895 Marlin / NC Sport - Mercury 250s V8

[Gio]

Hi all,

I recently got the new Marlin / NC 895 offshore version and I opted for 2x Mercury 250 ProXS engines as power option.

I thought to open a new thread to share experiences / ideas / issues about this great boat - this beside the popular Merry Fisher / NC 895 thread as the purpose of this boat is supposed to be different (i.e. fishing etc) and layout, configuration, tech specs are different.

I haven't tested extensively the boat yet (various installations and dial ins took almost 2 months) but first impression on performances looks pretty good for such a boat... I saw almost 55mph with full water and fuel tanks and 3 people on board.
What is most important is the cruise speed, you can keep 30-35mph at a decent fuel consumption (~1.8mpg).

Anyways i will continue to test when i have the chance and after i complete the installation of the remaining electronic components.

Issues so far: engines installation required extensive rework: changing the steering helm and actuators as the standard equipment was not compatible with mercury geometry and power steering (the original steering system was too heavy to turn the engines), boat needed some steel pads as the transom was not ready from factory to accommodate the engines. Some electric switchers are missing / not connected, the boat is sitting a couple of inches lower on the starboard side (i saw other posts here)

Key installations outside factory:
- Mercury full power steering system and digital throttle
- Simrad NSS16 Evo 3
- Vesselview 403
- Simrad Halo 24 radar with specific tower
- Dual transducers: Simrad 3D module + inhull 2D transducer
- Inverter system for AirCon supply (work in progress)

I hope it helps - let's stay in touch

[Capt’n Ron]

Hey Gio, congrats, and that’s a great looking boat and configuration and I now have helm envy!  I was glad to see you powered it with the Mercury outboards.  As you may have seen in the 895 thread I was going to purchase a new 895 configured with Merc’s. I was tossed between the 895 and the Sport, but it came down to needing the additional space in the cabin for weekend cruises with my wife. I even had a buyer for 795 lined up, but the deal fell apart with the dealer.

Sounds like you did a fair amount of research on the Mercury outboard as I did to come to the conclusion the Mercury is a better fit for these boats for various reasons.  As you pointed out, the additional speed is nice, but it’s more about the overall performance and fuel efficiency you get with these motors. Have you had a chance to get a feel for the active trim and the difference of the handling and performance of the boat?

It’s interesting you had to do as much reconfiguration for the Mercury outboards and controls.  Most people don’t know it, but Jeanneau does offer a Mercury rigging from the factory.  Did you order yours with that option?  I know in NA they don’t like to make that known as they have a partnership with Yamaha and dealers also need to be a certified Merc dealer to do the install, but as an owner you can request to power your boat with Mercury.  

Btw, for those who are interested in configuration options, you can use the Jeanneau configurator tool.  It has some bugs, but it will let you see and select most of the factory configurations and show MSRP. Link to the Jeanneau configurator

I see you got the VesselView 403, but I’m sure that was based on the space available on the helm as the 703 is much easier to use and read. Also good call on getting a chart plotter with both touch and manual controls.  Those touch screens don’t do very well with cold and wet fishing hands!  Did you go back and forth on the decision between Evo 12 or 16 for more helm space?  Btw, that 16” looks awesome! 

Again, congrats and keep us posted of your learnings.

Cheers,
Ron

[Gio]

Mar 25, 2020 15:54:49 GMT Capt’n Ron said:

Hey Gio, congrats, and that’s a great looking boat and configuration and I now have helm envy!  I was glad to see you powered it with the Mercury outboards.  As you may have seen in the 895 thread I was going to purchase a new 895 configured with Merc’s. I was tossed between the 895 and the Sport, but it came down to needing the additional space in the cabin for weekend cruises with my wife. I even had a buyer for 795 lined up, but the deal fell apart with the dealer.

Yes I saw your posts, unfortunate situation...i hope you find your way to make this happens, the boat is worth it for sure.

I can tell you that the Marlin 895 looks like a great boat, it very sporty and good for fishing and other water activities but with plenty of comfort inside. It is very well designed and every single space used for something. For me is the perfect compromise for fishability and cruising with family. Living in a very hot country I need a closed helm to run the AC while cruising, so the choices are quite limited in this category. A boat that I love is the boston whaler conquest pilot house, but the price range is a different order of magnitude so was not an option for me.

I hope is also durable over many years.

Mar 25, 2020 15:54:49 GMT Capt’n Ron said:

Sounds like you did a fair amount of research on the Mercury outboard as I did to come to the conclusion the Mercury is a better fit for these boats for various reasons.  As you pointed out, the additional speed is nice, but it’s more about the overall performance and fuel efficiency you get with these motors. Have you had a chance to get a feel for the active trim and the difference of the handling and performance of the boat?

