximum without fuss and produced easily enough torque to push the Anglapro Sniper 484 onto the plane, even without Mercury’s popular Command Thrust gearbox.

At 118kg, the 60hp Mercury FourStroke is claimed to be one of the lightest in class and it has been designed to run on fuel as low as 87 octane – even on 10 per cent ethanol if you’re game.

Out at sea the Anglapro Sniper 484 handled a slow swell and short chop close to the cliff base with ease. We ran at around 18-22kt on the way home and the ride was soft even over the bigger waves. Handling was sporty and precise both offshore and in smooth water, and I couldn’t get the prop to cavitate even in full-throttle hard turns.

Anglapro Sniper 484 sea trials

Two people, 75 per cent fuel.

* Sea-trial data supplied by the author

Mercury FourStroke 60 specs

TYPE three-cylinder fuel-injected four-stroke

RATED HP 60

DISPLACEMENT 995cc

WEIGHT 118kg

GEAR RATIO 2.33:1

PROPELLER 12in three-blade s/s Trophy