Nordic’s Latest 26 Deck Boat Getting Mercury Verado 350

At the moment, there are several boats in progress at the Nordic Boats facility in Lake Havasu City, Ariz. From the company’s bread-and-butter single-engine deck boats and functional yet sporty V-bottoms to its new 24 SX catamaran with an Ilmor Marine 570 engine—which, as a stock boat, is complete but untested because it’s been put on hold behind several customer orders—and a 29 Deck Boat with twin Mercury Racing 540 engines, Nordic is staying very busy.

The crew at Nordic Boats is preparing to hang a Mercury Verado 350 engine on its latest 26 Deck Boat.

The latest in a string of cool outboard-powered projects from the company (see Nordic Boats Finishes First Outboard-Powered Deck Boat, Nordic 29 Deck Boat Owner is Another Satisfied Customer and Nordic’s New 28SS with Twin 300s Ready for Primtime), the 29 Deck Boat—Nordic’s first 540 installation—isn’t the only cool outboard-powered boat taking shape at the shop overlooking Lake Havasu.

According to Nordic’s John Lovell, a 26 Deck Boat is in the early stages of being rigged with a single Mercury Verado 350 engine. It’s the first non-stern-drive 26-footer, and Lovell believes the sales potential is there, especially as an entry-level, price-point boat.

“We’re building the boat for inventory, for stock,” Lovell said when asked which customer came up with the idea to put an outboard on the back. “Everything we’ve built so far that’s been a little different has sold—I’m sure this will be the same. We’re trying to keep the costs down and see if we can’t make our way into the pontoon market with a deck boat.

“We’re starting the rigging and bodywork to the transom now,” he continued. “We only have to take a few inches out of the swim step so it’s not too much work. What’s cool is all of the storage that’s available in place of the engine compartment with this setup.”

Lovell expects the boat to be ready for testing in a month or so. Speedonthewater.com will follow up with Nordic to see how the single-engine 26 and the twin-engine 29 come together as well as the Ilmor-powered 24 SX.

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