A this years haulout I noticed that the so called serious raceboats had really smooth hulls. They said that it took a couple of seasons to get them that way. Each spring the would spend hours with super fine sandpaper and by hand went to work. They said no machine should be used to save time, this was a labour of finesse, sweat and love. Is this what I really have to do to make my boat like that too? I usually give the hull a rough sand to remove serious bumps and followed my a finer sand to remove the lines. I follow with a coat of VC17. Will a smoother hull really make that much of a difference? Not against work, but is all of that sanding a makework project? Happy Holidays!
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Only if you
are in match racing. In one of the Whitbread races six of the boats sailing from South Africa to Australia finished within minutes of each other. This is only to show that everything is important. A super smooth bottom won't make you a better sailor. It won't compensate for using last year's sails or for any of the hundred other little details that define a winning crew.
are in match racing. In one of the Whitbread races six of the boats sailing from South Africa to Australia finished within minutes of each other. This is only to show that everything is important. A super smooth bottom won't make you a better sailor. It won't compensate for using last year's sails or for any of the hundred other little details that define a winning crew.
Are you racing your boat?
If not, don't sweat the bottom finish, fix the blisters and keel smile, roll on the paint and go sailing.
If not, don't sweat the bottom finish, fix the blisters and keel smile, roll on the paint and go sailing.
Depends...
One sloppy tack will lose more time than a great bottom will gain back compared to a good bottom. So it depends on your level of competition and how close your finishes usually are. There are a lot of other ways you can prepare your boat and your crew that might pay off more, time-wise, than going from a 97% to a 100% bottom prep. There is sort of a law of diminishing returns here, but if you lose a race by less than a second (as I did last year,) you think about what factors might have made you a touch faster.
One sloppy tack will lose more time than a great bottom will gain back compared to a good bottom. So it depends on your level of competition and how close your finishes usually are. There are a lot of other ways you can prepare your boat and your crew that might pay off more, time-wise, than going from a 97% to a 100% bottom prep. There is sort of a law of diminishing returns here, but if you lose a race by less than a second (as I did last year,) you think about what factors might have made you a touch faster.
Bottom Prep
First of all, you can use a hand scraper such as a 'red devil from any hardware store to 'strip' the bottom of many old uneven coats of paint. After fairing in any areas such as the hunter 'smile' and fairing the root of the keel to the hull, you can apply barrier coats of Intrerlux 2000 and 'knock down' the orange peel texture with 60 -100 grit sandpaper. Then apply your racing paint and wet sand it with #240 and then #320 wet or dry paper on rubber sanding blocks used wet. This is the minimum you need to do to be competitive in any serious one-design fleet or be in the top ten in a decent PHRF fleet. In light air it is an incredible difference; in heavy air it is almost no difference. Additionally, a smoother water flow over the keel and rudder will affect your pointing ability, particularly in light air. If when racing, you are serriously trimming all the time; have upgraded the sails and added the folding prop and taken all extraneous weight off the boat; the 'new' bottom job will continue to make you a serrious competitor.
First of all, you can use a hand scraper such as a 'red devil from any hardware store to 'strip' the bottom of many old uneven coats of paint. After fairing in any areas such as the hunter 'smile' and fairing the root of the keel to the hull, you can apply barrier coats of Intrerlux 2000 and 'knock down' the orange peel texture with 60 -100 grit sandpaper. Then apply your racing paint and wet sand it with #240 and then #320 wet or dry paper on rubber sanding blocks used wet. This is the minimum you need to do to be competitive in any serious one-design fleet or be in the top ten in a decent PHRF fleet. In light air it is an incredible difference; in heavy air it is almost no difference. Additionally, a smoother water flow over the keel and rudder will affect your pointing ability, particularly in light air. If when racing, you are serriously trimming all the time; have upgraded the sails and added the folding prop and taken all extraneous weight off the boat; the 'new' bottom job will continue to make you a serrious competitor.
Dont let them fool you slicker is better even if you dont race, even cruisers benifit from a smooth chean slick hull, from better fuel economy and faster sailing to a better handling boat. its like keeping your tires on your car at the proper pressure, it makes a difference on your boat also to be 'tuned'. my two cents worth. Dave
Could not help getting a mental picture from the comments of one of the racers regarding better fuel economy. What do you call it "wind push per hour" and how do you measure the savings. I have a diver clean the bottom on a monthly basis and that seems to be enough to keep the diesel at 1/2 gallons per hour. I only use about 20 gallons of disel a year so the savings from a super slick boat hull would be nill. Save a lot of work!
Removing Bottom Paint
This weekend I removed 4 layers of bottom paint from my H33C using common paint remover. It worked like a charm without using a lot of sanding discs and putting toxic dust in the air and on you. 2 gallons did the job easily and it took about 10-11 hours over 2 days by myself. Pour the remover into a large plastic container. Paint on the remover using a 2 or 3 inch brush. Be sure to lay down throw away plastic or tarps to catch the residue. Wait about 60 seconds then using a putty knife, scrape the wetted surface. I had to paint each section with the remover twice. Stubborn spots may need a third application. The cost of the remover was about $12 a gallon. I controlled the putty knife to skim down to the barrier coat. Afterwards, buff the hull surface with your choice of sandpaper grit that works for you. For me, I used 60 grit. Wash her all down, let dry, and you are ready to apply new bottom paint. The level of effort to peel off the bottom was not hard and the results are great for a cruising boat....good luck!
This weekend I removed 4 layers of bottom paint from my H33C using common paint remover. It worked like a charm without using a lot of sanding discs and putting toxic dust in the air and on you. 2 gallons did the job easily and it took about 10-11 hours over 2 days by myself. Pour the remover into a large plastic container. Paint on the remover using a 2 or 3 inch brush. Be sure to lay down throw away plastic or tarps to catch the residue. Wait about 60 seconds then using a putty knife, scrape the wetted surface. I had to paint each section with the remover twice. Stubborn spots may need a third application. The cost of the remover was about $12 a gallon. I controlled the putty knife to skim down to the barrier coat. Afterwards, buff the hull surface with your choice of sandpaper grit that works for you. For me, I used 60 grit. Wash her all down, let dry, and you are ready to apply new bottom paint. The level of effort to peel off the bottom was not hard and the results are great for a cruising boat....good luck!
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