Underdeck"skin"

[PeteF]

It has been awhile since I last visited with a post. I have been looking for a solution to help gain a bit more lift and speed on my Sanpan 2500 FE with a 115 Suzuki. I had an aluminum "skin" installed not knowing what to expect except a much drier deck. I was really surprised at the difference it made in all other aspects of the boat. It is faster, quieter, smoother riding and better turning. If anybody has any thoughts on doing this, I highly recommend it. The boat just wanted to lift up and go even without going to a WOT. I got the idea on this forum as well.

Pete

[jim454]

Any idea how much of a speed increase you got?

(I plan to skin mine )

[jrboatin]

I did mine this past spring...
I think the only thing I did different then most is I had the ends bent at 90 deg with a 4" drop to cover the side brackets that go from floor to toons.
Cost 450.00 and did myself, very easy....

The best thing that came from it was the ride, very smooth.....
No more feeling like someone tapping on the brakes... haha

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[HandymanHerb]

And it's got to help reduce the wind drag too

[rockymax]

Very nice job! Do you have lifting strakes?

[jim454]

Nice job jr,

Do you think you would notice much of a difference if you would of ran the ends straight to the tubes? (I noticed a little gap there)

[jrboatin]

I love the ride.
No I do not have lifting strakes on my boat.
I am not sure about a difference if I have ran it another 1/2 ", I just dropped it down 4" because I did not want to have to cut if it did not fit right.

[jeffybear]

JR, looks great. I too would like to do this to mine. What thickness is the underskinning??

[jrboatin]

I believe its standard .060 . I was going to do .040 but for $70.00 more I went with the thicker one. Also its white on the one side, they
called it PVC coating, gave it to me for free cause it was extra Alum laying around. Got it from a Fab company out of South Bend Indiana

[PeteF]

Nice to have a reply from a Sanpan owner. I had an idea that it would smooth out the ride at WOT, but was not sure. What type of prop do you use?

Pete

[Marineengineer]

Just purchased a 24 DX Castaway by Landau, and the under deck was covered almost the whole length (20 ft from the stern forward) is covered with an aluminum box. Had to jump up and down on the deck to see if it was still good. Also of note is that the wiring in also covered up, which is a double edge sword, can't inspect with-out removing a lot of metal

[WaltF]

This is true!
I noticed i cant get to my transponder easily cause the wire runs almost the length of the toon, inside the under skinning....

But the under skinning still Rocks for what it does..