Shark skin or dimples?
 

To gain more speed, Has anyone tried a coating on the bottom of the boat to break up boundary layer? I know there are textured surfaces for high performance swim racing suits ( like shark skin) and the bottom tray on one of my sports cars has dimples like a golf ball to promote high velocity air underneath.
I wonder if this would work on the water?

break out the drill,,make a 1000+ dimples and report back to us.:D

I thought that it had long been established that burnishing the gelcoat on the bottom of a fiberglass built boat with 180-220 grit sandpaper resulted in the best and most cost effective speed increase over waxing or other 'speed coatings' .

I had not heard that but that is kind of what I was driving at / expecting.

If you are lucky, you might gain 1mph.

Can you imagine trying to keep it clean after sanding? not worth the 1/2 mph gain, if it was worth it all manufacturers would do it to be fastest...

Find out what all the Racing Blow Boats use , they will speed millions to pick up a knot!

The best surface is like a golf ball, years ago a top prostock racer played with different finishes in a wind tunnel, by breaking up the air(water would be more sticky) with a dimpled surface reduce helped drag, because of the work involved and NHRA frowning upon it, we played games with the big logos you now see on roof of prostockers

Why not seek the definitive answer...mythbusters tested the dimple theory...

would nt the same hold true a boat bottom with blisters aka chicken pox all over the bottom. Has nt anyone every tested the mph difference between a hull with and without blisters