I did spend a lot of time on the ideal engines for this boats - I have already twin mercury in another boat so i could be a bit biased but actually the reasons are purely technical for chosing the mercury V8s:
- This boat has a relatively large beam and fully loaded is relatively heavy - you need a lot or torque to get the boat moving and to keep a good cruise speed - the V8s have a large displacement and really a good torque to keep the boat on cruise
- Weight: Mercury has an advantage vs its competitors. I opted for the ProXS and not the Verado AMS model mainly for the weight difference. The ProXs is 505 lbs / 229 kgs vs the Verado 600 lbs / 272 kgs...190 lbs less sitting in the transom
- Alternators are 85Ah, very useful to recharge large battery packs (the Verado V8 even better at 105Ah each)

I haven't been able to test extensively the boat (and from this weekend my marina is closed for the coronavirus lock down...) but the few runs I have done i have seen really good numbers relatively fully loaded ... I will do more tests once i can and post here the performances.

look this run for exmaple:


3500 rpm, 30mph, and consumption around 1.9mpg...these are good numbers to start with. Again i need to do more runs to confirm but it is already a good start.

For your benefit, look at these numbers from yamaha:
yamahaoutboards.com/en-us/home/outboards/350-150-hp/v6-4-2l/f250/pb_jea_nc_895_sport_twin_f250xca_owa_7-13-19

Look the boston whaler conquest numbers for example with the verado (slightly bigger and heavier boat):
www.bostonwhaler.com/family-overview/conquest-boat-models/285-conquest-pilothouse/

I don't have active trim in my boat, it is an option i can add later, it may be useful for long cruising runs. I will think about it

Mar 25, 2020 15:54:49 GMT Capt’n Ron said:

It’s interesting you had to do as much reconfiguration for the Mercury outboards and controls.  Most people don’t know it, but Jeanneau does offer a Mercury rigging from the factory.  Did you order yours with that option?  I know in NA they don’t like to make that known as they have a partnership with Yamaha and dealers also need to be a certified Merc dealer to do the install, but as an owner you can request to power your boat with Mercury.  

I ordered the boat in re-release and at that time was not very clear what was on the boat or the options. I should have insisted from the beginning to have mercury rigging but they told me was not possible to opt or even not install anything. Anyways we did some trials and we upgraded to the mercury rigging which is servo assisted and the way to go. Without the servo assisted steering was really too hard to operate so we had to go back and fix this. 

Mar 25, 2020 15:54:49 GMT Capt’n Ron said:

Btw, for those who are interested in configuration options, you can use the Jeanneau configurator tool.  It has some bugs, but it will let you see and select most of the factory configurations and show MSRP. Link to the Jeanneau configurator

nice, i wish it was available when i ordered..I had the dealer visiting the facilities in France to take pictures of the options because nothing was officially available when i placed the order

Mar 25, 2020 15:54:49 GMT Capt’n Ron said:

I see you got the VesselView 403, but I’m sure that was based on the space available on the helm as the 703 is much easier to use and read. Also good call on getting a chart plotter with both touch and manual controls.  Those touch screens don’t do very well with cold and wet fishing hands!  Did you go back and forth on the decision between Evo 12 or 16 for more helm space?  Btw, that 16” looks awesome! 

Again, congrats and keep us posted of your learnings.

Cheers,
Ron

No worries for the VV 403, i am sure you know that Simrad is the manufacturer of Mercury screens. The 703 is actually a NSS 7 rebranded mercury so you have the perfect compatibility with all the systems. Basically I run everything on a NMEA2000 network, so i can see and operate the engines directly from the 16" display (you can see in one of the pictures). The 403 is just a satellite unit connected to the engines that put the data on the NMEA network, but i can use it when i have the 16" display used for charts/sonar/radar etc.

it is quite handy system to be honest. Next step is to install the inverter which i should be able to control with the Simrad unit via C-Zone network. i am still working on this i will post when done.

[nc]

Hi, I start a thread about V8 vs v6 for NC895 sport. You have pro XS V8 250hp, wow!!! Do you have test numbers from 3000 to WOT? Yamaha put a test report on Website with twin 250, a " global" comparaison could be possible, adding math on it, prop efficiency and more could be evaluate

[Gio]

May 7, 2020 19:15:35 GMT nc said:

Hi, I start a thread about V8 vs v6 for NC895 sport. You have pro XS V8 250hp, wow!!! Do you have test numbers from 3000 to WOT? Yamaha put a test report on Website with twin 250, a " global" comparaison could be possible, adding math on it, prop efficiency and more could be evaluate

Hi there,

i saw your post to ask for comparison - i will publish the data as soon as i can - unfortunately for the Covid-19 my marina was in lock down for the past 2 months so i had to wait.

