wetted area and drag

[ronnie]

re: the original topic, the main thing I think an amateur can easily do short of going to mainly or all carbon build is to go with thinner wood wings stratified with carbon, reduce main wing area to 570cm^2, and reduce sweep, raise AR a bit but not so much you get excessive flex.
If you want to spend the time and money, a thinner carbon mast, <15mm, will increase speed too.

OT: I am "finishing" a board I want to be fast, and between 240 and 320 grit I kept touching glass, so now it has yet another gloss coat, complete with tiny dust marks, etc.
I will end up riding it as is I think this weekend, but eventually want a proper 600 or 800 finish....
Feel silly as I'm pretty good at building and occasionally even manage a clean gloss coat but a really fine sanded finish is still a challenge, without laying on way too much resin.
Tips appreciated...

To get a lightweight final coat, add Qcell (micro balloons) to the final top coat. You can add 3-5 times by volume to make a lightweight, easily sanded surface. The amount of Qcell you add depends on how thick a coat you want. You can also add a pigment to the resin at this point so you don't need to paint for color. Unfortunately, you can't have the sexy carbon finish, but it will be lighter and much easier to finish.

When sanding microballoons, they can irritate the lungs, eyes and skin so best to use a very good mask and goggles and gloves.

[downunder]

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OT: I am "finishing" a board I want to be fast, and between 240 and 320 grit I kept touching glass, so now it has yet another gloss coat, complete with tiny dust marks, etc.
I will end up riding it as is I think this weekend, but eventually want a proper 600 or 800 finish....
Feel silly as I'm pretty good at building and occasionally even manage a clean gloss coat but a really fine sanded finish is still a challenge, without laying on way too much resin.
Tips appreciated...

BWD not sure if this helps for your build but I've got a satin finish like a 600-1000 grit on a surface with spraying the Int. GoldSpar Original varnish thinned by #2 thinner (need to check this #) of 40%.
This varnish is usually a mirror shine and gloss.