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In another re-power thread here on Whaler Central, I mentioned some possible upcoming new Mercury outboard offerings.

On Thursday, February 15, Mercury is expected to make an announcement about a new 4-Stroke engine or possibly a line-up of new 4-Stroke engines at the Miami Boatshow.

There are a lot of rumors flying, and nothing is confirmed yet. So keep that in mind. However, there have been glimpses of the new engine(s) on boats in some new Merc ads. Based on that and other info circulating...

The current speculation centers around the 175-250 HP range. The thinking is these would be a naturally aspirated 6-cylinder configuration. It would be a lightweight, relatively simple, and more affordable design like the existing 115 and 150 Fourstroke models. Possibly these will be badged as "ProXS," replacing the exisiting 2-stroke ProXS models. (The 115 ProXS is already a 4-stroke.)

Of course, this speculation could be way off base. We should know in a couple days. But if true, it would be of interest to the Boston Whaler community, since these will likely show up on the transoms of new Whalers and -- if the weight is right -- may be good candidates for the re-power market on some of the larger classic Whalers.