Now we can re-start the activities - i am currently in process to rewire the boat - installing 2 separate engine batteries and 3 high capacity batteries for house and inverter/AC

I run the boat few times before the lock down and the V8s are amazing, the boat flies literally. See my post above. I saw numbers that are incredibly good.

I went for the ProXS for weight saving vs the Verado

[icebreaker]

Hi Gio,
where exactly did You place the inhull 2D transducer?? I am having problems to choose the best place because of sandwish laminate in the hull. I will put my 895 Marlin into water soon and maybe start to give information about Mercury V6, 175hp performance.

Regards,  Jens

[Gio]

May 11, 2020 21:31:42 GMT icebreaker said:

Hi Gio,
where exactly did You place the inhull 2D transducer?? I am having problems to choose the best place because of sandwish laminate in the hull. I will put my 895 Marlin into water soon and maybe start to give information about Mercury V6, 175hp performance.

Regards,  Jens

Hi Jen,

good luck on your new Marlin 895!

See the picture below, red dot is where we installed the in-hull 2D transducer. This place is wood free, it is a always wet area even if you go fast and from the limited tests i have done the transducer works well.




Let me know how your installations goes, and please post your numbers when you have it.

[icebreaker]

Thanks Gio, hopefully I will get all installations ready this week. I also have  2 more  3D transducers that need to be fitted in but they are mainly for fishing purposes and my first option is to put them under the swim platforms in some kind of adjustable brackets. I will only use them in slow speed because my earlier experiences are not good with 3D in high speed. I have used Raymarine stuff the last 5 years and did go with them again mainly because I don´t need to learn new menues again. Because of Covid-19 I had to rush and get the boat delivered before the lock down otherwise It might have been stuck with the dealer for the hole summer. Our boating season is not so long here in northern Scandinavia thats why I chose to do all the installations myself. It has been interesting but at the same time a pain in the ass because of cold weather. When the boat is on the trailer it is too high to fit through the door  in my garage so I have been working outdoors. Already in the beginning I managed to destroy the diesel heather because of a stupid mistake so crawling around in a cold boat is no pleasure. Hopefully I can add some pictures later,computers and forums are not my strongest side, I am an old man and very old school so i don´t even understand how I ended up with an Marlin 895 and outboard engines. Time will tell if I made a good choice, so far I am very happy with the building quality and the solutions for easy access and easy moving around in the boat.

Regards, Jens

[Gio]

May 12, 2020 19:59:45 GMT icebreaker said:

Thanks Gio, hopefully I will get all installations ready this week. I also have  2 more  3D transducers that need to be fitted in but they are mainly for fishing purposes and my first option is to put them under the swim platforms in some kind of adjustable brackets. I will only use them in slow speed because my earlier experiences are not good with 3D in high speed. I have used Raymarine stuff the last 5 years and did go with them again mainly because I don´t need to learn new menues again. Because of Covid-19 I had to rush and get the boat delivered before the lock down otherwise It might have been stuck with the dealer for the hole summer. Our boating season is not so long here in northern Scandinavia thats why I chose to do all the installations myself. It has been interesting but at the same time a pain in the ass because of cold weather. When the boat is on the trailer it is too high to fit through the door  in my garage so I have been working outdoors. Already in the beginning I managed to destroy the diesel heather because of a stupid mistake so crawling around in a cold boat is no pleasure. Hopefully I can add some pictures later,computers and forums are not my strongest side, I am an old man and very old school so i don´t even understand how I ended up with an Marlin 895 and outboard engines. Time will tell if I made a good choice, so far I am very happy with the building quality and the solutions for easy access and easy moving around in the boat.

Regards, Jens

Jens, first of all best of luck with the installation up there in the north...i can imagine that with the cold is not the best situation to work this stuff.

I think that this boat will suit cold weather really well in general, I am sure you will not regret your choice. For me is the opposite...here is very hot and still studing a solution to get the cabin cold enough.

I have installed the 3D stransducer between engines. It is mainly for low speed cruising and fishing as well. If can help you, here is a picture of the installation, it is with a special adesive bracket to avoid to drill the hull.

[icebreaker]

Thanks again, I really start to apreciate this discussion, I had already made up a prototype similar to Your picture but it is a tunnel of stainless  so I can hide and protect the cables, sometimes in autumn the water freezes during the the night when You are in the harbour and when  You go reversing the ice is like a sharp knife it cuts everything that is soft, like cables and rubber wires.

more later......

