The six-cylinder, six-litre, naturally aspirated 130hp engine for the aluminium-hulled Triton, which is moored at Dartmouth, was installed by Brixham-based Oxley Marine Engineering.

Until the recent repowering, Triton was powered by a Perkins 6.354, a legendary engine in its heyday, the last of which rolled off the assembly line in the mid-1990s. Like the vast majority of boats powered by this multi-purpose engine, Triton’s 6.354 engine had given the tug years of economic workhorse service. Inevitably though, it had reached the end of its cost-effective life and could not match the performance and environmental characteristics of its modern counterparts.

This legacy of unerring reliability was, says Nick Oxley of Oxley Marine Engineering, a deciding factor when evaluating potential replacement engines. The new engine was judged to provide the same dependability that had been the hallmark of the Perkins 6.354 with – thanks to its premium-build specification and low-revving design – every prospect of exceeding Triton’s original engine’s longevity. Commenting on the repower decision, he said: “With cost-of-ownership that is proven to be the lowest of any engine in its class, the new Perkins engine is also very much in tune, in these toughening economic times, with the need to minimise running costs without sacrificing performance or reliability.”

Triton’s engine was supplied by Cannock-based Finning (UK), the Perkins distributor for England, Wales and Ireland. Parts and service support are available only through the Perkins distribution network that today numbers 4,000 distributors in 160 countries. Full details of the engines in the current Perkins Marine Power range, including contact details for the distributor network, are available on www.perkins-sabre.com.