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Shark Skin and Algae

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Dr IDOL

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To keep it short... I purchased a new Bennington tritoon with Shark Skin treatment.  Boat with 175 Yamaha was easily doing 40 mph.  Boat is kept by a dock in water.  Within a month top speed down to 22 mph.  Took boat out and cleaned with mild soap and pressure wash.  Speed increase some but not to original performance.  My dealer says algae eats away at the Shark Skin.  My marina kids me that Shark Skin is to boats what undercoating is to used car dealers.  Question:  Should I just acid wash the toons and forget I ever got the Shark Skin?  Anyone else ever hear of such a performance decline from algae in so little time?  Thanks in advance.  No rush.  Boat stored in doors until late April 
 
I have a sharkskinned boat that stays in the water.  Over the last few months I haven't cleaned the tubes weekly (now have noticable algae) and have lost ~ 3 mph.   Losing 18 mph seems extreme to say the least.  
 
18 mph seems really excessive. When you check speed, same conditions? GPS speed, fuel amount, weight on board? I could see a 5, maybe 10 mph with loads of algae, but 18? Did you check to make sure your prop is not damaged/spinning on hub? 


 I've also never heard of algae eat away the sharkskin. Not saying it's not possible, just never heard that. Only thing I've heard is it makes it easier to clean it off. I know my sharkskin won't last forever, but my purpose in purchasing it was to keep my toons looking new for at least a couple more years. The price is very reasonable from factory. 
 
I trailer my boat but leave it in a couple weeks at shot sometimes and have never had any issues even with a slight build up of junk on them. With the sharkhide it washed right off! I think you have some other issue going on there if you dropped off to 22mph. Same engine RPM, prop might be spinning on the shaft, trim motor stuck?
 
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I agree that algae likely would not have such a significant impact on your speed unless the toons are just furry with it. Mine is kept in the water all season and I never experienced such a dramatic drop in performance. I did wipe them down each weekend at the sandbar but I really didn't notice a difference prior to doing that.
 
We keep ours in the water and have algae build up if not cleaned for a few weeks.  We have seen slight decreases in speed with excessive build up but nothing of the magnitude you are speaking of.  I have also never heard of algae eating away at it.  It doesn't prevent algae build up and in my opinion makes it much easier to remove any build up from keeping it in water.  
 
Sounds like something else is going on to drop that kind of speed.  Maybe a spun hub on the prop?  Does it also take longer to come out of the hole?
 
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