The thing I can not figure out is why did Volvo buy them. I could understand why Merc would have bought them just to shut them down and eliminate some future competition. But it looks like Volvo did it for them...lol.. Volvo gets nothing from it but a swift kick in the pants and Merc and Yamaha will reap the rewards. I would think the Executives at Merc are still scratching their heads over this one.

Chris

Couldnt it be said that Seven Marine was the catalyst for the majors to start upping their horsepower goals?

As was addressed. The CEO at the time that brought them in is now gone and replaced by a new CEO and staff that are leaning the company in a new greener direction.

One CEO cherished Seven marine
Next CEO threw that trophy in trash.

If it was a numbers game, the new CEO looks like a rockstar for stopping the bleeding on a product that had limited potential sales.

HCB and Intrepid are probably doing the head scratching on what they are going to power their bigger boats with. You can't hang 2-3 more Yamaha 425s off the back of their 65 ft center console!

Time for the first stagger OB's,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, This is a joke of course.

I would do diesels like the 45 nortech option...

Got my eye on used diesel nortechs. Much cheaper than OB boats.

would have loved to see a speedy lower on the 627. Im sure some big cat guys and fast CCs would have had to have it.

I also like the simplicity of big CCs that were pushed by twins.

7's wont work on a cat and or it would be counter productive as they dont like to be surfaced or aired out. They break off blades and break drives. Looking at the heft of their drive I would not think it is possible to break but who knows what metal is used in the gears. I would have to agree with the bleeding point comment and its going to be tough for Intrepid and HCB and the likes to re-configure power. Diesels are cool but that would weigh more than 7's I did see a 56 Nor Tech with I think Quad Cummins and surface drives. Cant imagine doing an oil change on that. Guess you could buy a 55 gal drum for your oil changes.. Maybe in the future Merc or another will come along with some bigger power and less weight.

Chris

Even with the costs of upkeep a diesel would be light years less expensive in the long run, thousands of hours before a rebuild compared to hundreds. the only downside would be speed, but in a big CC, im looking for comfort not top end.

High RPMS are death on diesels so in a performance boat that might be an issue, even BobtheBuilder had a motor fail on his 50 NT. It had less than 1000 hours on it IIRC.

The other issue would be arneson parts, "Rik" hasn't been great with getting parts lately.