Though it seems the shifter has always been on the stiff side, this year it became more and more difficult to change gears. I brought the boat in for servicing and discovered that the throttle and shifting cables were melted and seizing near the mixing elbow. It appears that cables were never tied back properly when the boat was constructed and were allowed to rest against a very hot engine part. Consequently, it was a gradual degradation until this year it reached the point of near failure and had to be repaired. Unfortunately, the warranty has expired and the repair cost was over $500 (ouch!) On the good side, the shifter now works far better than it ever has.