Back When 80.8 Was Untouchable

It was early in my career so at the time I didn’t fully realize just how dangerous a position I was putting myself and my co-worker Jason Macbeth in by agreeing to take a ride on the record-breaking pontoon boat. We were both given cheap orange life jackets–you know, the bulky kind that most likely were picked up at a local K-Mart earlier that day. I remember looking at the life jacket and thinking that if we did happen to crash there was no way it would save my life but at least it would make finding my body a little easier.

In September 2000, the Odyssey 2101 Millennium obliterated the previous speed record for a pontoon boat by reaching 80.8 mph with a pair of 225hp Evinrude outboards with Ficht Ram Injection. The weight of the outboards had the 21-footer sitting in the water at a steep angle and I remember thinking it was quite odd to see a triple tube pontoon sit like that at rest.

We were half nervous, half excited, but the last thought that went through my head before the twin engines fired up was I probably should have called my wife one last time and told her I loved her. Any anxiety I may have had heading into the run quickly went away and was replaced by a pure adrenaline rush. On that day I experienced speeds on that pontoon that I never would have thought possible. Don’t get me wrong; I was still scared, but there’s something about being on a pontoon that is capable of speeds in the 80 mph range that is beyond words. Keep in mind this was back in 2000; pontoon boats that could break 50 mph were considered extremely rare.

Our run that day went well and put big smiles on our faces. At the time I figured that was probably the fastest I’d ever go on a pontoon. Looking back now, I can see I couldn’t have been more wrong.

Years later I would find myself on board a South Bay pontoon reaching the 102 mph mark, the fastest I’ve ever been on a pontoon boat. Owned by Brad Rowland, the pontoon was powered with triple Mercury Pro Max 300x engines! On that run my co-worker Clayton Ward turned to me and tried to shout, “This is awesome!” but instead all the saliva from his mouth came flying out so let’s just say I strongly “encouraged” him to hold on until the ride was over and not try to communicate. The crazy thing is, that boat went on to set the record of 114 mph a couple years later at the Ozark Shootout in Missouri in 2015. To this day Rowland continues to push the speed limits on a pontoon with plans to reach 120 mph still on his to-do list.

With the release of the Mercury Racing 500R outboards this summer, there’s no telling where the pontoon speed record is heading. At its 50th anniversary celebration where they released the new engine earlier this summer, Mercury Racing had a nice selection of boats on the water with its new 500R outboards. These boats were for its top dealers and select members of the media to experience the new outboard and included in the lineup were two 2024 performance pontoons.

The Avalon 27 Excalibur Limited was one of the pontoons, powered with twin 500R outboards. I never could have imagined 1,000 horsepower on a stock pontoon back in 2000, yet here I was. And unlike my run over 20 years earlier where we reached nearly the same speeds, this ride was extremely smooth and a lot less stressful. The Avalon was clearly built for power with a sporty look to back it up.

The new Carbon series Trifecta pontoon from Forest River Marine was the other pontoon at the Mercury Racing celebration and it had twin 500R engines as well. The carbon fiber components, including the tower, shaved an estimated 1,000 pounds off the boat so reaching speeds in the mid 80s was easy. At one point we were cruising along at 60 mph, which felt plenty fast, but then we put the throttle down for a noticeable boost in torque and top speed. Truly an impressive engine and a great fit for these pontoon manufacturers.

From record-breaker speeds on a custom and specialized pontoon to stock pontoons now capable of speeds in the 80s, the boundaries continue to be pushed as expectations reach new levels.

Brady L. Kay,

Pontoon & Deck Boat Editor