41 Valor Test: Triple 450s vs Twin 600s
by Intrepid Powerboats 30 Aug 2022 18:27 UTC
41 Valor © Intrepid Powerboats
First, I have to start by talking about the Owners Rendezvous. Ocean Reef Club was the bomb... a great venue that helped us enjoy an amazing event. Thank you to the Intrepid team who worked hard to put the Rendezvous together.
And of course, special thanks to the Intrepid Nation for showing up in force. I've had so many emails and direct messages after the event saying how much fun everybody had, and we're looking forward to doing it again.
The Owners Rendezvous was the debut for the new 41 Valor. When we do a new model, it's really based on information that our owners give us. However, there's an opportunity for us to get something wrong when we interpret that input, so we're always a little nervous leading up to when everybody gets their first chance to see it and run it and give us their feedback.
I'm excited to say that everybody loved the boat... not only did they love how it rides, they loved the changes that we made and how it feels. That really makes us feel good. If you didn't get a chance to see the 41 Valor at the Rendezvous, you can experience it at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show when we unveil it to the public.
We also built a second 41 Valor, and that gave us the opportunity to test the performance of the boat with different engine packages. Watch the video to see my "down and dirty" presentation of the data we generated with a side-by-side comparison of one boat equipped with triple 450hp Mercurys versus another boat with twin 600hp Mercurys. You might be surprised how these two boats stacked up in terms of speed, RPMs and fuel consumption.
Another test we performed had to do with one of the biggest things that people want to know: how does the boat perform if you lose one of your engines? Can you get back in successfully if you're down an engine?
With the twin 600s boat, we trimmed up one of the engines and ran at 26-27 miles an hour. We ran a similar test with triple 450s and ran at 45 miles per hour with one engine trimmed up.
Ultimately, we think the testing confirms the benefits of Intrepid's approach to design and innovation. We've been doing it longer than anyone else and are very proud of our boats.