[DonMan]

Have any of you heard of or used a product that you brush onto the bottom of your hull to increase top end mph?
I read about it in a magazine, they tested it and gained a couple miles per hour in a Baja 25 Outlaw.
Just wondering if any of you have any personal experience to relay...

 

[Speedwake]

I have seen long threads about this in the past and everyone has agreed that these bottom coatings make very little difference.

Interestingly enough. the place I bought my boat from - Extreme Offshore Marine in Havre de Grace (pronounced haver de grace) MD told me NOT to watch the bottom. He said it would actually slow the boat down...

go figgur....

had something to do with the stepped hull geometry...

- jeff

 

[RumRunner]

I honestly think most of the people who pick up any speed from bottom coatings get it from cleaning all of the major slim off of the bottom (step 1 in putting that stuff on)

I don't know that I'd agree with not cleaning the bottom, but not waxing it is probably faster, although the junk sticks better to it then. Alot of the high end race hulls don't have gel coat on the running surface to prevent the water from "sticking" to the bottom.

 

[Speedwake]

I agree,

there'a a local CAT that has the bottom lighly sanded and he swears it adds a few mph...

- jeff

 

[OldMagicfloat]

Did it to a buddie of mine last year-he lost speed
Thank God it wasn't me,i can't afford to go any slower

 

[Caincando1]

Scuffing the hull has been around for a while. Scuff just the area that is in the water at WOT. This produces turbulace which make air bubbles. More air under the hull the better. At least thats how the theory goes I've never heard any first hand info though.

Brian

 

[OldMagicfloat]

Used Speed Coat last year and gain 1-2mph, really not much and not 100% sure it was the coating. One nice thing result was that the bottom stay much cleaner over the course of the summer!

 

[FA18Driver]

Welcome Aboard Jack Spalding nice to have you in the group, feel free to hop in and post away we all do

 

[obnoxus]

Thats ok,, I bought aquatech speed cote last year didnt put it on,, looked for them to ask a question and there gone !!!

 

[Canada Jeff]

A buddy of mine was talking to one of these bottom coat guys, not sure who it was, but they explained to him that it only works on nonstep hulls like Baja and Velosity. The coating needs only water to perform its best, no air.

 

[obnoxus]

thats what I have, a 272 Baja,,, I bought some last year and will apply it after I get some base numbers from the hull after blueprinting,,, I will post the results.

 

[Speedwake]

Jack Spalding wrote about the bottom staying cleaner. I'd like to use something on my transom because it gets pretty dirty with the built in swim platform suppressing a lot of the exhaust gasses.

If the coating were clear, I'd give it a try on the transom first.

- jeff

 

[OldMagicfloat]

Jeff,how black does it get? Are you sure your not running too rich?
Well anyhow, I keep a bottle of simple green in the truck,takes alot of nasty shi* off the boat . And we get alot of crud from running the canal.

 

[hotbeek]

For the guys who do coat their bottoms.......are you only coating the last few feet ??? That's all that's in the water at WOT ?? Take a look at any speed pics.

I've heard of the fine sand paper trick. I'll probably do that this spring. Lightly sand with some fine sand paper.

I've also heard that squaring the transom helps ? You square the joint between transom and hull (eliminate the rounded edge) ???

 

[obnoxus]

Hot beek,

according to the product, do from the waterline down.

I am to scared to sand my hull,. but if you do, do it,,, sand linear front to back only, dont put any side to side scratches in it.

and that is called blueprinting along with making sure there is no hook in the hull.

find the HULL REPAIR thread for pics of my boat

 

[Canada Jeff]

The bottom coating guys we talked with said their product would not help for water line scum or exhaust res. Can't remember who it was, talked to them a month ago. I run an EFI and I still get black back there, the best I've found was to take a wet rag to the transom as soon as its on the trailer. I've seen some guys aply wax to the transom and not buff it off until its out of the water. I think it just comes down to elbow grease guys!

 

[Speedwake]

Karen and I use Simple Green on the boat as soon as it comes out of the water.

We wipe the entire boat down while it's still wet before heading home.

I have not found anything that works better than Simple Green. I go to the local Grainger store and buy it in 5 Gallon jugs.

- jeff

 

[Canada Jeff]

Hey Jeff does simple green not remove all of your wax on the side and transom of you r boat?

 

[OldMagicfloat]

Yea Jeff,I do the same thing. The boat gets cleaned in the parking lot before we leave.

Another thing that works kinda nice is by Mguire. It is in a spray bottle and it really is nothing more than wax mixed with water. I usually spray a little on after wiping down the boat.

 

[OldMagicfloat]

JeffJ, I have been using a product called "Quickshine" from Fountain of Youth Products. It works real well at removing exhust scum and other scumy items! Their web site is www.fountainofyouthrestore.com. If you have any question about the product, talk to Kevin Peak at Fountain of Youth. Good guy and knowledgable. Good luck.