I absolutely love VS721. I finished off a new 32 Holland (my second one for the harpoon category for Bluefin and launched in May of 2011) and could not bring myself to sand off all that gel coat (it's thin enough as it is) to apply paint. I was looking for something faster and easier to apply and totally "green" and fast in the water. It's all about speed down here; for fishing AND for fun. Anyway I sponge off the bottom two times in a three month season and then when I haul it in September I hose it and sponge it off and wash with a hose and the hull still looks like the day it popped out of the mold. Gonna put a small black boot stripe this year just for looks.
Her name is 'Sticker Shock" - Harpoon to stick 'em and we use inverters, what we call a shocker, to immediately kill the fish with a wire in the throw line. Plus this boat cost me WAY more to finish off than the first one in 1989 and I had "sticker shock" when I saw what stuff was costing.
The engine is a mechanical 450C Cummins. The 450 is metric HP. This engine actually develops 433 SAE horse power at 2600 rpm, per the dyno. 8.3 liter. Almost 1100 ft. lbs. of torque. ZF 302 IV v-drive trans 1.3 to 1 ratio, keeps the weight towards the stern. She'll do almost 34 knots with the 20x22 cupped wheel I have on her and she still overturns by 150 rpm; loaded or not with fuel or fish or people. I could make her go faster with more pitch but then I'd be a knot or two faster at idle when going on fish and that might not be good so I'll leave it there. I can cruise all day at 28-30 knots but usually cruise around 22. Fuel is costly. Though if we're lucky enough to have a fish or three in the boat then hang on. If it's nice enough she's in the corner for 40 miles.
The other guys keep telling me to paint the bottom (they're jealous. I'm fastest) but the VS721 is slippery and easy to clean and I feel it absolutely protects against osmotic blistering. No barrier coat and time, temp and humidity limit paint jobs. No poisons in the water. Nothing stays attached at the end of the season after haul out when I wet it down and sponge it off. I pressure washed it the first year but found that a regular hose and coarse sponge is way faster and, as I said, the hull looks like it just came out of the mold.
I know I've read on different forums that some people say it's not a magic bullet or replacement for bottom paint. Well I've proved to myself that it is. The boat might sit for a week or two at a time if the weather's no good for harpooning. I get a little green slime but it doesn't slow me down at all and it'll wipe off with a sponge or brush and of course some slides off when you're steaming. I love the stuff and I'll never go back to bottom paint.
Only problem down here is all the old traditional ways of doing things are hard to change. I was the first one in the harbor with a v-drive. Now there are four stick boats with integral v-drives in this harbor but it took 20 years for them to come around Some guys are still painting over their gelcoat every year as if they still had wooden boats. Hopefully more people will use it. Very good thing for the environment for sure.
I love talking about my boat.
Hank Greer