My 2001 271 Fastech has developed a severe case of chicken pox-sized and spaced blisters on ~70% of the surface below the waterline (including the hullsides that sit below the waterline).

The boat is kept in the water June - September in Michigan. My boat has never been bottom painted.

Several failed searches of this forum seem to indicate that this is far from a common issue. In fact, I can't find a single "Formula" thread mentioning a similar issue. All my other boats I've had over the years kept in the same location (also without bottom paint) have never developed any sort of blisters.

Would anyone have any fiberglass repair / painters in the SE Michigan or NW Ohio area they would recommend to fix this type of issue? I'd really like to fix it properly. Although, it's very unclear what would keep it from happening again. In my case, because of the location of the blisters on the hullsides that sit below the waterline, I'm pretty confident that the water must be coming from the outside -> in (as opposed to water sitting inside the hull working it's way out).

Unfortunately, the blister migration up the hullsides also intersect the graphics partially near the transom. I really can't imagine how to fix it properly without redoing everything under the rubrail.

Any recommendations? Are there any other unpainted-bottom Formula owners that keep their boats in the water?

I'm pretty much a guru, and I cannot recall ever hearing of this, in any model, I'm sure there are a few out there, but to be honest I would say you just got unlucky, wish I could help u but I'm not in that area, no matter what anyone says once fixed I'd never leave it in the water again

Not a Formula, but I had this happen on my Larson. Same thing, boat used to sit in the water June til September. Larson ended up separating the boat, and replacing the hull. To repair the hull would have cost them more than just replacing it. Luckily this was covered under the hull warranty. There is a thread on here about my boat, and some comments from other members that may be useful if you look it up.

could these be air bubbles under the gel? curious as to why they are suddenly appearing now.

I have the same thing happening to my consider. I got the boat ran in to some motor issues and could not get the lift that I needed. The bottom had zero blistering while I got it and now its not good after sitting in the water. With it being a 2000 I doubt that donzi will do any thing for me now its just paying to have it all fixed. I was talking to glass Dave about it a few weeks ago and it dont sound like it will be cheap by any means. But what you going to do.

I finally got my lift and got it in the water so now it sits out of the water but the damage is already done.

I bought the boat in 2006 with absolutely no blisters. The previous owner had rack stored the boat since new, as far as I know.

The first blisters appeared ~2009. They were very local. I remember calling Formula at the time and they had nothing to offer.

Over the years they've spread. Each individual blister hasn't gotten bigger....just more of them.


Like was mentioned, I'd be very hesitant to store the boat in the water ever again if I had it fixed...even though that's the only thing I've ever done.

Hmmm, well I would call it common. I've had several customers have to repair extensive blisters on fastecs. A 312, 2 353's a 382, and a 292 that wasn't as bad but had some.

WOW this really got me curious. Do you wax the hull? If so what wax do you use? How often do you wax?

At least once per season, always before launch, I wax with Collinite 870 "fleetwax". Someone turned me on to Collinite around the time I bought the 271, and I loved the results. I've used nothing else since.

The bottom gets touched with the Collinite where I can reach reasonably at this once per season waxing. Throughout the summer, I'll use it on the topsides occasionally. Overall, other than the bottom issue, the boat is really really clean. I always get people coming up to me asking how my boat "stays so clean". I laugh at the word "stays".

Please don't say, "well, all the other Collinite users I know have the same experience". Omg, that would be tragic.