| Eliminator Boats 43 Eagle XP | | Print | |
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With staggered turbocharged diesel engines under the hatch, Eliminator Boats' 43 Eagle XP boats some exceptional range. Orignally published in the June 2009 issue By Matt Trulio Since buying the molds for the Larry Smith-designed 43-foot V-bottom a couple of years ago, Eliminator Boats has built a handful of the vaunted, stepped-hull boats. One of those models equipped with twin staggered Mercury Racing HP1075SCi engines reportedly reached 123 mph. Another with a pair of milder Mercury Racing HP700SCi engines topped 100 mph. So it’s safe to say that the most recent 43 Eagle XP built—hull No. 5 for those who are counting—is far from the fastest with a top speed of 73 mph. (“We’re hoping for 75 mph once we get done dialing it in with different propellers,” said Eliminator’s Tony Chiaramonte, who rigged the 12,500-pound boat.) Yet at wide-open throttle, the diesel-powered V-bottom reportedly has a range of 480 miles, not to mention a 50-mph cruising speed range of 700 miles. That exceptional fuel efficiency is largely the product of a pair of new-for-2009 turbocharged diesel engines from Cummins-MerCruiser attached to Mercury Racing NXT1 drives. Dubbed QSB 5.9, the 480-horsepower diesel engine is significantly lighter than the original Cummins 5.9 model, which also developed 480 hp. “Basically, Cummins took their 5.9-liter truck motor and marinized it,” said Jake Fraleigh, sales manager for Eliminator Boats. “And the drives have a special saltwater protection application on them. “To our knowledge, this is the first staggered diesel-engine high-performance boat ever built,” he added. “The diesel engines have always been installed side by side in the past.” With the exception of sanding out nonskid impressions in the deck mold for full-fade gelcoat graphics applications, Eliminator hasn’t modified the original Larry Smith tooling. For the diesel-powered 43-footer, the builder did create notches in the transom so they could raise the height of the NXT1 drives. Eliminator’s build team also created molded extensions in the cockpit to make the interior more inviting for pleasure boating. (The original Larry Smith 43-footer was designed to be a dedicated offshore race boat.) “We created new molds for the dash and new side panels with spots for speakers and grab handles,” Fraleigh said. “We kind of reconfigured the cockpit, but aside from removing the nonskid and notching the transom, those are the only changes we’ve made to the original 43.” Knowing that the model would probably spend more time in cruising and overnighting mode than the average offshore V-bottom, the builder dressed up the cabin with a suspended headliner, a full head locker and a galley with Corian countertops and a microwave oven. The general public got its first look at the diesel-powered 43 Eagle XP at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show in late 2008, where it was part of the in-water display. Chiaramonte was on hand to give demo rides in the boat to visitors at the show, and had a great time running the V-bottom. “I did five days of demo rides in that boat, almost nonstop,” he said. “On the GPS it said I went 228 miles. I burned just 70 gallons of fuel. Pretty amazing.” – Matt Trulio is a freelance writer for Powerboat. Contact Information If you like what you're reading, get more by subscribing to Powerboat magazine here. |
