Powerboat company running a tight shipMercury Marine avoids leaks of all kinds from its Panama City proving grounds
By SUSAN COCKING
[email protected]

PANAMA CITY - Three years ago, without fanfare, a nondescript, 30,000-square-foot warehouse went up on eight acres of Panama City's industrial waterfront. The facility, named X-Site, is protected by guards around the clock, and employees are required to sign nondisclosure agreements. A secret Homeland Security installation, perhaps? A chemical warfare research lab? Welcome to Mercury Marine's on-water proving grounds -- shop, laboratory and test center for the company's engines, drives, propellers, and electronic components. Managed by Clay Gaillard overseeing 35 employees, X-Site is divided into two entities -- endurance testing and race shop. They operate like separate directorates of the CIA: Everything is on a ''need-to-know'' basis. For example, visiting powerboat racers getting their craft dialed in for offshore championships are not allowed to cross from one side of the building to the other. 'We're not going to shoot his foot off, but we say, `We need you to not go over here,' '' Gaillard said. Research and development of products for Mercury, which is based in Fond du Lac, Wis., is so compartmentalized that engineering groups who rotate in from Fond du Lac often have no idea what the other is working on.
KEPT IN THE DARK
The 11 test drivers -- led by Eric Wibberley -- have little idea of what they are testing. They are assigned a boat and engine in the morning and told to run a certain number of hours, with the engines turning at a certain number of rpms, and then transmit the data from a computer to the home office. All information is considered classified. ''Our drivers are told not to talk about these things to their friends,'' Wibberley said. ``One of our technicians got fired. People's jobs are on the line if something gets out.'' X-Site is where Mercury's popular four-cylinder Verado outboards -- code-named Project: X -- were tested just before their release two years ago at the Miami Boat Show. Today, the Verado still is undergoing improvements, said Steve Fleming, Mercury's communications manager. ''There's an emphasis on improving the fuel economy on the Verado, but it looks good,'' he said. Before X-Site, Mercury did its endurance testing at Placida on Florida's west coast, and dialed in racers at Lake X near St. Cloud. But slow-speed zones imposed for manatee protection hampered some operations at Placida, and Lake X grew too small to test larger offshore racing boats and engines. Wibberley said X-Site is ideal for both operations, with wide bays and a pass to the Gulf of Mexico.
''They're getting a lot better testing done here,'' he said. ``We run all year round.'' Wibberley, a diver and fisherman, relishes his job for its outdoors office perks. So do the other test drivers, who love driving fast and having unusual adventures. Richard Luck said he once had to tow a dead, bloated, 12-foot alligator from East Bay because it posed a hazard to navigation. Another time, he was returning from the Gulf of Mexico when he came upon what seemed to be an abandoned fishing boat. Both engines were running and a fishing rod dangled overboard, but there was no one on deck.
'Then a window slides open, and a man yells, `Watch out for the bees!' '' Luck said. ``The whole top was covered with bees. They started coming toward me. I took off, went to the city marina and contacted the Coast Guard, and I guess they went out there with a fire hose.''
TACKLING TOUGH ISSUES
Scott Childs is the technician supervisor for X-Site's racing division. A former racer, Childs relishes tackling thorny problems that are afflicting high-performance boats. His most recent project was a 39-foot Dragon with twin 600-horsepower Mercury racing engines capable of 90 mph and costing upward of $450,000. The Dragon's owner, a Fort Lauderdale man, complained he could not get the boat to go on plane unless he was going more than 60 mph. Childs and his crew discovered the engines' drives were installed too high, that the gear ratios were wrong and the propellers were off-kilter. Childs and his crew lowered the drives, changed the gear ratios and propellers, and then took the Dragon out for a test run. ''Before, it took 35 seconds -- a whole football field -- to get on a plane,'' Childs said. ``With these props, it gets on plane in eight seconds.'' Childs, smiling with satisfaction at a correctly diagnosed and treated problem, headed out into the bay and took the boat up to 92 mph. Just to make sure everything was running right.

More like 5 employees and one with skills to help you,,,,,,,,,, NOT 35 !!!!

we just left there. good stuff