Regards, Jens

[nc]

Hi, I looking for a place to install microwave oven, do you have any idea?
What about boat attitude while cruising in open sea? With moderate chops? Formed waves?

[Gio]

May 16, 2020 13:23:24 GMT nc said:

Hi, I looking for a place to install microwave oven, do you have any idea?
What about boat attitude while cruising in open sea? With moderate chops? Formed waves?

hi, when i am on the boat next, i will check some areas

Unfortunately i haven't tested the boat on the open sea yet...we had the marina shut down for 2 months beause the coronavirus and only now we have a moderate reopening with limited operations. Still completing my inverter installation..

Soon more details

[nc]

Do you have made some open sea testing? I tried a nc895 sport with twin 250hp on a windy lake, very shacky and tough to take video from the the displays, Yammy display was set in hundred, so 35 is 3501 to 3599 RPM
1.6 MPG for 35 to 38, 24MPH to 29mph for speed over water from Yammy display.
WOT at 61 at 45.7mph for GPS speed from Garmin 12".
Engine trim was not optimized, if it was, probably better performance over all. Those numbers are closed from those from Yamaha.

[Gio]

Jun 28, 2020 13:14:42 GMT nc said:

Do you have made some open sea testing? I tried a nc895 sport with twin 250hp on a windy lake, very shacky and tough to take video from the the displays, Yammy display was set in hundred, so 35 is 3501 to 3599 RPM
1.6 MPG for 35 to 38, 24MPH to 29mph for speed over water from Yammy display.
WOT at 61 at 45.7mph for GPS speed from Garmin 12".
Engine trim was not optimized, if it was, probably better performance over all. Those numbers are closed from those from Yamaha.

NC - sorry for the late reply - haven't checked here for a weeks, and still busy and not too much time for boating.

I did a few runs, not a scientific test, but i think the numbers are consistent with what I told you already. I still need to fine tune the engine trim and the tabs but i think we have a consistent path now.

Runs were with 3 people on board, 100% water tank and 85% fuel tanks, around 5-10 knot wind and relatively flat conditions. These are just the readings, again no science behind and i will do a proper test with the averages once i have time:


3050 rpm, 22.2 mph, 1.85 mpg

3450 rpm, 26.5 mph, 1.75 mpg

3540 rpm, 30.3 mph, 1.89 mpg

3590 rpm, 32.5 mph, 1.93 mpg

3600 rpm, 33.0 mph, 1.91 mpg

3720 rpm, 33.5 mph, 1.86 mpg

3900 rpm, 35.8 mph, 1.84 mpg

4000 rpm, 38.2 mph, 1.68 mpg

5600 rpm, 53.1 mph, 1.21 mpg

5760 rpm, 53.3 mph, 1.18 mpg

It looks like 3500 rpm is the sweet spot for cruising and 30-33 MPH is a nice speed for long runs.

I will try again with light load and compare.

[Gio]

Already posted in another specific thread, but i include also here for the records.

I added a fresh water gauge in the configuration and connected to the chartplotter using a NMEA 2000 fluid gauge from Simrad.
Overall installation costed around $150 for the parts (water gauge and NMEA transducer), it is an easy job even for the non expert folks.

I don't know why Jeanneau don't put this feature standard. For a boat like this i think is a mandatory option to have on board, as you don't want to find yourself "dry" when you stay overnight or going fishing. On the other side, it is not fuel efficient to keep always the tank full...we are talking about 100kg of water to bring around each time. The gauge allows you to monitor and plan accordingly.

How the gauge looks after installation:


And how the water data looks on the screen:


I highly recommend tread below where you can find all the details, and thanks a lot again to the authors:

jeanneau.proboards.com/thread/7999/adding-fresh-water-gauge

[nc]

Are you in salt water?
Yammy 250 in a soft water canadian lake, +/- 30mph, +/- 19gph, with ProXs, 16gph is 3 gph less for the same speed!!!!
And +/- 7mph more at WOT for +/-5gph less!!! Yammy's days are over.
I ordered NC895sport with Verado 250, ratio is 1.85 instead of 1.75 of the ProXs, and because your WOT is at 5760RPM, I will stay with the same prop's size as you are, 19", I will probably reach the 6k.

