Manufacturers of outboard motors appear to be abandoning the idea of model-year engines. Instead, most of the companies simply add and delete models from year to year as the market requires. This shift in policy makes good sense. Most boat owners really only begin to think about changing engines when they feel that the current power on their transom is getting a bit long in the tooth, or that they need more ponies.

Several years ago, Mercury Marine literally bet the farm on a totally new concept in outboard engines: supercharging. Not that supercharging gasoline engines is new–it's been around since the 1930s, but no one had yet been willing to try it on a production outboard. In Merc's case, it appears that the risk has been well justified.

Yamaha's 300 hp VMax is a 2-stroke engine popular with boaters looking for a higher horsepower package.

Lately big, thundering V-6 outboards have been getting all the attention. But just off stage, smaller, portable outboards have also benefited from mechanical and electronic advances. Gone are the days of smoky, noisy, and polluting conventional two-stroke motors. In their place are a new wave of 4-strokes, a technology renowned for its efficiency. Four-strokes are soft spoken, smokeless and economical to operate.