What's your favorite boat related stupid engineering design?

After last weekend changing the lower unit oil mine has to be the idiot who designed an oil system that has to be filled from the bottom. The "suction" your supposed to get from closing the top vent plug does not even begin to slow down the flow of super slippery Royal Purple pouring down your arm.

The clown who designed the Yamaha's carburators comes in a close second.

-Greg

Stupid designs:
-The "upside-down" oil filter.
-Bow cleats positioned such that the first time you anchor, the bow light gets ripped off.
-Bilge pump float switches positioned so high in the bilge, that there's 8 inches of water before the pump engages.

For now.

The wooden cam gear in the Merc 140 in my ski boat takes the cake. Thats right, genuine billet wood. Next time I take it apart I will get a picture.

It wasn't wood... it was phenolic resin with cloth laminated in it... but it can look like wood. Pontiac 400's had them... they were notorious for failing. Ford used them in the gear drive camshafts on the V-12's... they were a little more successful there.

The outdrive. I win.

ed

More precisely... the BRAVO outdrive......

The sailboat?

Actually, that design has stood the test of time. It is the operators that are stoopid

They are cheap bastards! They hate paying for docks, and they drink on the boat to save money!

What else are they going to do while they take hours and hours to get anywhere?....