TopTip2020 #59
Look After Your Wetted Area
Mark Riddington, GBR

Mark Riddington identifies a key element to tick off your list in the conquest for more speed;

' Look After Your Wetted Area

Frank Bethwaite, esteemed author of ‘High Performance Sailing’, surveyed research in an attempt to ascertain the optimal finish for boat hulls and foils. His books give a lot of detail, but can be summarised as follows: the higher the polish on your foils and hull, the more efficiently they will operate.

There is a lot of boat park talk about optimal finish, some swearing by 600 grit wet and dry (it allegedly traps a layer of water next to the boat), others with 1200, but Bethwaite's book is the only place I’ve seen that references research that support his conclusions. So my top tip is to trust the science and to maintain, clean and polish your boat! It’s free boat speed!

Hope you are all well. Can't wait to get back on the water. Mark '