On Sun, 4 Jun 2017 08:30:55 -0400, Keyser Soze wrote:

Merc had some engines on which it seriously underrated the output and
they sold well for lake use, but they had corrosion problems in those
days in salt water use.

When I was at that Teamster confab at the Lake of the Ozarks (1960 or
so) there was a guy who raced on the Mississippi and he swore the Merc
85hp twins he had were more powerful than the brand new 100 HP motors.
They were tricked up a bit tho, His aluminum cat boat would do well
over 60 and that was flying in those days. Now days any garden variety
flats or bass boat will run 60. (But they are running 200-250 HP
outboards)