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NEWS
New Verados save $75,000
24 November 2008
One of Australia’s leading tourism operators is saving an estimated $75,000 a year on fuel after installing 300hp Verado outboards on his six cruise vessels.
Rob Pennicott is the man behind the highly successful Tasman Island Cruises and Bruny Island Charters which operate spectacular eco-cruises along Tasmania’s beautiful south-east coastline - mixing sightseeing and thrilling boating.
Rob helped design the unique boats which are at the heart of his operation – Kirby Naiad RIBs, each with a triple Verado rig.
The boats were originally fitted with 275hp Verados but Rob opted to up-size to 300hp engines, with fantastic results.
“The engines run at lower revs, they’re running cooler, and the fuel savings we’re getting are huge,” Rob said.
Each tour is approximately 50 kilometres long and fuel use is down some 40 litres a trip.
“When you consider we’ve got six boats and we’re out on the water virtually all year round it adds up very quickly.”
Fully loaded with passengers and fuel, Rob’s boats weigh in at about 11.5 tonnes, so he really appreciates the Verado’s supercharged 4-stroke power.
“That’s a lot weight but we cruise comfortably at 25 knots at 4,000 revs, knowing there’s plenty in reserve,” Rob said.
“The latest Verados are brilliant, they work very well, we’ve hardly had a problem and we go out in some pretty ordinary conditions. We’ve only cancelled one day in the past three years.”
It’s taken a lot of hard work, but Rob has obviously created a world class enterprise.
Business itself is booming. In his first year he had about 1,200 passengers. This year he’s estimating he’ll carry about 40,000 people.
The firm has also won a raft of awards in 2008, including Tasmania’s Business of the Year, Telstra’s National Small Business of the Year, Telstra’s National Social Responsibility Award, and Family Business Australia’s “First Generation” Business of the Year.
“To tell you the truth, I’ve been blown away, especially to win two of the Telstra Awards – they only give out seven and we got two!”
For more information on Mercury Verado outboards, visit www.mercurymarine.com.au