MotoGP rider Mika Kallio (https://www.facebook.com/MikaKallio36) knows that optimizing speed is important also on the water. His water sports boat performs best when there is no dirt on the hull, even though it is powered by a strong engine. The difference is clear when getting on plane, and the driver noticed the boat was behaving differently than usual.
The boat was launched in Espoo on May 1st and cleaning was done on June 26th. The measurement took place in Lauttasaari.
Boat & engine: Four Winds Horizon 210 & Volvo Penta V8 5.7l, 300hp
Observations: dirt, slime, and algae on the surface.
Speed at cruising RPM 3000 before cleaning: 47 km/h
Speed at cruising RPM 3000 after cleaning: 51 km/h
The boat's cruising speed dropped about 8% in 8 weeks. Fuel consumption measurement was not possible because the boat did not provide this information. However, it is clear that besides the speed drop, consumption had increased, even though there was only a small amount of algae on the hull. The situation was easily corrected with a hull cleaning in just 15 minutes, and the boat is running at its original speed again!
