Hydrophobic coatings on surfboards.
Webber , start thinking.
Check out nanotune for surfboards, meant to last 3 months.
I got a board about 9 months ago that had it on as a stock finish. I would normally be pretty sus on something like that but I got to tell you it was the fastest board I had ever had. Recently i got wax all over the bottom and have cleaned it off and wet and dried the bottom and rails, have been surfing like this for a about 2 weeks. It feels OK but definitely not as lively as before.
So, I am about to buy some nanotune this weekend and re-apply to see if it brings the board back.
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Worth a try. But would it lose hold?
"As a guide, using 360 grade sandpaper will usually get you a hydraulically smooth surface."
"Beading of water droplets has nothing to do with water friction, it is a surface tension effect. Products that encourage beading are unlikely to make the surface smoother."
Taken from here: http://www.fsc.com.au/cproot/1076/3/kim-klaka-how-smooth-a-bottom.pdf
The racing yacht community has done WAY more research into this stuff, and these are the same conclusions noted time and time again. Surfboards are just hulls, and it's why your board is finished like it is ...
Is the common final finish 1200 ?
I use lanolin on my (wooden) boards. Very water resistant, great for grip. Probably work on plastic boards. It builds up a wax coating after a number of applications, then I rub in a coat with 1200 wet and dry for a smooth finish.
Thats sheep stuff bigtreeman:)
Good ol Lanolin.............
Goes on liquid, takes a while to dry to a wax, it's a gradual build up process. It sticks like shit to a blanket. Also used for rust inhibiting, lasts a year on bare steel in the weather. No more grubby wax on your deck, looks great, bit of a buff with soft cloth comes up to a nice luster, not super shiny. Has a great non-slip feel. My skin looks and feels 10 years younger, hmmm.
Been surfing hydrophobic boards for a while now. True ,it does only last about 3-4 months. But with a fresh coat, it goes frickin insane! Almost feels like you on a hover board! And the extra speed is insane! Found that just doing the concave part the best. You need rails and fins for grip!!!
It's 'super hydrophobic' and relies on a thin film of air, which isn't really possible on a surfboard.
The speed sensation is probably due to the attention paid to keeping the bottom clean when applying the stuff.
Reducing drag does not reduce 'grip' on fins and rail in fact it increases it so no worries there.
Is it worth experimenting with hydrophobic coatings on the bottom of surfboards, you probably all seen the footage of the coating put on a wall in Germany to repel urine ....pee on a wall and it sprays back at you.
The coatings are probably not durable enough for a surfboard application...now they have developed a microscopic laser patterning technique that they cut into metal that totally repels liquid [ on interesting eng.com] so I guess it can be used on other materials.
Don't know how you would start to experiment - apply it to fins
or just one side of fins
just the rail line of a surfboard
or only the concave area
on a channel bottom only the channels
under the nose area on a big wave gun
Hyrdophobic coatings - total opposite of what we have with the wet rub water attractant finish........worth looking into anyone think ?