I know there has been some discussion on neverwet and I have tried over and over to get some from ross nanotechnology as they said they would release product to the public by mid 2012…no success.
found this stuff http://www.hydro-bead.com/ looks very similar. I’m curious to see how much faster it will make a board go. anyone experiment with superhydrophobic coats? how big of a difference did you see?
"There were also these tiny ribbed skin rubber skins I bought"
Hi Oneula -
I bought some of those too. My girlfriend loved them.
Im very skeptical that any of these coatings would work on a surfboard, Shark skin is supposed to be extremely fast through the water and it isnt smooth and dosnt repel water- remember some years ago when those swimming suits that olympic swimmers were using (using technology formulated from the theory or shark skin) were banned because they were giving some swimmers an unfair advantage?
However i did try some rain x type stuff on my board once- didnt feel any different to me.
Also I don’t recall dolphins having skin where water beads off. and they have thousands/millions? of years of evolution,
Just my thoughts- seems like a gimmick to me.
bought two bottles from surfnanoproducts - no major difference noticed
tried the bluegoo stuff as well - no major diference noticed
surfco used to sell(not anymore) a board cleaner that was the best I’ve seen or used
I believe but not sure Paul Strauch came up with the formula decades ago.
most of these things are sealer/polishes of some sort like RainX is for glass
back in the 70’s I used to spray that dry silicone lubricant on my board and buff it a little (bet some anti static dryer cloths would work these days) (one of Roys suggestions)
also per instructions from Tom Morey and Vinnie Bryan who were some of my alternative hero’s back then, I’d wax the bottom of my board with a complete bar of soap if not two as well as paint the bottom of my board with a super thinned out resin coat mixed with a couple bottles of crushed alkaseltzer tablets. Then per Tom’s instruction, you lightly sand the bottom after paddling out to expose your rocket propellant fuel and take off on a thin layer of bubbles.
There were also these tiny ribbed skin rubber skins I bought to glue on the bottom of my board to mimic the skin of a whale’s underside that directed waterflow with its ultra fine channels. Never did get a chance to ride one of Tom and Vinnie’s air injected boards which were super fast but hard to make. Tried everything and it never really made a big difference or lasted.
Kind of like this new stuff I guess.
seems like the answer is going to eventually be design(like a mat or sponge) or charge based (electrical) and not chemical as chemicals wear/wash off
they are already nano-coating tankers to reduce cleaning
but most of the efficiency/speed stuff is being done by reducing the exposed surface area like they are doing with these cat hull combat platforms(boeing) or world record sailing/speedboats.
kind of gives credence to tomo’s design, morey’s boogie board and greenough’s mat ideas…
reduction of surface area by going short,flat and straight or through dynamically altered surface areas via physical manipulation
My dog has hydrophobia, what is the cure ?
I kinda just want to race through an ‘unmakeable’ section on my 7’6 and have the guy 50yds on the other side of the section sh!t his pants when I pass him at mach 3. thats the dream scenario
why would you do that to a plant?
they effectively killed that leaf
no shipping to hawaii so it must have some hazmat restrictions for carrriers
looks interesting wish i could get a can to spray my shoes, pants, raincoats, tent tarps and anything else that gets soaked in an storm
yeah i don’t know what happenned to Ross Technologies been waiting a year
bought some aquapel but it’s like super rainx for glass not fiberglass
most of this tech is being used to nano coat smartphones and other electronics you can take into the ocean or drop intothe pool
what might be interesting is spraying your wetsuit with this and going body surfing with a handboard
first human hydrofoil
http://www.surfnanoproducts.com/
I have used this on a few boards I hot coated and sanded to 320, seemed to keep them cleaner and definitely very slick.
As for the speed attributes, I doubt I personally would be able to notice a difference, but some swear it works.
I should divulge the owner is a friend of mine but I am not posting this as a promotion for him, just sharing because there was interest.
Rand on The boards did you use the rattle can spray or The two part mixture?
I have only used the pump spray that you wipe on with a sponge then buff with a rag after it dries, it’s a one part liquid. One small bottle and kit is enough for four boards.
speedseeker
I don’t remember who it was on here but they explaned that a surface submerged like a fin, rail, dolphin, torpedo, etc will be fastest with a directional sand at 320 or 400 and a planing surface like a surfboard bottom is fastest with a glossy hydrophobic surface.
forget who it was and if anyone else agrees?
MikeDaniels
is that golf ball surface on a surfboard?
Not a golf ball but it will fly through the air. It’s a 6’0’’ x 18.5’'.
More pics on the ride report thread in surfshop, they keep us over there so we don’t shock people too much on this forum.
where on surfshop? Can’t find you
i missing reading about Coil.
I should have said ‘‘surfshop in the discussion menu’’. This’ll get you there: http://www2.swaylocks.com/forums/coil-ride-reports?page=438
Some folks who actually go faster than 28 mph say 600 cross hatched at 60 degees (diamond pattern) is the fastest.
I recall Morey (or someone) writing about wetted surfaces and which types create speed, or drag. The consensus at one time was that a textured surface similar to a fine sanding was best. Much of the theory was based in laminar flow vs turbulent flow. Laminar=good. Turbulent=bad. It was proposed that a boundary layer of water that more or less adhered to a surface would lessen turbulent flow. Sort of like using water to lubricate an object in water, to put it simply.
What was that high tech treatment they used on America’s Cup hulls a few years ago? Did it prove effective, or just snake oil?
If my spotty memory serves me today, that Americas Cup hull was on the order of the speed suit for long distance swim racers, based on the rough shark skin pattern. I don’t think that with tens of millions of dollars they spend on research that anything on those boats isn’t an asset.
The dimples on a golf ball allow the ball to move through the air with less terminal drag due to the change from laminar flow to more turbulent flow with a shorter wake pattern. I don’t know if the small denticles on the sharkskin swimsuits or hull coatings have that same effect, but some loss of laminar flow in the boundary layer is likely.
Somebody should take a board and just put a radical rough or dimply surface on it and compare it to a similar board. Problem is, without using a tank and propelling the boards across the water, it’s not possible to make any comparisons.
Boat hulls, and surfboard fins, move THROUGH the water. Surfboards plane OVER the water, at the air/water boundry layer. So, a textured surface on the fin, and a smooth hydrophobic surface on the bottom of a surfboard, is the ideal combination. In my humble opinion.
There was a trend mid 70’s to wet rub a new boards gloss coat with 400 grit…the usual demo was the bead test…a smooth finish will pool the water due to surface tension , while the wet sanded bottom would create many tiny beads without any pools at all…basically , the idea came from shark and dolphin skin…it works quite noticeably , if you ride a new board a few times , then wet rub the bottom to take the smooth shine off…its not really a “nano” thing , unless you really hate to wet rub…
