The Miami International Boat Show is not only known as one of the world’s great boat shows, but also as the venue where U.S. boat and engine manufacturers unveil their latest and greatest. This year’s MIBS maintained that reputation as a boatload of new boat models were introduced as well as some interesting new power plants to motivate them across the water.

Mercury Marine, recognized as a world leader in recreational marine propulsion systems, wowed the crowd with the long awaited introduction of a new big brother to their Verado line of supercharged outboards, the Verado 350!

The Verado first saw the light of day and the transoms of a few boats back in 2004. The initial offering consisted of 225, 250 and 275hp models all built on a lightweight 2.6 liter, 6-cylinder, four-stroke block and all featuring a revolutionary supercharger system that turned the modest displacement engines into high performance screamers! These technological wonders easily surpassed the power and torque of the performance oriented 2-stroke engines of the day and they did it smoothly, quietly and reliably. Fast forward to the Miami Boat Show circa 2007 where Mercury unveiled a new horsepower leader for the Verado line. With the availability of the Verado 300 there were suddenly a lot more SKA boats showing up at tournaments with two or three of those bad boys strapped to the transom. Now along comes MIBS 2015 and once again Mercury has upped the ante with the introduction of the potent new Verado 350.

“We’re proud to introduce the next evolution of this market leading outboard series, the innovative and powerful Verado 350,” said John Pfeifer, president of Mercury Marine to a large crowd of show attendees and members of the boating media gathered at their impressive display in the Miami Convention Center. “Whether it’s installed in single or multiple-engine configurations, the Verado 350 delivers everything performance-minded boaters and anglers demand.”

Pfeifer went on to say that the new Verado is the lightest, fastest, most fuel efficient 350hp outboard you can buy. It hits the scales just a tad heavier than the 300 at 668 lbs., which makes it just shy of 100 pounds lighter than the competition’s 350hp offering and that’s a big chunk of weight not hanging off your transom. And because the 350 is part of the standard Verado line it is backed by a full three-year warranty, too.

With all that going for it, I would bet a lot of SKA tournament anglers will be looking to upgrade to 350s for their competition boats this year. So what do you need to know about this new fire-breather? Like its predecessors the 350 is built on the same 2.6 liter straight 6-cylinder block. Its supercharged four-stroke technology promises to deliver speed and performance without lacking in durability and fuel economy and those are definitely good things.

While the 350 will run just fine on 89 octane fuel Mercury recommends 91 octane for squeezing every last bit of performance out of the engine. According to Mercury literature running high test provides up to 10% greater fuel economy than competitive outboards, which they say can increase your cruising range by a hefty 100 miles per tank and actually save you money at the pump each year.

Like all the Verados the engine is surprisingly small with the same footprint as the 225, 250 and 300. It offers superior torque across the operating range, provides amazing hole shots and higher top end performance. Its narrow profile makes for ease of installation in multi-engine configurations, an important consideration for SKA anglers. But when all is said and done, the big question remains, “how do they keep getting more horsepower out of that 2.6 liter straight-six engine.” The pat answer is intelligent design enhancements, which might sound like they are hiding something, but when you look under the cowling things do look different from the earlier Verados.

To get more power they had to get more and colder air into the combustion chambers and they accomplished that with a new cold-air intake system that picks up cool fresh air from outside the cowl and delivers it efficiently to the supercharger. It offers a larger, straighter airflow path with less volume-robbing turbulence. Heat can also be a performance-robbing problem with a system as advanced as the supercharger that pumps up the power and the new 350 addresses that, too. The supercharger is water-cooled as part of the engine’s cooling system. Engine coolant is pumped through a cooling jacket that surrounds the supercharger components, which keeps operating temperatures down, increases the volume of oxygen being pumped through the induction system, reduces component wear and increases overall system durability. The top of the cowl houses a labyrinth design that keeps the powerhead dry while a vented flywheel cover allows engine heat to dissipate more quickly again reducing component wear.

The increased power is routed to the prop through Verado’s already proven 5.44” diameter gearcase, which was designed to handle the rigors of offshore operation where boats can spend as much time out of the water as in. Launch and re-entry at high RPM in rough seas puts a lot of stress on the drive components, but the Verado’s drive gears are precision-machined at Mercury Marine’s manufacturing facilities to ensure they provide the strength, quality and durability that is needed to survive in an offshore environment. Combined with a specially formulated lower-gearcase lubricant that reduces operating temperatures and increases gearcase efficiency should provide lower maintenance costs and longer engine life.

Recognizing the rush towards more electronic systems on today’s fish boats Mercury upped the ante in the Verado’s charging system, too. It is capable of adaptively increasing engine RPM at low speeds should battery voltage fall below a specific level. The engine will generate additional current for house batteries so that all your electronics keep running without a hitch.

The Verado 350 is available with or without Mercury’s SmartCraft Digital Throttle and Shift (DTS) System, which can include the innovative Joystick Piloting feature with Skyhook GPS positioning ability.

There’s a lot more going on with Verado and the new 350, and if it’s sounding good to you, get ahold of your nearest Mercury Outboard dealer or pro fishing representative and dig deeper. You can even get them in custom colors to match your new ride. And if 350hp isn’t enough, Mercury introduced the Verado 400R at the show, too. It’s a 400hp all out race motor available through Mercury Racing Division.