What's a good wax for your gel coat?

I wasn't going to post anything here, because I'm giving away one of my little secrets, but in true spirit of aloha...

I used to wax my canoe before every race with McGuires carnuba wax. It's a great wax to protect your gel coat, but... waxing your gel coat actually slows you down. Hard to believe? I know, but I've come full circle... it's all about laminar flow... okay, I won't get into a geek-fest on laminar flow just yet.

I did some research on how Olympic paddlers prep their hulls and how the America's Cup boats prep their hulls before they race. What I learned is they actually wet sand their boats up to 1,500 or 2,000 grit paper where the water touches the boat.

When you wax your boat, just like your car, the water beads very nicely, right? What that is telling you is the wax is creating a bond between the water and your boat. That bond actually creates tension which translates into resistence. How much resistence is debatable, but I'm not doing anything to my hull that is going to slow me down (I need all the help I can get!).

When you wet sand the boat, it actually creates tiny "puka's" on the hull that trap air bubbles. The air bubbles create a barrier between the hull and the water, so the water tension is absorbed by the bubbles, allowing your hull to move smoothly through the water.

I'm not quite ready to make the leap to wet sanding my boat, so I use a marine degreaser to remove any wax or build-up on my hull before I race. Any dirt or residue will cause tension between the hull and the water, so I get rid of as much of it as I possibly can. A clean hull, devoid of scrathces or dings, is a fast hull. My wife just bought a new boat, so I'm going to try wet-sanding her old boat and see how much of a difference it makes.

Until then, during the off-season, I use McGuires carnuba wax to protect the hull and deck against UV rays, but I strip it from the hull before I race. I still leave it on the deck so it looks nice and pretty, but the hull I treat differently to make sure there is no additional tension between my boat and the water.

Additionally, I always keep my boats in a StitchThis sunbrella cover, which provides 100% UV protection (guaranteed 5-years), whenever it's not on the water. This keeps grit and grime that can be picked up from the road during transportation and whatnot. You can pick one up at http://www.sportsgearhawaii.com/canoe.htm.

I'm sure everyone has their little secrets on prep'ing their boats to race, but this is my (now) not so secret tip. Just remember, it's worth what you paid for it. So, don't sue me if you screw up your boat trying to wet sand it!

For the geeks out there like me, here are some good articles on the issue of to wax or not to wax:

http://www.mothboat.com/CMBA/Building/notwax.htm

http://www.sideroad.com/Rowing/boat-wax.html

http://old.cruisingworld.com/grimes.htm

http://www.sonar.org/site/files/Library/Articles/Speed_%2526_Trim/IN%20SEARCH%20OF%20SPEED.pdf#search='olympic%20hull%20wet%20sand'

#2 Wed, 08/10/2005 - 10:26am

While the current thought is that a "clean," hull devoid of wax, residue, or anything else is fastest, I still wax the hell out of my boats.

Why?

Well, a new boat costs at least $3k. As careful as I try to be with my boats, they still spend some time basking in the UV. We all know that UV breaks down everything - even the thin layer of gelcoat that protects the carbon on your boat.

If you want your boat to last, you have to protect the gelcoat. That means being careful not to bump into anything. Not running your boat up onto the beach. Patching any cracks you do manage to get. Keeping it covered when you can. And, I think, loading it up with a high quality wax.

Now, if I were a sponsored pro, I might take the time to "clean," my race boat with a very light rubbing compound (I would probably pass on the wetsand even if I did score free boats). But I'm not. For me, taking care of the boat wins out over any slight (measurable?) advantage I'd get by going "raw."

#4 Thu, 08/11/2005 - 1:33pm