For boaters looking for triple outboard power, but hating the bank of levers that it requires, Mercury has some great news. At a media event held in March in the Florida Keys, Mercury introduced the Shadow Technology applications of its SmartCraft DTS (Digital Throttle & Shift) engine management system.

In the past, triple outboard-rigged boats had just one messy option for engine control requiring a pair of levers—throttle and shift—for each engine. For most drivers, the resulting six-lever array was complex underway and insane to manage during docking. Using what Mercury calls "Shadow Technology" these same three engines can be operated with just two levers. The DTS controls combine shift and throttle into one handle for each engine. As you would naturally expect, the port and starboard controls operate the port and starboard motors. But the center engine is where the magic occurs—Shadow Technology takes over the third engine and operates it without the driver. The center power plant is not ‘slaved' to either outside engine but is controlled by software which ‘shadows' the outside pair.

SmartCraft's computerization synchronizes the center engine to the average of the port and starboard engine rpm. When the driver has the engines in opposite gears as is common in docking maneuvers, the Shadow Technology simply drops the center unit into neutral. To further ease operation, at over 1500 rpm the system's Auto Sync feature takes its cue from the operator's throttle placement to synchronize the three engines exactly if the handles are within five degrees. This eliminates the need to watch three tachometers and tune the engines manually. Just drive and enjoy!

In addition to extremely smooth and responsive control, several nifty benefits are realized from the DTS technology. Dash space always is at a premium and now there are just two levers instead of six. Mechanical cables for three engines are replaced by electronic connections that clean up rigging significantly and multiple helm stations, one up in the tower, can be easily rigged.

Shadow Technology will be available for triple engine applications beginning with the 2006 model year. Currently SmartCraft is standard on all Verado 135-275 hp engines as well as optional on 200 and 225 hp OptiMax models.

Also demonstrated at the event were new DTS controls for Mercury's small block Bravo sterndrive and inboard engines. As with outboards, this technology consolidates throttle and shift into a single lever electronic control for each engine and replaces mechanical linkage. SmartCraft DTS allows dual helm and triple engine capacity with electronic monitoring and display of all engine functions.

Like the outboard applications, SmartCraft's Auto Synchronization locks engine speeds when cruising to achieve accurate engine synchronization. Smart Start prevents accidental starter engagement and shift protection protects the drives from sudden shift commands at high speed. In a shocking demonstration, the engine control levers were hard-jammed from wide open forward to wide open reverse with no damage to the drives or transmission. Do that with conventional gear and you'll launch or wreck your drives, but with the computer, the boat stops and nothing breaks. The software sensed and governed the drives to smoothly make the appropriate transition.

The digital system will be available as an option for the MerCruiser 5.0L MPI 350, MAG MPI and 6.2L B packages beginning this summer (2005). These engines now join the Mercury outboards and large block inboard MerCruiser 496 MAG and 8.1 S models currently available with DTS.