The Yamaha F350 is the world’s first production V8 4-Stroke outboard and produces a massive 350hp at the prop totalling an impressive 1400hp for this quad configuration.

This world first project at Woody Marine presented ample opportunities and challenges for both Yamaha and the boat builder.  Woody Engineering has built any number of triple rig maxi powered outboard RIBs, but the arrival of the Yamaha F350 presented a new opportunity to build an even bigger and faster RIB.

“Make no mistake,” said David Green of Woody Marine.  “This is a high performance boat and thanks to the power available from Yamaha, this is also the most powerful RIB that we have ever built.”

Boasting an overall length of 14m and a beam of 4.1m, this RIB has an impressive set of credentials.  On the water without passengers, the boat tips the scales at a massive 8.75 tonnes light and 9.5 tonnes in testing, and as a tourist boat it has fixed seating for 40 passengers plus a crew of two with up to 4 tonnes in extra weight.

To accept the four Yamaha F350 outboard engines, a total of 1400 hp, the structure of the hull in general and the transom in particular had to be bolstered.  Woody Marine’s in-house Naval Architect fine tuned the hull shape to get the best from the Yamaha F350 and considerable unseen structural improvements went into the transom and hull design.

“The partnership of the vessel design and the Yamaha F350 Quad has exceeded all our expectations” said David.

“I believe for this boat we could not have achieved a better combination. These engines are superb, unbelievably quiet throughout the rev range and at WOT - quieter than the 2 previous 12.5m Quad set ups we have completed recently.”

“The real bonus however has been fuel consumption results. These has have fallen well inside the budgeted expectation” David Green said.

On a recent test run in 20+ knots of breeze, the boat was running at a comfortable cruise speed of 23 knots (43 km/h) at just 2800 RPM.  Fuel flow at this speed was consistent at 94.2L/Hr over the boat or 23.5 litres per engine. This is an exceptional result for what amounts to over 21 litres of raw V8 power pushing a hull approaching 10 tonnes. At wide open throttle this combination of boat and motors was achieving a consistent 53 knots (98 km/h)

“The crew who operate this boat have already commented on how quite the engines are compared to competitive large cube outboards, and how Yamaha’s LAN gauge technology is the best in the business,” David Green said.

On the strength of the success of the first quad rig Yamaha F350 powered boat, Woody Enterprises already has an order for an almost identical second rig destined for the tourist market in far north Queensland.

amaha outboards are available through an Australia-wide network of authorised Yamaha outboard dealers.  All Yamaha 4-stroke outboards are supported with a full 4-year manufacturer’s warranty and all 2-stroke outboards are backed by a 3 year warranty – standard conditions apply.

For further information on this story contact:

Brett Hampson
National Sales & Marketing Manager
Marine Products

Tel (07) 3906 7000
Fax (07) 3906 7099
www.yamaha-motor.com.au