Mercury Racing Releases 1100 Competition Engine For APBA Championship Series

Catamarans competing in the new 1100 Class of the 2019 six-race American Power Boat Association series—the product of a collaboration between the Offshore Powerboat Association and Powerboat P1 race-producing organizations—will be running Mercury Racing’s new 1100 Competition engine. The news announced today at the Miami International Boat Show, which opened this morning.

Called the 1100 Competition, a factory-sealed Mercury Racing engine will be spec power for one of the hottest classes in the 2019 APBA Championship series produced by the Offshore Powerboat Association and Powerboat P1.

Like the consumer version, the 9-liter engine features Mercury Racing’s exclusive aluminum four-valve cylinder heads and dual overhead camshaft valve train dubbed QC4v. Exclusive fuel calibration combined V-8 engine to produce 1,100 horsepower at 6,500 rpm on 89-octane (95 RON) pump fuel. According to marekting material for the 1100 Comp, the engine is mechanically sealed with a tamper-proof ECU “to ensure a level playing field for racers.”

“Our new 1100 Competition engine will provide a long-term powerful and reliable product to showcase the talents of the series’ elite drivers, throttlemen, and crews,” said Stuart Halley, the general manager of Mercury Racing, which is based in Fond du Lac, Wis.
Both Powerboat P1 and OPA operate under the American Powerboat Association, the domestic arm of the Union Internationale Motonautique, powerboat racing’s international sanctioning body. Mercury Racing has supported Powerboat P1 since its inception in 2003, and starting this season its 4.6L 300R V-8 outboard engine is the exclusive power for the P1 SuperStock racing series. (Mercury Racing also is the presenting sponsor for the series.)

Miss GEICIO is one of the teams that will be running spec 1,100-hp engines from Mercury Racing. Photo courtesy/copyright Pete Boden/Shoot 2 Thrill Pix.

“We are delighted that our existing relationship with Mercury Racing in the P1 SuperStock USA race series is now expanding to embrace the new APBA Offshore Championship,” said Azam Rangoonwalla, the managing director of Powerboat P1. “This will be an exciting year as we repower our one-design P1 Panther fleet with the 300R outboard and work with the OPA to create an expanded, cohesive, six-venue championship which features many Mercury Racing products including the new 1100 Competition engine.

“Being at the leading edge of technology and marine propulsion – Mercury Racing brings a lot to the table,” said Ed “Smitty” Smith the president of the OPA. “Having their support is very important to us. Along with the new 1100 class, we are working with Mercury Racing to bring their product and support into several other classes in the near future,” said OPA President Roland “Smitty” Smith.

Miss GEICO offshore racing team crew chief Gary Stray said the entire team is behind the power move and looking forward to having Mercury Racing 1100 Competition engine under the hatch of its 44-foot catamaran.

“All of the prospective teams involved voted and the majority wanted to with the Mercury Racing 1100,” he said. “Teams can send back their current 1350 and 1650 engines and—for a fee—have them turned into 1100 Competition engines. Mercury Racing will recalibrate them, dyno test them and seal them and then send them back to the teams who don’t go the route of buying the new 1100s. Mercury Racing also will be policing the engines at the races.”

The first race of the APBA Championship is set for May 17-18 in Cocoa Beach, Fla.

Mercury Racing Releases 1100 Competition Engine For APBA Championship Series

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