Mercury Racing 60R Powers the Skiff Market: A Hell's Bay Whipray Restored
Although I’m not much of a fisherman anymore I still appreciate purpose built fishing machines for their design and performance. Some bass boats are certainly pushing the line on all out performance and fishing combined with fishing ability, with hulls that can rival some of the fastest sport boats around. But, when it comes to cool boats, I really love the smaller skiffs and flats boats you see down south. Extremely purpose built, technical skiffs are designed to run in the shallows, drawing only inches of water. They must plane out quickly and run really well in some light chop to navigate to the next fishing spot. Not an easy boat to design or power. This is where the Mercury Racing 60R enters the discussion.
When researching some performance reports for the Mercury Racing 60R, I came across Geoff Colmes’ re-powered classic Hell’s Bay Whipray. Geoff lives in Islamorada Florida. Down in Florida and surrounding states there are dozens of fishing boat manufacturers and many make beautiful little skiffs and flats boats. Hell’s Bay Boatworks, based in Titusville Florida, has been around for 20 years, making some amazing boats.
Geoff’s 2002 kevlar Whipray had many years of hard fishing under its belt and Geoff decided to do a restoration on it, along with a repower. The only problem is many small skiffs use 15” transoms but there are only a couple lower HP 15” engines available. Geoff ran a 50 HP Tohatsu 15”, which is a great little engine, but he was looking for more power. The Whipray is only about 570 Lbs but when you load it with gear and fill the livewell, having that extra power is useful.
The top side of the Whipray was completely redone. This console was customized along with all new hardware.
For Mercury Racing, the 60R was aimed specifically at this market. The diminutive 268 pound 4 cylinder 60 HP Mercury four stroke is proven, and for many years Racing has offered a 15” Formula Race version, but that one doesn’t have a warranty. The 60R utilizes the 15” midsection and then adds a larger gearcase to accommodate bigger props and lower gears. By running 2.33:1 gears, the 60R can maximize torque down low. With that in mind, Mercury Racing tuned the engine to rev up to 6,300 RPM, 300 more than a regular version and with a 3 year warranty the 60R becomes the engine of choice in this segment. And, it looks really cool.
The 4.25 diameter gearcase gets low 2.33 gears for extra torque out of the hole.
The Hell’s Bay received a complete update. Geoff commissioned Glasser Boat works to do the work; new larger fuel tank, deck hardware and SeaDek, along with fresh rigging. New platforms were done and they preserved the beautiful yellow gelcoat hull, making it look like new again. The boat looks incredible and the 60R is the perfect engine.
After refinishing, SeaDek was used on the deck.
Here are the specs on the Hell’s Bay Whipray:
Weight – 570 lbs. Draft – 3.5″ with engine & fuel. Length – 16′ 4″ Beam – 70″
Geoff mentioned it took some time to dial it in. These hulls are flat at the back with a slight hook, making it run very flat. The entry has a nice V so you can cut through some chop when needed. The boat isn’t designed to be a rocket but it performs really well and getting out of the hole is a dream with the 60R. One thing Geoff changed was placing his battery up front to offset any added weight and it sits perfect this way.
After some testing, the best prop ended up being a Powertech 13” - 3 blade. Geoff mentioned the best part is being able to have two passengers and still being able to effortlessly plane out. Incredible efficiency and the great sound are also highlights.
Of course it would be fun to see how this 60R would do on a little Hydrostream VooDoo, Vixen or Tuff 16. But, this little Hell’s Bay is ultra cool and the perfect boat for the Racing 60R.
