Algae On Hull - Boat Speed Reduced from 60 to 35 mph

Has anyone experienced a significant reduction in top speed due to algae? I bought a boat (Charger 195) and used it for about 2-3 weeks before going on vacation. The top speed was about 60 mph. When I came back from vacation, about 4 weeks later, the top speed was only 35 mph. I had the motor checked, which didn't have any problems. The water conditions were about the same for the comparisons. The dealer claimed that algae was the problem. I've heard you might loose about 10 mph but this seems excessive. Does this make any sense to anyone?

NO

Sounds like you are possibly having a fuel issue. Check your gas to see if you have any water in it. Algae wont cause you to lose 25mph.

The boat was purchased as new from a dealer. The engine/fuel etc was check out without problem. The top speed returned after cleaning the boat hull and leaving the boat out of water. Last week, I found that the bottom was painted with car paint and looks like someone tried to hide the damage. The dealer used it as a demo for a while.

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Originally Posted by marty92xrd

...... Check your gas to see if you have any water in it.......

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......and the hull, ....to see if there was water in it.

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Originally Posted by marty92xrd

.........Algae wont cause you to lose 25mph.

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Agree!

Why wouldn't you have mentioned that in your original post, you may gotten some better answers.

Must have been some serious Hydrilla hanging off the bottom of that thing :laugh: I'm gonna agree that, no, that was not the real problem.

Is your anchor out????

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Originally Posted by F2008

......and the hull, ....to see if there was water in it.
Agree!

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Sounds like it's full of water.

Weirdest post yet!!

Many years ago we had a deck boat with a glass hull. Part of the joy of ownership was scraping the thinks layer of algae off the hull. That boat was not capable of 60 but when it got nasty it would not even plane out.

Did the dealer disclose that damage before you bought the boat! If a dealer sold me a "new" boat with that kind of damage I'd pretty unhappy with him. To say the least.

Maybe all the "Hull Speed" wore off?

The dealer claims no knowledge of previous damage. He maintains that algae caused the speed reduction. That's why I'm asking if anyone has experienced a dramatic change in performance due to algae growth.

Thanks. And maybe the weirdest Charger dealer in Texas.

I think you're right, maybe not full but a lot. Maybe seepage into the foam.

The dealer insists that the problem is due to the algae growth, nothing else. So I want to find out if he has any justification for his claim. If people claim they've seen something similar, then I would have to accept that it's possible. So far, I've found people that claim to have lost about 10 mph from growth on their boats but not 20. Even 10 seems like a lot.

Is your hull taking on water? How often and for how long do you leave it in the water? Do you pull the plug when you pull the boat out of the water? Do your bilge pumps kick on regularly?

Toxic
Good question. The boat was left in a slip, in the water, not in the air with a boat lift. The bilge pumps were used only before and after use - I used the boat only on the weekends, except for the time that I was on vacation for a month. When I returned, I bilged it out. I never noticed that much water in the back. It took less than 3-5 minutes to drain out the water. I finally removed the boat from my slip after 2 months. At that time, I pulled the drain plug and left it on the boat trailer.

If the bottom is painted with car paint - it points to a cheap repair job. You stated the boat was sold by the dealer as new. Sounds like grounds for a replacement boat due to misrepresentation. Do you have a hull that was damaged, hatchet job repair, and you purchased as new? Proper repair is done with gel. The question is - what don't you know about the hull? Was the damage repaired with glass or bondo - what's under the paint? New hulls don't have any damage to repair. Your problems with this boat go well past algae growth.....

I had a bass boat years ago that I kept in a slip in the water. I had algae growth on it that would keep it from getting on plane. I had to scrub the bottom at least a couple of times each summer.

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Originally Posted by JStew

If the bottom is painted with car paint - it points to a cheap repair job. You stated the boat was sold by the dealer as new. Sounds like grounds for a replacement boat due to misrepresentation. Do you have a hull that was damaged, hatchet job repair, and you purchased as new? Proper repair is done with gel. The question is - what don't you know about the hull? Was the damage repaired with glass or bondo - what's under the paint? New hulls don't have any damage to repair. Your problems with this boat go well past algae growth.....

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Irrespective of any algae growth issues or not, you have a damaged hull that was not properly repaired. Is this a reputable dealer you bought it from? I would be furious and would want a new hull.

so how bad was the algae and how long did it take you to clean it? if all this is even real, to lose 20 on a 195 (assuming with a 150 because a 200 will touch 70) the bottom of the boat would have to look like a sea bed and took you a month to clean it off. again if this is not a late aprils fools joke, it has to be water in the boat and it could be from several reasons and almost all of them has nothing to do with the hull leaking. takiing 5 minutes to drain or bilge it out is a lot of water. a 500 gallon/hour bilge running for 5 minutes will pump 40-45 gallons of water which weighs 8.33lbs so that would be about 375 pounds. not sure if that would even be 20mph. it easily could be though depending on where it was resting in the bottom of the hull.

assuming this isn't a joke or fall fishing forum expedition, what dealer sold this boat. i think there is only 1 charger dealer in texas

3-5 minutes of water drainage is a lot of water in the bilge...

Contact Charger soon. and as questions about the boat. or you can IM touch of class. He maybe able to point you in the rite direction. :wink:

catdude28
I am furious that the dealer hasn't done anything. He still maintains that algae was the problem.

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Originally Posted by barbarian

so how bad was the algae and how long did it take you to clean it?
.... assuming this isn't a joke or fall fishing forum expedition, what dealer sold this boat. i think there is only 1 charger dealer in texas

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The dealer cleaned the boat and charged me $600: the boat had algae but not that bad after 4 weeks or so. My pontoon which sits in the water all year long is bad, the bass boat algae was mild. Thanks for the info on bilges - I had no idea they pumped that fast.
- This isn't a joke. This was my first bass boat purchase and I haven't laughed yet, and I don't have a punch line.

dutch boy
You mean the president of Charger, right?
Thanks