Want more speed?...this ones easy & real

[Bigprairie1]

...well not really easy (its a lot of elbow grease) but it doesn't require that you have to 'wrench' your motor at all and you don't have to throw money at it.
Simply put....wax the bottom of your boat.
I have a Bayliner Capri w/ a 90hp Force on it and prior to waxing the bottom of it...my top speed was about 37-38-ish. After waxing it....I hit 40mph.
These isn't rocket science....all the sailors know this...even all the snow skiers.
If you do this get yourself something comfortable to lie on because youre gonna' be down there for a couple of hours.....but hey it's good maintenance and its free speed.
Cheers.

 

[salty87]

Re: Want more speed?...this ones easy & real

any chance you were going downstream after you waxed?

waxing or sanding for speed is a controversial topic. sailboats, offshore racers, skulling crews have researched it and conclusions aren't very definitive. waxing won't hurt though.

there's a big difference between a hull in the water vs snow ski's on snow.

 

[rogerwa]

Re: Want more speed?...this ones easy & real

Maybe you lost some weight doing all that waxing..

 

[rndn]

Re: Want more speed?...this ones easy & real

Did you have the same people on board? Same fuel amount?

 

[bjcsc]

Re: Want more speed?...this ones easy & real

Hmmm...general consensus is:

Displacement hulls: makes faster
Planing Hulls: makes slower

 

[Bigprairie1]

Re: Want more speed?...this ones easy & real

...more feedback on this.
Conditions were very similar to the previous (slower) readings. As for the physics behind....less friction, less drag, more speed.....look at just about every outfit in sports these days from bike racers, to down hill skiers, you name it...they are reducing drag to gain a little speed.
Use the opposite example....let the algae/moss grow on the underside of your boat and compare the speed with when it's clean. I'll bet money...you are down by 3-5mph with a green underside vs. a clean one.
I talked with a naval architect about this and he fully supports it as an speed improvement method.
It's a lot of elbow grease tho' for your return on investment...and admittedly it was more of an experiment than a need. Regardless, it's done now...and I get a little more top end..so I'll take it.
I'll keep an eye on this tho' and see if it holds true the next time I take the boat out.....that way there is a bit more data on it, rather than just one run.
Stay tuned.

 

[ziggy]

Re: Want more speed?...this ones easy & real

yep, a controversial subject. what i get is that a waxed hull will have perhpas more adhiesion to the surface of the water. a little ruffness on the bottom of yer boat will cause less surface tenison, therefore more speed...personaly, i wax the bottom of my boat so it looks respectable, i not gonna have a speed racer anyways, waxed or unwaxed.......

of corse were not talking about barnicals and moss and stuff.....

 

[Scaaty]

Re: Want more speed?...this ones easy & real

I'm with Ziggy here. Its aint rocket science either. To reduce water adhesion, you want a ROUGH surface so the water can't adhere to it. Do a simple experiment. Take a pice of PVC pipe. run water over it..see how it follows the contour?. Now take some 50 grit paper and rough it up and try it again.......nuff said

 

[Coors]

Re: Want more speed?...this ones easy & real

I keep reading that the water chews off the wax the first time out...

 

[RubberFrog]

Re: Want more speed?...this ones easy & real

I keep reading that the water chews off the wax the first time out...

Take a pressure washer to it for ten minutes and see how waxy it is.

 

[Coors]

Re: Want more speed?...this ones easy & real

Rubber; your avatar, combined with kiwi' pansy answer- you scare me at times

 

[BoatBuoy]

Re: Want more speed?...this ones easy & real

Take a pressure washer to it for ten minutes and see how waxy it is.

Yep, wax'll be gone before you clear the no-wake zone.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Want more speed?...this ones easy & real

I'm with Ziggy here. Its aint rocket science either. To reduce water adhesion, you want a ROUGH surface so the water can't adhere to it. Do a simple experiment. Take a pice of PVC pipe. run water over it..see how it follows the contour?. Now take some 50 grit paper and rough it up and try it again.......nuff said

Ditto!

If that were really true then a smooth ball coated with a clean waxed surface would fly further than a golf ball when hit.

The simple answer is a clean hull will always be faster then a dirty one.

Read this older post http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=156723&highlight=speed

 

[rndn]

Re: Want more speed?...this ones easy & real

From what I understand about stepped hulls, is that they create tiny air bubbles along the bottom of the hull to reduce water adhesion. I would think wax would do the opposite. I'm also guessing the wax would last an hour or two at most in that environment.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Want more speed?...this ones easy & real

But then you can look at (or feel) a fish and note that when rubbed one direction they feel smooth and when rubbed toward the head the scales bite you. This creates tiny bubbles around the fish which breaks the surface tension. A lake with slight surface ripples will allow faster speeds than one that's glass smooth. Less surface contact the faster you go. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

 

[Scaaty]

Re: Want more speed?...this ones easy & real

But then you can look at (or feel) a fish and note that when rubbed one direction they feel smooth and when rubbed toward the head the scales bite you. This creates tiny bubbles around the fish which breaks the surface tension. A lake with slight surface ripples will allow faster speeds than one that's glass smooth. Less surface contact the faster you go. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

And that my friends is the end of the story (unless your a wax saleman..)

 

[scrobo]

Re: Want more speed?...this ones easy & real

Wax on.....


Wax off.....

 

[ParallaxBill]

Re: Want more speed?...this ones easy & real

"what i get is that a waxed hull will have perhpas more adhiesion to the surface of the water. a little ruffness on the bottom of yer boat will cause less surface tenison, therefore more speed.."

Can't go with ziggy and the others on this one. My only proof is that we had an Ebbtide bass boat that had some type of copper anti-fouling paint on it that felt like sand paper. It was coming off in places and since we were not going to use it in salt water we removed it and waxed the hull. The boat was much faster after smoothing up the hull.

I'm going to need a bonified scientist to prove to me that a rougher hull is faster than a polished smooth one. No offense meant to anyone that feels otherwise but it just seems to fly in the face of common sense that a rougher hull skin is faster.

 

[ParallaxBill]

Re: Want more speed?...this ones easy & real

But then you can look at (or feel) a fish and note that when rubbed one direction they feel smooth and when rubbed toward the head the scales bite you. This creates tiny bubbles around the fish which breaks the surface tension. A lake with slight surface ripples will allow faster speeds than one that's glass smooth. Less surface contact the faster you go. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

Looks like the boat manufacturers need to start making boats with scales and slim generators. The later is so our boats don't get infections and such.

 

[kmurray802]

Re: Want more speed?...this ones easy & real

I'm not wasting time with the wax,I think i'll rub some grease on mine.