'84 Mercury 25 electrical question

[caldond@msn.com]

While using our jon boat with a 1984 Mercury 25XD all of a sudden it sounded like it was running out of gas, died and we were unable to restart it. We had plenty of fresh gas, and it had been running fine, but all of a sudden it died and wouldn't start. I usually do all the work on our vehicles and boat engines but this one has me stumped. There is no spark, and the stator, and coils appear nonfunctional (according to the manual). Any suggestions? Thanks.