With a new pair of 250hp Mercury Verados pushing their 7.8 metre Noosa Cat 2700, the crews of Volunteer Marine Rescue – Jacobs Well are even better prepared to assist recreational boat operators who find themselves in difficulty or in need of urgent medical attention.
Operating in the area between Southern Moreton Bay and the Gold Coast Broadwater, the Jacobs Well volunteer crews have to navigate potentially dangerous waters such as the Jumpinpin Bar as well as extensive shallows around the area’s many mangrove islands.
VMR Jacobs Well’s Vessel Maintenance Officer is very pleased with the changeover.
“These engines get a lot more horsepower into the water. When we were towing boats with the old engines we’d need 5,500 rpm to get on the plane but with the Verados we plane at 4,200.”
The new Verados were installed and adjusted by the experts at Brisbane Marine.
“The engines have improved the boat’s fuel economy by 20 litres an hour at cruise speed,” said Dealer Principal, Troy Wood,
“In fact, from 2,000 rpm onwards the Verados are better everywhere in fuel economy and performance.
“I think it’s fair to say the performance and capabilities of the Verados have impressed a lot of people,” Troy said.
In testing, the Noosa Cat 2700, which weighs in at 2,250 kilograms dry, hit a top speed of 83.3 km/h (45 knots) at 6,000 rpm – exactly what you need when people’s lives are at stake.
Optimal cruising speed was 44 km/h (24 knots) giving it a range of over 817 kilometres (441 nautical miles). This sort of range is crucial for protracted offshore search and rescue missions.
Acceleration from 0 to 30 km/h (16.2 knots) took just 5 seconds.
The general consensus amongst the Jacobs Well skippers is that “with the fly-by-wire controls she’s also beautiful to manoeuvre now” which is another key feature required when coming alongside a disabled vessel in less than ideal conditions.
For the first time Volunteer Marine Rescue – Jacobs Well is now a one brand organisation with Mercury outboards on all four of its boats.
The Squadron’s other Noosa Cat, the 6.7 metre Beenleigh II, carries twin Mercury 150hp FourStrokes. Their Naiad 5.6 metre RIB now has the just released twin Mercury 90hp FourStrokes, while their 4.5 metre RIB is pushed along by a single Mercury 50hp FourStroke.
With reliable 24-hour on-call support from Brisbane Marine (www.brismarine.com.au) in Clontarf and a two year, unlimited hours commercial warranty with a guaranteed trade-in price, the volunteers at Jacobs Well found it just made good commercial sense to have all their engines from Mercury.
