Mercury | Surf’s Up

The introduction of its Bravo Four S forward-facing outdrive last August could prove to be a game-changer for Mercury Marine, finally giving the company a sterndrive product with which to compete in the fast-growing surf boat market.

Wake surfing remains the fastest-growing water sports activity in North America and has begun to catch on in other markets worldwide. Unlike traditional wakeboarding where the rider is towed behind the boat on a rope at high speed, wake surfers glide along untethered, riding the engine’s wake directly behind the transom at a far more pedestrian speed of about 10 mph. There, they can continue to interact with passengers onboard the boat, enjoy music played over its stereo, and otherwise remain close enough to everybody else that surfing is much more of a group activity than a solo pursuit. As a result of the lower speeds the inevitable falls are far more serene, with the surfer most often simply losing forward momentum and slowly sinking into the water to the jeers of their companions – making wake surfing more physically forgiving for young riders and aging baby boomers alike.

“Boat builders can easily enter the surf market while incurring minimal engineering expense.”

Dan Ryks, Mercury Marine

Perhaps most importantly, the group dynamic of wake surfing lends itself to creating mobile phone videos that can be shared over social media, to the point that rear-facing cameras for this very purpose have become expected standard features on many new surf boats. Social media sharing, in turn, drives higher consumer interest in the activity. 

A win-win for boat buyers and boatbuilders alike

Once the exclusive domain of inboard-powered, purpose-built tow boats, wake surfing has really taken off with the advent of forward-facing sterndrives that provide traditional family deck boats, bowriders and runabouts with the added ability of being able to surf. Sterndrives represent a win-win for end-users and boat builders alike, by keeping retail prices low for consumers and allowing boat builders to easily adapt existing hulls so they can enter the surf market incurring minimal engineering expense.

“For a boat builder, Mercury’s Bravo Four S brings even more capability to an already versatile package,” says Dan Ryks, category manager for sterndrive and inboard propulsion at Mercury Marine. “With it, that typical sterndrive runabout remains a versatile, do-it-all type of boat that now also has the ability to wake surf. That additional capability gives these boats even greater appeal as family runabouts, because everyone from kids to grandparents can get out there and have a lot of fun surfing, while still enjoying all the same things that they have enjoyed with their previous boats. It still provides the same performance and handling these buyers have come to expect, with some additional benefits they didn’t have before.”

Compatible with MerCruiser 4.5-litre V6, 6.2-litre V8 and 8.2-litre V8 engines, the Bravo Four S drive affords boat builders with power options from 250 horsepower to 430 horsepower, allowing its use on a wide range of existing hulls. Supporting that versatility are five available sets of contra-rotating propellers – utilising an arrangement of four blades in the front with a three-blade prop behind – offer a pitch range from 19.5-inches to 25.5-inches in 1.5-inch increments.

Ryks notes that the transom assembly and upper section of the new Bravo Four S drive are essentially the same as that of Mercury’s existing Bravo Three unit, providing boat builders with instant familiarity on the production line and negating the need to invest in new tools or training.

Since announcing the Bravo Four S and the company’s entry into the surf boat category, Mercury has been actively working with both Brunswick’s own brands and a number of independent boat builders to help them integrate the new drive option. But it’s been a slower rollout than Ryks would like, due in large part to practical constraints associated with the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. “With a number of boat builders focused on simply trying to catch up with backorders for existing product, the initial ramp-up has obviously been a little slower than it would have been under normal circumstances,” says Ryks. “That’s unfortunate, but it’s a reality we understood going in. It’s short-term. Boat builders we have been working with are genuinely enthusiastic about the Bravo Four S, they see the potential.” 

Brace for Impact

With Volvo Penta having enjoyed a virtual monopoly in the surf sterndrive market since it launched its Forward Drive product in 2015, Mercury is clearly looking to join the party with its Bravo Four S and leverage its vast market footprint in order to boost its own sterndrive sales. “It’s definitely a product that has the potential to make an impact and grow the sterndrive market overall, because it brings a new capability that consumers can’t get with an outboard-powered boat,” says Ryks. “A buyer who’s sitting on the fence might look at this and think, okay, we can also wake surf with the sterndrive so why don’t we get that instead? There’s an extra level of functionality that a sterndrive with the Bravo Four S brings to the party that an outboard just can’t match. You can surf with it, you get the nice open stern and full-width swim platform, and that versatility is going to be a real differentiator.” 

While the new drive’s impact on Mercury’s outboard engine sales remains to be seen, the company has also considered the potential for the Bravo Four S to impact sales of the inboard engines it manufactures for the watersports segment. Ryks believes the new drive has the potential to cannibalise inboard engine sales at the lower end of the market by providing a more versatile and affordable alternative to lower-priced, purpose-built watersports tow boats. But that may be an acceptable trade-off if the Bravo Four S succeeds in getting more people to begin wake surfing in the first place, since it should ultimately drive demand for high-end inboards as some of those surfers become more serious about the activity, and look to take their experience to the next level.

“If you’re just getting into it and you don’t want to surf all of the time then a Bravo Four S application is going to be perfect,” he says. “But if you’re a serious wake surfer and you’re going to want to wake surf all the time, then it’s likely you’re going to want to make that jump to an inboard. So we see it as a win-win. The Bravo Four S brings more people into the market by giving them an easy way to try surfing while still having a great all-around family boat. Some of those people are going to really enjoy surfing however, and want to upgrade to a purpose-built tow boat powered by one of our tow sport inboards.”

“It’s definitely a product that has the opportunity to grow the sterndrive market overall.”

Dan Ryks

What is certain is that with the introduction of its Bravo Four S sterndrive, Mercury Marine now enjoys a solid opportunity to grow its sterndrive sales by offering its boat builder partners something it hasn’t had before. With today’s growing interest in boating, growing interest in wake surfing and the timely arrival of a massive new cohort of first-time buyers, there’s never been a better opportunity for the company to grow sales if its sterndrive product.