Forespar's Point of View

Inventing the Outboard

Summer of 1905-ish, Ole and Mrs. Evinrude were picnicking on Lake Okauchee in Wisconsin.

Ole was sent for ice cream, and he rowed to shore, and bought the ice cream.  By the time he got back to the family, the dessert had melted.  Ole, the machinist and combustion-engine tinkerer, was a bit irritated.  In 1907, he came up with a 1.5 horse transom-mounted gasoline powered outboard motor.

In 1911, he patented his invention, and in 1913 sold his interest to his partner in the Evinrude Motor Corporation.  After five years off, he introduced a 3 hp aluminum model that weighed 48 pounds.  He then joined forces in 1929 with his old company and Johnson Motor Company, and created the small boat revolution.

You can still buy a two-cylinder Evinrude – or one with up to 300 horsepower.