then treated with polishing compound had the next lowest resistance, but it remained so for the duration of their study without further treatment. In one sentence, sand it up to 2000, and then buff the bottom with a proper marine wax.
My vote is for Rain-X.
But only one treatment, or the boat will pop out of the water!
Does water bead up on Rain X? If so I’m not sure that is fast. But I’d like to see the boat pop out of the water!My vote is for Rain-X.
But only one treatment, or the boat will pop out of the water!
I remember going out with my friends who I sailed with collecting candle stubs from the neighbors to wax my wooden Comet. Mrs Bradley who lived down in the hollow made her own candles and mixed cow fat into the wax. Her candles were absolutely the best for boatspeed.Who remembers waxing the runners on your sled, with used, leftover candles?
Do you mean riblets? Fine if you don’t want to race. And probably expensive for marginal if any improvement. Return of the Riblets >> Scuttlebutt Sailing NewsRivlets??
Polishing compound and wax are two different things. Did the Lightning get polished with compound or waxed?
My vote would be to sand to 2000 grit (or possible only 1000) and then coat with Hullcoat from McLube. That stuff is slippery!
Thanks so much for this & everyone’s input, I’m looking forward to the upcoming racing season!!In my humble opinion, bottom prep on a small sailboat is about half physics and about half mental. The physics part entails filling dings and scratches
as described above and then wet sanding with progressively higher grits of wet-n-dry sandpaper used wet. I like to use warm, soapy water with the
paper held in a quarter sheet rubber block. Yes, also wet sand the blades. Yes, sand fore and aft with the finer grits of sandpaper. The conventional wisdom is not to use wax as wax is supposed to slow the flow of water over the bottom and many classes prohibit the use of go-fast goop on hulls.,
The mental part is not insignificant. When you race, you want your boat to be well preped and tuned so you can concentrate on trim, tactics and
maintaining boatspeed rather than being distracted by any real or imagined flaws in the hull or rig. The truth is that missing a windshift will usually hurt you more than a few scratches in the hull, but a nice, smooth bottom will help you a little, and the cleaning and sanding is all part of the Zen of a fast boat.
Alan Glos
FYI Any work aft of mid ship is probaby a waste. The issue is turbulent flow replaises laminar flow after some point. Read up on books by Marchaj. Don't waste time on "INNIES"/small gouges--only the "OUTIES" matter. The water flow just goes over gouges and does not effect speed much. I do realize that your head game is important--i.e. U think you are fast with a smooth hull and could psyche yourself out with a rough hull.Spend time on good starts rather than hull issues.Hello all, just looking for some feedback on the best finish to the bottom for racing.
I have been filling some small scratches in the fiberglass with marine Tex. I have sanded lengthwise until flush & fair With 600 grit & water.
I am tempted to buff out with electric buffer & compound but was concerned that the small swirls left in the surface might not be as fast even though it would look shinier.
which finish would create less drag, polished or sanded in the direction of water flow? Am I over thinking this?!!