I heard the rumour about a 600 EFi but it led nowhere. Instead Merc Racing showed a CE662SCi at the Miami Show. A downrated 700 for the european market, still hooked up to the NXT drive.

No, that would overkill, and a financial waste in a 25/26. But a motor hooked up to an XR.....

Merc changes their models, uprating and replacing at regular intervals. The 500Efi, 525SCi and 575SCi have proven themselves. The 525 and the present crop of blue blower motors have an amazing reliability record.

Another observation that I find interesting, in comparing the 525 and 600 motors in the Howard Bullet tests in Powerboat. At any given comparable speed up to the 525 Vmax at 80 mph, the 600 is using less fuel..........
Longer prop, less revs, same horsepower.
Not that saving fuel is why you fork out for a 600 and i cant complain about the fuel mileage of my 525.....

Yeah that Howard Bullet test produced some amazing numbers. The powerboat article said 89 on gps. I wish the OL would run that fast!
I know the Bullet is a stepped hull, slightly less V... 22.5 I think. It's probably got a pad as well to run that fast. Like I mentioned before, I'll keep my expectations in check. Regardless of the top speed, I also love the comfort level in the cockpit- Those Mcleod bolsters are 2nd to none and combined with the built in foot rests, the bajas are the most comfortable boat I've ever sat in. I could easily spend the entire day in the drivers seat... -and I plan to do just that!

Well yeah, it doesn´t do any good comparing the Bullet with the 26.
I was conservative about my expectations about the 525 and shall be realistic about the 600 too! I found some paperwork the other day from march 2006 where I had estimated the 525 at 75 mph and the 600 at 80 mph!

The Baja does give a commanding view of the water ahead and offer you more protection than many of the flatter custom boats.
you´re so right about the driving position. It´s something that I really like about the 25, and they´ve made the 26 a little more spacious. thats good.

I put the boat in the water yesterday, to investigate a slight leak in the extension box that had bugged me on the last run in 2006.
With a mirror and a lamp I sorted out the area of the problem and decided it was time to do a short run.

Together with a 275 owner friend of mine, we left the harbour and cruised along the river at 45 mph just getting back into the feel of things and enjoying the sound of the open piped 525. As the first sign of chop (from a convoy of freight ships) filled our horizon, the speed increased with our pulse and soon we were flat out, the needle at 5400 with the rev limiter chirping as the boat danced on the chop. The GPS gave us 83 mph satisfaction, although we knew we were running downriver, and couldn´t book the number. 79 mph was the real figure, and that with a brimmed tank.

We stopped in at some friends down the river and came back in time to slip and wash the boat off in the evening sun. We had done a 50 mile round trip, and started the season on a good note.
I went to bed with that smile!

Tonight, I took the access plates off the box, checked everything through and found the problem. The hose clip attaching the cooling water hose to the transom elbow had fractured. I only discovered it because I started to replace the plastic elbow with a straight fitting in stainless (that a friend who also has an Imco box had made for me) and the hoseclip damned near fell apart in my hands.
Its always the little things!

Sounds like a great start to the season!

I heard that it may be close to 80 tomorrow and Wednesday- If it happens I'll be tempted to pull my boat out of the garage and stretch the legs a bit.