[Gio]

Jul 4, 2020 18:39:41 GMT nc said:

Are you in salt water?
Yammy 250 in a soft water canadian lake, +/- 30mph, +/- 19gph, with ProXs, 16gph is 3 gph less for the same speed!!!!
And +/- 7mph more at WOT for +/-5gph less!!! Yammy's days are over.
I ordered NC895sport with Verado 250, ratio is 1.85 instead of 1.75 of the ProXs, and because your WOT is at 5760RPM, I will stay with the same prop's size as you are, 19", I will probably reach the 6k.

I think that the new mercury V8s are the winners for this generation of engines, and by the way I'm in salt water (high temp).

I think the verado are most likely the best choice for this boat, if I have a complaint for mine is that they are quite loud at idle and low speed, not ideal for cruising and trolling.

When you set the props, the dealer should configure the boat at full load and you should hit the lower end of the WOT rpm window. In this way you should avoid to hit the limiter when you run with very light load.

Good luck and let me know how it goes

[nc]

Salt water and high temperature, interesting point, for sure high temperature is not a plus factor, salt water density vs water viscosity vs dead rise, it is an advantage for high deadrise for the decreasing wet area, but NC895 sport has only 18 degres. I will guest that your speed is even compared to fresh water and moderate temperature

[ninny]

Rigging question/concern.  We have an 895 sport ordering coming pre-rigged for Mercury Verado.  After reading these threads we think we would like the Proxs but dealer cannot tell us how the rigging would differ/cost between Verado & Proxs.  I then called mercury and they said rigging wouldn’t be much different if ordered the Proxs with dts BUT then went on to say the big difference is that the Verado steering is build it and the Proxs has hydraulic.  he suggested I call dealer tech service.

can anyone give opinions and/or suggest a knowledgeable mercury dealer in the ft Myers Florida area?  Also, bottom line would the rigging/steering adaptations be costly?   

[nc]

Go with Verado , outstanding steering. I tried one 500HP sport last saturday, 51.1mph at 6010rpm, feel the push from 4000 to 5000, effortless, better to put zipwake because Sport is a fat baby, need trim tab a lot, become annoying.
I tried also Yammy 500hp...no comments

[nc]

by the way, If I were you, I will tell to the dealer to look at MP U 1001 option for rigging XsPro, that option is for 4stroke V6 up to 225hp, that include V8 Seapro.

[ninny]

Rigging question/concern.  We have an 895 sport ordering coming pre-rigged for Mercury Verado.  After reading these threads we think we would like the Proxs but dealer cannot tell us how the rigging would differ/cost between Verado & Proxs.  I then called mercury and they said rigging wouldn’t be much different if ordered the Proxs with dts BUT then went on to say the big difference is that the Verado steering is build it and the Proxs has hydraulic.  he suggested I call dealer tech service.

can anyone give opinions and/or suggest a knowledgeable mercury dealer in the ft Myers Florida area?  Also, bottom line would the rigging/steering adaptations be costly?   

[Gio]

Aug 17, 2020 22:10:30 GMT ninny said:

Rigging question/concern.  We have an 895 sport ordering coming pre-rigged for Mercury Verado.  After reading these threads we think we would like the Proxs but dealer cannot tell us how the rigging would differ/cost between Verado & Proxs.  I then called mercury and they said rigging wouldn’t be much different if ordered the Proxs with dts BUT then went on to say the big difference is that the Verado steering is build it and the Proxs has hydraulic.  he suggested I call dealer tech service.

can anyone give opinions and/or suggest a knowledgeable mercury dealer in the ft Myers Florida area?  Also, bottom line would the rigging/steering adaptations be costly?   

The only difference in installing the ProXS vs Verado is that you need 1 hydraulic steering cylinder and 1 rod to to connect both engines. Very easy installation and price you can find on line (500 - 1000 usd i think). ProXS must be DTS version.

For these questions on engines you should call the mercury dealer as they are the right people to answer.

ProXS is a great engine, light and fast, but be aware that ad idle and trolling speed has a very deep noise as a sporty car (could bother some people).
Verado is heavier (50kg + per engine), but super quiet and bigger alternator (115Ah) that can be useful in some applictions.

Good luck with your choice and post here your beast when you have it.

[ninny]

Thanks...  wonderful information.  After reading many responses we are back to just getting the Verado engines.  This way we will be able to test drive it before we sign ... on the dotted line.  If we get the ProXS someone other than the Jeanneau dealer would have to install.  

[captaintheo]

May 11, 2020 21:31:42 GMT icebreaker said:

Hi Gio,
where exactly did You place the inhull 2D transducer?? I am having problems to choose the best place because of sandwish laminate in the hull. I will put my 895 Marlin into water soon and maybe start to give information about Mercury V6, 175hp performance.

Regards,  Jens

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