Win Sailboat Races With This Tip



Posted: Tuesday, December 23, 2008

by
Durall Industrial Flooring

We all know that to win sailboat races you need to make the fewest mistakes, go the right way, and have a boat that is rigged well. There are no substitutes for great crews, great sails, great tactics, and a little luck. But let's look at the issue of being rigged well.

If you clearly want to be the fastest sailboat you're going to need to think outside the water line. For the smoothest sailing, you need to make your boat fast even when on its side. You need smooth surfaces with a clear coating that will reduce turbulence caused by scratches and imperfections in the hull. You don't need wax, you need Teflon on that hull.

In a competitive world, you need to achieve maximum boat speed. Hydrodynamic testing shows that a 2-in. scratch on a submerged boat hull can cause 10 or 12 inches of turbulence. That turbulence eats up energy and slows your boat. That's why just after waxing your boat you can almost feel the newly smoothed surface sliding through the water with a new ease. We know that the fast coating below the water line is your main tool for sliding through the water. But how often do you see the water move up the hull putting the decks awash? Have you taken any care to make sure that all your boat surfaces that must sometimes move through the water are smooth? Does that wax job of yours hold up against the fast flows of water moving over the wax?

Non-stick cookware uses the largest molecule known, a molecule that has a lower drag coefficient than ice. This type of coating was first developed by DuPont and marketed under the name Teflon. Now you can purchase for less than $100 a clear roll-on coating for use from your water line on up. The coating will never yellow and can be built-up with coats to smooth out all those little scratches, pits, and imperfections that can plague the upper hull. On the upper hull, a single coat of this clear non-stick Teflon-type coating can last for many seasons.

Smooth Sailing Antifouling Clear boat bottom paint is found at http://www.boat-bottom-paint.com I plan to take some first places over the season.

You can get a sample kit of the product for $1 (plus shipping) that will cover 5 sq. ft. to do your own test for 2009. Just call them at 800-466-8910 with a credit card.

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