I have been a Surtees customer for nearly 10 years. My first boat was a second hand Surtees 5.5 'Workmate' powered by a Yamaha F100 four stroke outboard. The Surtees 5.5 'Workmate' was a great introduction to the Surtees tribe.
My favourite fishing spot is located in the Kaipara heads, known as a notoriously rough stretch of water on the west coast of New Zealand. It is nick-named 'The Graveyard" due to the many ships that sank there around the turn of the century, struggling to navigating this stretch of water.
The Surtees innovative hull design with the Anti-Roll™ Stability Ballast Technology enables you to lock water in the hull, which provides extra stability in rough conditions, making trips back from 'The Graveyard' safe and comfortable. The design continued to impress during long-range trips to the Mokohinau's, where often the trip back in the late afternoon meant that conditions worsened. The 5.5 'Workmate' delivered time and time again.
When the time came to upgrade the boat, the only decision was which of the Surtees range was it going to be? The 610 hull has one of the best reputations around for sea-keeping ability that defies its 6.1m length. I had a list of must-haves that I wanted to include in the build. A quick chat to the team at Surtees meant the full list of options was provided to work through and together we configured my ultimate fishing machine, using the 'Gamefisher' 6.1 model.
Just a few of the options:
Full list of options and specifications for the 610 Game Fisher
With the hull now out of the welding shop and currently being fitted up with the electronics its nearly ready to have its new outboard fitted.
Due to the popularity of Surtees boat orders, I had an 8 month wait to get to the front of the build queue. This was plenty of time to research outboards. While researching, I stumbled across the 'California Air Resources Board' website, who test spark ignition engines. Now every manufacture who want to sell a Spark Ignition Engine in California must have its emissions tested to make sure it meets the set regulations. What's great about their website is they also publish the Power and Torque numbers for the models tested. The below table lists the 150hp outboards to narrow down the candidates:
| Make/Model | Year | Eng Displ (cc) | Weight (kg) | Power(kW) | Peak Power RPM | Torque (Nm) | Peak Torque RPM | Gear Ratio |
| Etec 150 G2 (3 cylinder) | 2019 | 1865 | 180/196 | 110 | 5500 | 232 | 4250 | 2.08 |
| Etec 150HO (V6) | 2018 | 2592 | 225/242 | 110 | 6000 | 273 | 3250 | 2.17 |
| Honda BF150 | 2019 | 2354 | 217 | 112 | 5500 | 202 | ? | 2.14 |
| Mercury 150 | 2019 | 2980 | 206 (20") | 120 | 5400 | 244 | 3000 | 1.92 |
| Mercury 150 Pro XS | 2019 | 2980 | 207 (20") | 120 | 5500 | 244 | 3000 | 2.08 |
| Suzuki DF150AP | 2017 | 2867 | 241 | 110 | 5500 | 249 | 4000 | 2.5 |
| Yamaha F150XB | 2018 | 2670 | 223/228 (20"/25") | 119 | 6000 | 228.7 | 4000 | 2 |
| Yamaha F150XCA (F150 DEC) | 2018 | 2785 | 219/220 (20"/25") | 118 | 5500 | 241.9 | 4000 | 2 |
| Yamaha VF150XA (VMax SHO) | 2018 | 2785 | 218/222 (20"/25") | 121 | 5500 | 251 | 4000 | 2 |
You can lookup any outboard and check how far the manufacture is pushing the 10% allowance on the rated horse power.
Use this link to lookup spark ignition marine engines if your interested in seeing which outboard tests above (strong) or below (weak) for their rated horse power.
Simply guess correctly which of the 150hp outboard is going on the back of the new Surtees 610 'Game Fisher' and win 12 month subscription to Fishing Bite Times! All correct entries will receive a 12 month subscription added to their account, existing subscribers will be extended by 12 months.
Given these Performance goals what would you choose?
Keep an eye on Facebook, and tell me which outboard and why in the comments below.
