I sprayed the bottom and rails on my 6’6" with the Never Wet as per instructions. Feels rough to the touch almost like shark skin. The water beads off it just like the videos. I put the board in my pool before spraying and did a couple push tests, then I put it in the pool again after applying Never Wet and I have to say I did not see much difference in how far it traveled. I paddled the board in the pool and it paddles the same before and after, I do like the rough rails for better grip. I put a similar size board without Never Wet next to this board in the pool and pushed both and they traveled about the same distance. I know these tests are not perfect, but to me I didn’t notice any gain in travel or speed. We are getting waves this weekend so the true test will be surfing the board
wet and dry surfboards have been around as you all know for years i can tell you that Wilderness Surfboards did it for years and so did Sundance Dennis and Frank did they knew i believe , the gloss on boards began as marketing to sell ,something got lost in the evolution,when i was younger used to wet and dry a board 400 or 600 when it got dirty and so forth and it definitely sprung to life now i am just springing to get up you know the feeling but got to get em aloha…
Rode my neverwetted board this morning for the first time. Hardly scientific but it did feel noticably faster. Better glide and squirt coming out of turns. Didn’t seem to catch waves any better, but when force was applied (on rail), it seemed to respond with more life and speed. This is on a board that I’ve probably ridden in 40-50 sessions, so I’m pretty used to how it feels. Looking forward to more sessions this week.
Did you also coat the fin? The reason I ask, is that you describe the way the board behaves, very much as Hamrock described his experience after I coated his fin with SharkSkin texture.
rode my 9’2" today
rails nose tail and bottom coated
yes it does paddle faster
slides from side to side which can be a problem paddling for a wave as you have to keep your paddling balanced and forward
feels “grippy” no major sensation of acceleration but the waves were only hip high and weak
board was over finned as a quad so it seemed a little stiff
board was completely dry after hosing it down except for the exposed cork deck
its rough but it does not take your skin off like exposed cork does
rubs off, tne rail were i sat were rubbed clean
as i was showering i noticed the water completely bouncing off the board’s bottom almost like it didn’t want anything to do with it.
so strange no sheeting at all.
I think you have to really think out how you apply this stuff to the bottom to get the most out of it. I think you want to apply it where there a mixture of air, water and board surface to maximize the impact.
Thank you Jamie for your report. It’s a first. Kudos to you. This product is not yet available here in OZ as far as I know. I’m very excited about this first report of yours and I look forward to many more. Fingers crossed this turns out to be a durable and significant advancment in the ongoing surfboard construction revolution.
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rode my 9'2" today rails nose tail and bottom coated
1. yes it does paddle faster
2. slides from side to side which can be a problem paddling for a wave as you have to keep your paddling balanced and forward
3. feels "grippy" no major sensation of acceleration but the waves were only hip high and weak
4. board was over finned as a quad so it seemed a little stiff
5. board was completely dry after hosing it down except for the exposed cork deck
6. its rough but it does not take your skin off like exposed cork does
7. rubs off, tne rail were i sat were rubbed clean
as i was showering i noticed the water completely bouncing off the board's bottom almost like it didn't want anything to do with it.
so strange no sheeting at all.
I think you have to really think out how you apply this stuff to the bottom to get the most out of it. I think you want to apply it where there a mixture of air, water and board surface to maximize the impact.
board in question
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Did you feel you had the same 'grip' on your turns with the NW applied to them? Would think that would be part of the tracking problem while paddling...perhaps best to apply on the bottom only to the tucked under rail chine, leaving the rails unsprayed..?
As I suspected after readng the literature…Ready to shoot a 12’-6" training hull, but for flatwater just the rails, nose, bow & paddle blade are getting coated. The rest @ 400 Grit. Screw the fins, they’re always submerged on my lake boards.
gonna try or as thruster maybe with the two TF1’s I can Bill to quote me
the shaper had advised me to ride it as a quad with the biggest fin I could get.
he gave me a set of F8 quads - his boards are notrious for being stiff and made for the power of the north shore where they work the best. He’s a legend shaper and surfer among the older underground crowd
(see Surfline’s Surfer Alley Wahiawa he’s right after Greg Griffin), had a board of the same design from his team rider in polyester that had the same 'problem" but this board is half the other board’s weight because it was a “glassing mistake”.
The sensation is that you can “feel” the water traveling under the board more if you can believe that. i think just doing the bevel and inwards maybe 2"-3" may be better, as well as the tail deck area. last 18’-24" like your hard rail.
kind of like how a 6 channel might feel if you’ve ever ridden one.
need to try one of the smaller boards i sprayed but the surf has been not as good as expected. can’t wait to give my Greg Griffin 5fin modfish a go in some decent waves, that board was a rocket already
I’ve got some absolutely bonker fins to try from Greg Webber and as well as the X1’s pygmy riding company
sorry about the typos
my medication is kicking in
sanded three glassed repair boards in the Ewa hot sun in my sealed tyvek today
going through my usuaky dehydration and heat stroke now
the knees are gone as well
getting old sucks…
I’ve been working on a permanent superhydrophobic surface for standard sanded surfboards for about three years now (among other technologies). More on this later…
I did notice signs of the coating wearing off on the bottom rails toward the nose of the board. This is probably from grabbing the board when duck diving. I think the abrasion durability is definitely in question. No problem along the bottom of the board, but where the coating comes in contact with the body (hands, legs), it appears that it rubs off. Keep in mind that I coated a board that was sanded to 320 and finished with behr sealer and maroon scotchbrite. Perhaps bonding would be better if the bottom/rails were only sanded to 100 or so.
As mentioned, I didn’t notice a difference paddling. But mine is a pretty light stubby 5’10" quad. Perhaps this would be more noticable with longer boards with larger surface area. But definitely the board seemed to react and accellerate quicker than pre-coating. It seems it gets a more efficient response to input (putting on rail and gliding after pumping down the line) due to the reduction in friction. So basically the faster you are going, the more noticable it becomes. FYI, I did not coat the fins. Just running FCS PC5 quads.
I’ll get a few more sessions in this week to see if the performance/durability characteristics continue.
When sanded boards started to replace gloss and there was the same discussion about the effects of smooth vs textured. A few of the crew used to spray and wipe **Armour All **on the bottom of their boards and leave it overnight to soak in / dry. I remember the effect lasted less than half an hour and it did feel faster but also less responsive, its as though the friction between board and water provided ‘grip’ and that subtle level of control needed.
Soon we all did it but in a wide panel from nose to tail but not within 2 inches of the rails. I’m guessing it will be the same with hydrophobic coatings, they will keep it off the rails.
I’m not buying into this voodoo mojo bug juice slicker than owl poop bullshit. If you want to go faster improve your surfing technique. Our oceans have enough chemical crap floating around in them already.
